b'TRAINING & EDUCATIONThe Certified Tile Installer Program is on the move By Scott Carothers,Director of Certification and Training, CTEFTheCertified TileInstaller(CTI)Thisdedicatedgroupofevalua-programbeganinAprilof2008tors,forthemostpart,areself-withjustfiveinstallersattheemployed installers or employees CoveringsshowinOrlando,Fla.of tile contracting companies that Now,11yearslater,theprogramarealsoNTCAmembers.They hasgrowntoover1,600CTIs.have demonstrated that they have Notbad,butinordertomeetthepassiontogetthejobdone the current consumer demand, wewith high standards and integrity.needmorequalifiedlaborintheInordertotestmoreinstallers fieldand that is exactly what thewhocouldpotentiallybecome Ceramic Tile Education FoundationCTIs, CTEF needs additional eval-(CTEF) is doing in 2020. uatorstoconductthehands-on With the help of the National Tiletests. The idea of how to facilitate ContractorsAssociation(NTCA),thisincreasednumberofevalu-CTEFisrampinguptheCTIpro- ators came at the CTEF Board of gram in many ways. First off, HeidiDirectorsmeetingatCoverings Cronin was hired by CTEF as the19fromthesuggestionmade IndustryLiaisonandPromotionsby board member Andy Acker of Director.TheNTCAisgenerous- SchluterSystems.Hisideawas lydonatingtheskillsof Assistanttousemanufacturerstechni-Executive Director Jim Olson andcalservicerepresentativesrather theexpertiseof TrainingDirectorthan sales people to create a new MarkHeinleintohelpmovethecategoryofevaluator.Program CTI program to the next level. ManagersMarkHeinleinand Scott Carothers developed a plan Contract Evaluators: bringing thetotrainthesenewevaluators. CTI exam to you! Within three months, the plan was The current group of CTIs whoin place with the first class being areevaluatingthehands-ontestheld in July, 2019.were formally known as RegionalThis stable of technical reps are Evaluators,buttheyarenowbeingprovidedthroughthegen-knownasContractEvaluators.erosityofnumeroustileindus-68TileLetter | February 2020'