NTCA NEWS 94 TileLetter | April 2017 Tile competition comes to CEFGA SkillsUSA competition: CEFGA has record-breaking participation with over 7,000 attendees NTCA took part in an important set of career events in Georgia last month – the CEFGA Career Expo and SkillsUSA, both held at the Georgia International Convention Center March 23 and 24, 2017. The Career Expo, hosted by the Construction Education Foundation of Georgia (CEFGA), links stu- dents directly to professionals in the areas of construction, utility contracting, highway contracting, electrical contracting, mechani- cal contracting, energy, tile set- ting, mining and more. The Career Expo consists of hands-on displays that allow students to engage with industry leaders, equipment and materials in order to tap into their unique skills and interests. Rod Owen, Jr., of C.C. Owen Tile Co., Jonesboro, Ga., – a NTCA Five Star Tile Contractor, and Technical Chair for CEFGA – has involved NTCA in this event for the last sev- eral years, and this year was able to get a tile test included. Once the test was established, Owen placed CEFGA in the very capable hands of Woody Sanders, D.W. Sanders Tile and Stone. Sanders, along with the help of many local manufacturers and tile reps were present to explain to prospec- tive tile installers what their jobs could entail. Thanks to donations from Interceramic, Dal-Tile, and Schluter, Sanders arranged a hands- on area for attendees to lay out their own mosaic tile and adhere it to a board that they could take home. Sanders also incorporated some ideas into the exhibit, such as a TV display with photos of the tile installation process, finished tile projects, and an art tile display with CEFGA spelled out. Once the CEFGA piece was complete Friday afternoon, it was given to CEFGA for future use. Becky Serbin, NTCA training and education coordina- tor, also assisted at the events. CTI-style test for SkillsUSA participants For the test, Owen worked with several local contractors, manufac- turers, and Scott Carothers of CTEF to develop a study guide, tile layouts, written/open-book, and hands-on tests.The hands-on test was based on a simplified version of the Certified Tile Installer (CTI) exam. Since this was the inaugural event, it was unknown how many students would take the test, how well it would be received by those attend- ing CEFGA, or how well partici- pants would do. Sanders developed Attendees create their own mosaic design. Many female students gravitated to the tile section of the Career Expo.