Flooring company HMTX eliminates CSO position

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In March, HMTX Industries, a private company specializing in vinyl flooring for healthcare and residential construction, laid off its chief sustainability officer Rochelle Routman, who had been with the company for a long time. Her responsibilities were transferred to the sales and marketing executive hired in December.

Routman indicated her departure by updating her title on LinkedIn, but there was no official announcement from either her or the company. The sustainability and impact team at HMTX is now overseen by Trevor Stromquist, the senior vice president of sustainability, sales, and marketing excellence, as confirmed by a corporate spokesperson.

During her nine-year tenure, Routman led an organization-wide initiative to enhance disclosures regarding the environmental impact and health factors related to the materials used in the company’s products.

HMTX was among the first vinyl flooring companies to develop health and environmental product declarations and achieve various certifications, such as the Just and Declare labels from the International Living Future Institute, which assess criteria like chemical content and working conditions for employees.

Routman stated, “These efforts helped elevate the entire industry as other flooring companies followed suit.”

Prior to joining HMTX, Routman worked for four years at Mohawk Industries, where she established the sustainability program. Her transition to the flooring sector came after over a decade of environmental specialist roles at utilities like Georgia Power and Southern Company, where she authored one of the company’s initial sustainability reports.

Routman’s sustainability journey began at Lockheed from 1990 to 1999, where she aimed to shift colleagues’ perspective on environmental matters from reactive to proactive. She emphasized the importance of thinking beyond compliance and focusing on concepts like circularity and waste reduction.

Recognized for her groundbreaking work, Routman was part of the inaugural Women in Sustainability Leadership Awards in 2014. She later co-founded an alumnae association that took over the awards program in 2020, concentrating on mentorship for emerging female sustainability professionals.

Looking ahead, Routman is exploring opportunities to serve on boards for both non-profit organizations and corporations. She advises future leaders to seek roles in industries with significant environmental or social impacts rather than playing it safe in their careers.