NTCA held a luncheon announcement in the Contractor’s Lounge on Thursday, which includ- ed a contingent of trade press. Bart Bettiga, Jim Olson, Kevin Insalato, Becky Serbin and Amber Fox all shared information about the ini- tiatives NTCA is presenting, includ- ing Regional Evaluators for the Certified Tile Installer programs, NTCA University and the Five Star Contractor program. COVERINGS RECAP ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– NTCA technical trainers/presenters Robb Roderick (l.) and Mark Heinlein gave several sessions on the Installation Demonstration stage as well as free con- ference sessions. Crossville’s execu- tive director of technical services Tim Bolby (l.) received the inaugural Service to the Industry Award presented by Eric Astrachan, TCNA execu- tive director at a special recep- tion that took place at Coverings. Bolby will retire 7/17/17 after 15 years with Crossville and more than 25 years in the industry. Turkish Ceramics made a very strong showing at Coverings 17, with offerings styled specifically with the U.S. market in mind. From l. to r.: Sevgin Utlulig, Ahmet Yamaner, Duygu Guneri Kaya, and Germiyan Saatcioglu. At the NTCA press conference/luncheon, Becky Serbin talked about the next step in NTCA University. (l. to r.) Bart Bettiga, Kevin Insalato and Jim Olson at the NTCA press conference. Amber Fox talked about the growth of the Five Star Contractor Program at the NTCA press conference. 70 TileLetter | June 2017