NEWS BRIEFS HPS Schönox becomes Starnet Preferred Vendor – As part of its ongoing effort to be “Ön It” through innovation, solutions, and service, HPS NORTH AMERICA, INC. (“HPS Schönox”) announc- es it has become a Preferred Vendor of Starnet Worldwide Commercial Flooring Partnership. https://bit.ly/2XrZihW LATICRETE celebrates top appli- cators with SUPERCAP Awards – LATICRETE recently celebrat- ed top LATICRETE® SUPERCAP® self-leveling underlayment (SLU) applicators with its second annu- al Applicator of the Year and Spirit of SUPERCAP Awards. Mike Florentino, the President of NextGen Ready-Mix in New York (pictured), was honored with the Applicator of the Year Award for the company’s year-over-year growth and achievements using the LATICRETE SUPERCAP System. Last year’s Applicator of the Year Award winner Paul Pappalardo, Operations Manager for Allegheny Contract’s Surface Prep Division in Boston, was awarded the Spirit of SUPERCAP Award for inspir- ing others through outstanding acts of service and commitment. https://bit.ly/2SxN1VJ Houzz study: cautious optimism aboundsfor2019 business–A recent study by Houzz revealed that more than half of resi- dential renova- tion and design companies cite a positive out- look for 2019 (58 to 80%), though they expect the national economy to deteriorate in the coming year. Hiring continues amidst tight labor market with one-fifth of design-relat- ed and over a third of construction- related industries planing to hire in 2019, though companies anticipate challenges to labor availability and costs in the year ahead, specifically in construction. Despite decelera- tion in annual growth rate compared to 2017, annual revenue growth in 2018 remained positive. Read more here: https://bit.ly/2TqdPve AmeriFirst announces new mobile app and pricing – AmeriFirst Home Improvement Finance, LLC unveiled at KBIS last month its updated mobile applica- 96 TileLetter | March 2019