NEWS BRIEFS Headlines and a short synopsis of items are shown. Enter the link in your browser for details AGC recently reported that seasonally adjusted construction employment rose in 38 states and the District of Columbia year- over-year (y/y) from March 2017 to March 2018, and declined in 12 states, an AGC analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data released at the end of April. The value of new construction starts in March jumped 11% at a seasonally adjust- ed annual rate, following decreases of 3% in February and 2% in January, according to Dodge Data & Analytics, both nonresidential building and residential building eased back slightly in March, with respective declines of 1% and 2%. Housing starts in March increased 1.9% at a seasonally adjusted annu- al rate from the February rate and 11% from the March 2017 rate, the Census Bureau reported onTuesday. Building permits, a fairly reliable indicator of near-term starts, rose by 2.5% for the month and 7.5% y/y. https://bit.ly/2Krz8oU Anatolia Tile and Stone was recently named one of Canada’s best managed companies by Maclean’s, one of Canada’s largest news outlets, along with Canadian Business Magazine. This is the sec- ond time it has won that honor. The first time was when it was recognized by Deloitte in 2008 as one of Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies. https://bit.ly/2JFWYwa Crossville recently contributed all the tile for a specially adapted smart home in Iowa. Crossville is the exclusive tile supplier for the Gary Sinise Foundation’s R.I.S.E. program (Restoring Independence Supporting Empowerment). The home was for U.S. Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Tech Taylor Morris and his family. The house was dedicated in a cer- emony on April 5th in Iowa. More than 1,800 sq. ft. of Crossville Moonstruck and Yin + Yang tile were installed in the master bath, the guest bath, and the mudroom/ sunroom. BK Flooring of Cedar Falls, Iowa, was the installer for the tile as well as the wood flooring for the Morris home. https://bit.ly/2Kp1YX0 102 TileLetter | May 2018