PRESIDENT’S LETTER Martin Howard I’ve just returned from TISE West/ Surfaces West in Las Vegas where the NTCA experienced its most productive and successful atten- dance at this conference to date. What made it so special, you ask? This is the fourth year NTCA has been responsible for the tile contactor education track and with the help of the NTCA State Ambassadors, we created quite a buzz around the conference hall. The NTCA booth was much larg- er, and featured lounge areas for networking and impromptu con- tractor roundtable discussions. The State Ambassadors worked the booth for the most part and signed up several new members. The Ambassador Reception and Dinner was very well attended by contractors who were excited to be there and exchange ideas and information. The Board of Directors meet- ing started out with an update of the NTCA Strategic Plan by executive director Bart Bettiga. The great news here is that the two-year Finisher program will be completed and available on-line at the NTCA University website by Coverings this year. The two-year Installer program is on track to be complete by the end of 2018. If you haven’t seen this tremendous learning tool, I encourage you to contact Becky Serbin, Training and Education Coordinator for a pre- view (see NTCA University Update on page 84 of this issue). Another major initiative that started at the end of 2016 is the hiring of Kevin Insalato, of California Flooring in Manteno, Ill., to work with Scott Carothers and CTEF. His major responsibil- ity is to train and certify Regional Evaluators who will administer the Certified Tile Installer (CTI) examination. Kevin has nearly tripled the number of evaluators across the country and is seeking more qualified individuals. Our goal is to see the current number of 1,300 CTIs grow well into the thousands by the end of 2018. NTCA enjoys great success at TISE West 16 TileLetter | March 2017