EDITOR'S LETTER ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– students who have taken the first wave of apprentice courses. Her article demonstrates how these courses are being used for person- al enrichment and also for overall training within a company. It’s no surprise that tile sizes are growing (and shrinking, but that’s a different story) and that large- format product is here to stay. In our Large-Format section, we present three case studies of chal- lenging large-format installs and how the NTCA member contrac- tors – all of whom are Certified Tile Installers or employ them in their crews – obtained high-quali- ty, high-performance results. In Hot Topics, we again go to the field to present the follow-up to our February exploration of dealing with substandard tile. We explore suggestions for avoiding problems with tile that doesn’t comply with the manufacturing standards and that is sure to cause headaches if installed. We present information that makes your day to day operations successful, but what about when you are ready to retire? Read Vincent Mastrovito’s Business Tip story about wisely planning for your exit, and clearing the path of any obstacles that might interfere with you taking your leave. Hopefully content this month will give you food for thought. Have opinions about what you are reading, or even suggestions for future articles? Feel free to pen a letter to the editor and send it to me at lesley@tile-assn.com. We’re always willing to give respectful discussion a voice! God bless, Lesley lesley@tile-assn.com 16 TileLetter | April 2018