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| Business World Magazine |
November 2012
the late Roger Milliken. When he passed
in 2010 after leading his company for half-
a-century, Milliken was respectfully memo-
rialized as “The Builder.” This title encapsu-
lated so much more than his growing of the
company, but his critical role in establishing
technical institutes and institutions of high-
er learning. His passion for education, how-
ever, had a rival in terms of his love for the
environment. While being green-friendly
is all the rage today, as Salitore says, “Rog-
er Milliken was green before green-friendly
even existed.”
Beyond his instrumental role in devel-
oping green spaces throughout the country,
Milliken is especially revered for his found-
ing of the Noble Tree Foundation. The No-
ble Tree foundation has not only planted the
seeds that spurred numerous studies in envi-
ronmental sustainability, but has also plant-
ed thousands of actual seedlings in areas
where trees majestically stand tall today. To
be sure, this wasn’t just something Milliken
talked about; it was common to frequently
find him personally staking out sites where
each seedling would be planted. Milliken’s
unwavering affinity for the environment ul-
timately helped ensure that the products de-
veloped to protect carpets are not only su-
perior in performance, but also safe for the
planet.
Almost thirty years ago, Milliken also