After 46 years at Mannington Mills—the last 28 as chairman of the board—Keith Campbell retired on Dec. 31, turning the reins over to Zack Zehner, his nephew and previous president of Mannington Residential. As of January 1, Zehner is officially executive chairman of the board. The transition ushered in the fifth generation of Campbell family leadership at the 100-plus-year-old company.
Campbell spent his entire career at Mannington, which was founded by his great grandfather, John Boston Campbell, in 1915. He joined the company in 1977 and held a variety of positions in sales, manufacturing and finance. Campbell was named to the board of directors in 1983—succeeding his father, John B. “Johnny” Campbell II—and was appointed chairman in August 1995.
Floor Covering News senior editor Ken Ryan recently caught up with Campbell, who now lives in Sarasota, Fla., and will retain his seat on the Mannington board.
Why was the timing right for you to retire now?
Succession planning is a very important aspect in a company and extremely important when talking about a family-run business. My retirement was in the works for quite a long time. I actually waited to retire as we had a transition with Russell [Grizzle, former CEO] and now Tom Pendley], the current CEO. Everything is working tremendously. Now is the time for a fifth generation to step up. Zack is ready, willing and able.
We’ve worked hard on the transition. It’s a big thing. Not many companies can say fifth generation.
As you look back over 46 years, what were some of your biggest challenges?
During my time the biggest challenge we faced was with Mannington Gold, which was a massive product failure. Thank goodness for the leadership of Tony Kelly [then CEO] who did a marvelous job in guiding our way through it; we were able to traverse our way through it successfully. In looking back, Tony orchestrated something that could be written up in the Harvard Business Review; it was quite an accomplishment. It backed up who we were as a company. We took care of every claim as it came through and re-established our reputation as a strong ethical company.
The Mannington Gold episode lasted approximately five years and would have lasted longer had we not reinforced our product offering with dynamic new products, which stemmed the tide and put us in a positive direction. It was a tremendous financial hit that we took. In a period of five years the financial hit we took we earned back.
Your proudest moments?
Being inducted into the [WFCA] Hall of Fame where my father had been inducted. Our centennial celebration, celebrating 100 years to the day on Dec. 27 in Philadelphia, are two that come to mind. And without a doubt, there are proud moments every year I have at Surfaces when I look at our booth and see what we do and what our hard work and all of our associates have done. I think of my dad and grandfather and see how the company has grown so much; it’s not me, it is the associates and the team that got us there.
What has been the secret to your/Mannington’s success during your term?
We’ve stuck close to our core values, and by doing that humbly we’ve been able to grow and weather the economic storms along the way. Those values—we talk about them: doing the right thing, controlling our own destiny, working hard and playing hard—we’ve developed a phenomenal culture around those values at Mannington, which is distinct in our industry and with many businesses. Mannington is a unique company. We like to say ‘Yes,’ and we like to figure out how to say, ‘Yes.’
What will you miss the most?
I’ll miss being with our associates; I’ll miss the people the most. I’ll miss the customers. But it’s not like I’m going away. I’m staying on the board, but I won’t be actively engaged. It’s now time for generation five to step forward.
How is Mannington positioned for the future?
We are well positioned. We have both strong residential and commercial businesses in the U.S. and North America. We have a very strong LVT presence in the U.K. and Europe. We’re positioned financially to grow and are always ready to invest—whether in new plants or, when the time is right, for an acquisition. We are in a position of strength. We know the industry well; that’s our concentration. Mannington is something precious and we want to see it continue.
