b'ONE-TO-ONEindustry is driven by a combinationgratefulforthefriendshipswith of great people and creative prod- otherdistributorleadersIhave ucts, we hope to see the return ofmadethroughCTDA. Theymake moreface-to-facemeetingswhenthisindustryenjoyableandarea this pandemic ends. greatsourceforbusinessadvice when needed. Howhasyourinvolvementin theCTDAandtheindustryben- As a leading provider of ceramic efittedyouindividuallyandasatile and natural stone tile, among leader in your company? otherproducts,whatarethe CTDAhasbeenawonderfulthings you look for when selecting organization to be a part of. I havemanufacturingpartners?Didthe served on their Board of Directorstariff increases and countervailing since2012andhavebenefittedduties assessments on Chinese tile greatlyfromtheconnectionsIvemanufacturershelpyouorhurt made.CTDAconnects,educatesyou,andwhatdecisionsdidyou and strengthens tile and stone dis- make as a result of this news?tributors. They have been extreme- First and foremost, we select sup-lyhelpfulinnavigatingmanypliers that make great products and situations,includingtheChineseare reliable. We are fortunate to be dutyandtariffs,aswellasthepaired with some of the best manu-Coronaviruspandemic.Everyfallfacturers in the industry. theyco-host TotalSolutionsPlus,Whilethelow-endmarkethas a wonderful event that brings con- neverbeenourmainfocus,we tractorsanddistributorstogetherweredoingsomebusinesswith each year to make our industry bet- Chinaandwereaffectedbythe ter. I always learn from that experi- tariff increases and countervailing enceandreturnwithnewideasduties.Luckily,wewerenottoo to share with our staff. I am veryheavilyinvestedinthatmarket, and we were able to find alternativesourcesfor that product category. On the other hand, we arealsohappythatthe rulingstrengthenedthe positionofourdomes-ticsuppliers. Theyhave alwaysbeencriticalto our success, but perhaps The United Tile gang with friends from Pan Americanmorenowthanever. Ceramics of California at a recent Total Solutions Plus. Manyofourprojects 48TileLetter | October 2020'