b'ONE-TO-ONEMichael Kephart, PresidentAmerican Wonder PorcelainStarting this year, TileLetter has added a One-to-One column. In this column, NTCA Executive Director Bart With Bart Bettiga, Bettiga will interview industry leaders about industry NTCA Executive Director topics.While attending Total Solutions Plus in Nashville recently, I had the opportunity to tour the American Wonder Porcelain plant with its president, Michael Kephart. Thisstate-of-theartplantthatopenedin 2017andemploysmorethan200peopleinthe Nashville area, continues the trend of international investment in domestic tile manufacturing plants on U.S. soil. There are many distinct advantages these manufacturers enjoy, and this is especially true recently with the impact that tariffs have had on imported ceramic tile from China. Kephartwashiredaspresidenttooverseethedevelopmentofthe plant and to strategically launch the products into the U.S. market. He is uniquely qualifi ed to lead this operation, with many years of experience in production and product development in the tile industry. While we toured the plant on an enjoyable fall Tennessee day, Kephart and I took the opportunity to chat about producing tile, strategy, and the tile industry.What are the advantages you see ofproducinghigh-qualityporce-lain tile domestically in Tennessee andhowhaveyoutakenadvan-tage of this in todays competitive market?The technical aspects of delivering high-quality porcelain tile to the U.S. marketfrom Tennesseeareasnor-malized today as ever. The domestic production materials are stable and 52 TileLetter | January 2020'