NTCA NEWS 118 TileLetter | September 2017 NTCA completes first year of Apprenticeship Program The National Tile Contractors Association (NTCA) has complet- ed the first year of related content for its Apprenticeship Program. Year one of the two-year online training program is composed of 64 courses that serve as an intro- duction to the tile industry, begin- ning with the basics of cutting, mixing and grouting, and moving to surface preparation, underlay- ment application and other instal- lation processes. With 500 enrollments for the first year of curriculum, these courses are intended to support contractors in training by serving as a train- ing resource for employees who are new to the industry, or as the related learning for the contractor’s Department of Labor-approved apprenticeship program. In addition to proper training for new hires, these courses may also serve as continued education for tile professionals who would like to refresh their memory on basic knowledge of the industry. “When we started developing these courses, I knew very little of the actual tile installation pro- cess including materials, tools, and all of the steps required before installing tile,” said NTCA Training & Education coordinator Becky Serbin. “We worked with expe- rienced contractors and manu- facturers to simplify the courses so that someone such as myself, who is new to the installation pro- cess, would be able to understand industry terminology, and apply course information on the job.” The second year of the Apprenticeship Program is under development, and will continue to be announced in six month incre- ments and be available for view- ing and purchase online as each course is completed. For more information regarding the apprenticeship program, please contact Becky Serbin at becky@ tile-assn.com, or visit www.tile- assn.com. INDUSTRY NEWS –––––––––––– ARDEX Americas to expand Aliquippa manufacturing facility In July, ARDEX Americas (ardex- americas.com) announced a major expansion of its Aliquippa, Pa., manufacturing facility, effectively doubling its size. This is the third such expansion for the compa- ny this year. In February ARDEX released news of an extension for the Dallas, Ga., plant and is also currently working to expand the manufacturing footprint in Stockton, Calif. The Aliquippa addition, which is the site of the Americas headquarters, includes significant increases in warehouse and production capabilities to bet- ter facilitate ARDEX’s growth strat- egy. The expansion comes as a result of “strong growth throughout the ARDEX Americas and across all