Chesterfield, Mo. — Keijo W. Hyvonen, an original National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA) board member and longtime employee of Kelly-Goodwin Company, died Feb. 23 after a lengthy illness.
Hyvonen’s career in the wood flooring industry began as a salesperson in the mid-1970s for the now-defunct Kelly-Goodwin, knocking on doors promoting products the distributorship had recently begun importing from Sweden including Tarkett, Synteko and Glitsa.
In 1975, Hyvonen moved to Oregon to run the company’s new distribution center, eventually making his way back to Kelly-Goodwin’s Seattle headquarters, where he became CEO in the late 1980s. Health issues forced Hyvonen to retire in 2011 after 37 years at the company.
Hyvonen was also involved in the formative years of the NWFA; in addition to being an original board member he also served as chair of the Convention Committee and the Membership Committee.