Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 112 Page 113 Page 114 Page 115 Page 116 Page 117 Page 118 Page 119 Page 120 Page 121 Page 122 Page 123 Page 124QUALIFIED LABOR lasting tile job. Trent first became interested in certification because of his own rocky start in the tile industry. Trent admitted I first got into the industry on my own through trial and error. I was exactly the type of guy we see entering the trade today with no experience no apprenticeship nothing but the eagerness to create. After learning about the National Tile Contractors Association NTCA and the many opportunities it offers Trent said I became a sponge soaking up everything I could... John Cox and James Woelfel became friends as well as mentors... Knowing that the two men Id come to admire as mentors and friends supported certification it became a must- have achievement for me. Now as a 15-year industry veteran Trent could talk for an hour about the benefits of certification. When asked why he would encourage others to become certified Trent waxed philosophical. I believe we all owe it to ourselves and our industry to improve conditions within our control when we are able to do so he said. Certification is one of the paths we can travel to fulfill this obligation. Trent pointed out that the tile industry is harmed by sub-par tile installations. If an end user receives a job that may be beautiful the day it is installed but only becomes a maintenance headache or fails prematurely they are less likely to use tile again he said. This in part is the reason for an increased number of alternatives to tile which are perceived to be less of a maintenance headache or have less of a chance of failure. As both an individual business owner and a territory manager for Schluter Trent has been a strong proponent of certification. I discuss certification at the beginning of every class I host as well as with everyone I come in contact with whether they are in the industry installers designers sales code enforcement architects or simply project owners Trent said. Certification is an important step to showing customers your value as a tile installer. Being a CTI sets you apart from your competition and shows a willingness to go above and beyond. At the time of my certification I was CTI 277 meaning there were only 277 of us nationwide. This made it difficult for it to mean something to the broader audience Trent said. That has changed and we are now seeing projects that either recommend or require certified tile installers... Ultimately through certification the industry is providing end users a better product and increasing consumption of tile. And this can only mean good things for the tile industry. 58 TileLetter June 2016