CTEF Blog - About Tile Education and Installer Certification

Are you familiar with Tile Money? Created by tile contractor Luke Miller, this podcast/YouTube channel is all about helping other tile contractors run a successful and profitable tile business:

"Tile Money is the source of business knowledge and advice for today’s Tile Contractor."

If you've spent any time in the tile industry, care deeply about quality tile installation, and embrace installing tile according to industry standards, you will have heard of Scott Carothers, director of certification and training for the Ceramic Tile Education Foundation (CTEF).

And, if you follow the CTEF Blog, you’re surely familiar with the ‘Ask Scott’ article series. 

However, if you're new to tile and just exploring tile installation certification, Scott is someone you will soon encounter and quickly appreciate for his deep knowledge, high standards and intense passion. Not to mention his firsthand involvement in certification, both for the Certified Tile Installer (CTI) program and the Advanced Certifications for Installers (ACT) program.

>> See What Types of Tile Certification Does CTEF Offer?

This article celebrates Steve Rausch, a passionate tile industry and CTEF advocate who never missed a moment to promote quality and Qualified Labor.

Steve passed away unexpectedly on June 8th, 2019. As you might imagine, all of us at CTEF will miss him. 

Every industry has its associations. What makes the tile industry particularly remarkable is the level of collaboration that takes place between its associations and organizations. The Ceramic Tile Education Foundation (CTEF) is an example of that collaboration, working with all those in the industry who are passionate about quality tile installation.

To give you some perspective on those dynamics, we've put together this updated list detailing each tile industry association. 

We have exciting news to share with you: there's a new member of the CTEF team! Her name is Heidi Cronin and she's been hired as CTEF Industry Liaison and Promotions Director.

This is a newly created role to support the next stage of evolution for CTEF. As Bart Bettiga Executive Director of the National Tile Contractors Association (NTCA) and member of the CTEF Board of Directors says,

"We are pleased to welcome Heidi to CTEF in this newly created position. Given her professional experience and passion for Qualified Labor, we are confident that she will be instrumental in supporting the growth of the Certified Tile Installer (CTI) program alongside Scott Carothers, Director of Certification and Training for CTEF, and shaping the tile and stone industry in the United States."

We caught up with Heidi to ask her a few questions.

When it comes to successfully completing kitchen and bath installations, Qualified Labor matters. It helps ensure that the tile installation will perform as expected and look as designed for years to come in spaces that demand a great deal from proper performance. 

Given how demanding these spaces are, there's tremendous benefit to ensuring that designers and installers collaborate as Dan Hecox showed us in Dan Hecox Inspires Designers, Tile Installers to Aspire to Higher Standards. The more designers understand the requirements of tile installations that perform and the better tile installers communicate with designers, the more likely success is all around.

For that reason, CTEF is pleased to collaborate with the National Kitchen + Bath Association (NKBA) as a sponsor of the April 2019 weekly webinar series.

As you might imagine, we love celebrating milestones especially when they reflect hard work and appreciation for the importance of installing tile correctly the first time, adhering to tile installation standards and methods, and generally making Qualified Labor meaningful.

Here's a perfect example: Alex Smith who, after not completing the hands-on portion of the Certified Tile Installer program test in 2015, returned, passed and became CTI #1500. That's a milestone from many perspectives.

We caught up with Alex to learn more about him and his love of tile installation.

The Ceramic Tile Education Foundation has news to share with you! We are searching for an Executive Director to take the foundation's mission to the next level.

This represents a major milestone for CTEF. Realize that all the education, training and certification of 1,500 CTIs and many ACTs achieved this far has happened because of the intense dedication of two full-time staff members, an army of volunteers and the outsourcing of some functions. 

It's time, though, for a dedicated Executive Director.

We caught up with Bart Bettiga, Executive Director of the National Tile Contractors Association (NTCA) and member of the CTEF Board of Directors to learn more.

Are you familiar with the Global Monumental Hand-Print Mural Project?

It's a massively big project, conceived by the Tile Heritage Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to research and the preservation of ceramic surfaces. The mural honors all who participate in and contribute to the tile industry and supports Tile Heritage's vital tile industry archiving work. 

Will you participate? 

Have you noticed the new CTEF logo? It's in two different flavors that both prominently feature the words "Qualified Labor, Certification and Tile Industry Recognized."

These words recognize that the CTEF installer certification programs (i.e., CTI and ACT) are tile industry recognized and define a tile installer with those designations as being ‘Qualified Labor.’

Let's explore in more detail.