PRESIDENT’S LETTER Martin Howard Universally throughout the con- struction community, there is recog- nition that the shortage of qualified labor will be the biggest obstacle to industry growth. My commitment is to find ways for each segment of the tile installation and manufactur- ing community to work together toward solving this problem. No single group can do it alone. There are many factors that contributed to how we arrived at this place; I’ll lay out my perspective. Prior to the advent of cement backer boards, thin-set mortars and pre-mixed grouts, tile required a very specific set of skills. Only highly-trained craftspersons could properly install it. There was a large pool of young tradespeople willing to invest the 3-5 years necessary to become a master craftsperson and there were many training options available, along with a better-than- average wage potential. Enter the world of thin-set appli- cations. The skill set required by the installer using these products dropped. Tile usage went up due to new, less expensive installation mate- rials and methods. The increased demand allowed many unskilled installers to enter the trade with little or no training, and some were will- ing to work for lower wages. These workers may have been trained in other flooring trades, but had little or no hard tile training. The reality is that 25 years ago most tile jobs were 4-1/4” walls, 2” x 2” floors and quarry tile kitch- ens. Those materials -- and installa- tion labor -- can be purchased for about the same dollar amount today. However, not many jobs have only those materials specified. So, we are expecting installers who haven’t been properly trained to install new tiles that vary widely in size, shape and thickness, using installation methods that typically incorporate many new products and steps com- pared to the ways of the past. On top of this, the market hasn’t increased labor costs to keep up with growing wages, much less afford the opportunity to train a new work force. The fact that labor costs have not risen with the rest of the econo- my is a major factor in whether or not we will attract enough young talented craftspeople into our trade. We all want to see the per capita use of tile increase in our market- place. Highly-developed market- ing efforts are in place hoping to drive this. But, if we don’t have the skilled craftspeople trained in the Moving our industry forward 16 TileLetter | August 2017