MEMBER SPOTLIGHT –––––––––––––––––– sponsored by Have you ever wondered – when you got involved with something – where it would take you in life? Today, I am the Training and Development manager for Welch Tile & Marble in Kent City, Mich., the chairperson for the NTCA Training and Education Committee, and I serve on the NTCA Technical Committee. If you would have told me 10 years ago that I would have this much responsibility, I would have told you that you were crazy. My journey in the tile trade start- ed about 27 years ago at a flooring store in Port Clinton, Ohio. There I learned about diverse types of floor coverings, including carpet, sheet vinyl, and of course ceramic tile. Tile wasn’t the focus of the busi- ness, but it was enough to spark my passion for the trade. As years went on, I started my own business after marrying my wife Jenny and moving away from my home town. In my company, I provided carpet, vinyl – and of course ceramic tile – but again it was not the focus of my business. I took every tile proj- ect I could and learned along the way. I soon realized I needed more training. This is where my jour- ney with the NTCA starts. I attended Coverings in Orlando, Fla., in 2007. I must have gotten on the NTCA’s mailing list because I started to receive the TileLetter magazine and began reading about the NTCA and what it had to offer. Being a small company, I initially didn’t NTCA opens the door to a new career for Dave Rogers Dave Rogers, Welch Tile & Marble Dave Rogers Brad Denny (left) with Dave Rogers dur- ing the Regional Evaluator training at TISE West this year. 40 TileLetter | September 2017