Nick Di Tempora, honorary Chairman of the Board of MAPEI When MAPEI first entered the North American market, I met often with the lead- ership of the NTCA. One of the finest com- pliments ever paid to MAPEI was made by the association’s president at the time. He said that the arrival of MAPEI in this marketplace, with its strong tech- nological background, stimulated all the tile and tile-setting-system manu- facturers to reflect on their existing portfolios and push the envelope to develop new and ever more innova- tive products for tile contractors. Over the years MAPEI worked hard, with frequent collaboration with NTCA, to bring the right products to the jobsite in order to make contrac- tors’ jobs faster and easier, and to find solutions to any challenges they met. The NTCA has grown and evolved to represent a very professional, success- ful group of contractors who provide the critical link between architects’ designs and owners’ satisfaction. As MAPEI internationally celebrates its 80th year in construction, we congratu- late the NTCA on 70 years as a solid, productive association. Rick Church, CTDA Executive Director Happy 70th Anniversary to our valued industry part- ner, the National Tile Contractors Association (NTCA). The Ceramic Tile Distributors Association (CTDA) and NTCA have enjoyed a long and mutu- ally beneficial relationship, much like the relationship between our constitu- ents, distributors and contractors. CTDA and NTCA partnered for sev- eral years in the early 1980s pro- ducing the predecessor to Coverings, TileExpo. CTDA and NTCA have also partnered together to deliver educa- tional opportunities to distributors and contractors through joint webinars and other educational sessions. Many CTDA member distributors have sup- ported NTCA’s roadshow for years. Distributors recognize the need to continue to grow the number of quali- fied installers for the tile and stone industry, and as a result have supported NTCA’s involvement with the Ceramic Tile Education Foundation’s Certified Tile Installer program since day one with financial and time investments. In the early 2000s CTDA and NTCA came together to produce a conference for both distributors and contractors – Foundations. That conference was held in the Bahamas. Unfortunately, the groups decided not to continue producing annual conferences togeth- er. That is, until 2011 when the groups came together – along with TCNA and eventually TCAA – to create and pro- duce the greatest annual tile and stone industry networking and educational event – Total Solutions Plus. That event Nick DiTempora (l.) and Giorgio Squinzi, MAPEI Celebrating 70 years 102 TileLetter | September 2017