b'TRAINING AND EDUCATIONCosentinoonlyupholdingstandardsintheir announced its part- work, but seeking the training and nership with quali-fied tile contractorsexperiencethatsneededtowork during its recentbringahighlytechnicalproduct sales summit inlike Dekton into their repertoire.Houston. Thebenefitofthispartnership was revealed at Cosentinos nation-alsalessummitinearlyFebruary in Houston. Presenters from NTCA Five-StarContractorsJ&RTilein San Antonio, Texas, and CasavantJ&R Tiles Erin Albrecht (r.) walked the TileinSaugerties,N.Y.,provid- attendees through the program, while edtheclosingtwo-hoursessionJ& R Tiles Triniti Vigil (c.) and Casavant Tiles Eric Treteault demonstrated the ease toexplaintheopportunitiesforof crafting sinks and countertops with Cosentino to partner with qualifiedDekton and hand tools.tile installers to expand the marketJ&RTilesErinAlbrechtwalked forDektonproductspecificallythe attendees through the program, 8mm and 4mm panels.whileJ&R Tiles Triniti Vigiland Casavant Tiles Eric Treteault dem-onstrated the ease of crafting sinks and countertops with Dekton and handtools. Thespeedandquick turnaroundofcompletingDekton projectsbytileinstallersusing handtoolslikegrinderswaseye-Eric Tetrault of Casavant Tile (in Dektonopening for the sales force.jacket) talks with interested sales people after the presentation.Introducing Dekton UniversityCosentinohaspartneredwithThepresentationintroduceda NTCAFive-StarContractorsforbrandnewconcepttothesales about five years, offering preferredteam: the development of Dekton pricing for these top-tier installers.University. Cosentino has commit-But the sales summit presentationted to partnering with and support-pointedoutthebenefitsofwork- ing qualified labor locally to devel-ingwithamuchlargeruniverseopanetworkofhighly-trained of1,600CertifiedTileInstallersinstallers to install Dekton panels. (CTIs)whoarededicatedtonotTrained CTIsmany who are NTCA memberswill be regional trainers 106TileLetter | May 2020'