At Artistic Tile CTI event, teamwork with association and hosts create smashing success QUALIFIED LABOR –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– On June 24, Artistic Tile hosted a Certified Tile Installer (CTI) exam at its Nashua, N.H. location. The event was characterized by outstanding support by Artistic Tile. Eleven people took the test – 10 taking it for the first time, and one re-test. All but one tester finished in the allotted time. “This is an excellent result in itself, and is a reflection on the organization of the host and appropriateness of the test location,” said Mark Heinlein, NTCA Director of Training who also acted as evaluator for the test “In addition to the evaluation, we were able to provide excellent real-time training to two future CTEF CTI Evaluators,” Heinlein continued – NTCA Rhode Island State Ambassador Matt Blood and NTCA Massachusetts State Ambassador Stephen Belyea. Both these State Ambassadors will help expand the national network of Regional Evaluators to meet the ever-growing demand for CTI sta- tus and Qualified Labor require- ments and expectations. The Regional Evaluator training had an unexpected but excellent side benefit for the testers “Due to the extra time taken for the evalu- ator training process, each CTI test taker received an opportunity to witness the detailed evaluation and discussion of their work,” Heinlein said. “Through this process they received some excellent feedback on their efforts. This is extremely valuable for them and the program. Nearly every person who takes the CTI exam admits to it being a hum- bling and generally a great expe- rience. The comments I received immediately following this evalua- tion were no exception.” (L. to r.) Matt Blood, NTCA Rhode Island State Ambassador; Stephen Belyea, NTCA Massachusetts State Ambassador; Mark Heinlein, NTCA Training Director and CTI Evaluator; Salvatore DiBlasi, NTCA mem- ber from Massachusetts; Mike Blasko, NTCA member from Connecticut. 70 TileLetter | September 2017