Flooring contractors gathered at the Fuse Alliance Conference, held at the Hyatt Regency Downtown in Austin, Texas, March 5-8, 2017. This year, the conference focused on how members can better connect with the architecture and design community in their markets to build more projects with beautifully installed floors.

Fuse Executive Director Geoff Gordon reported that the group is up to 94 members and added six new suppliers this year. The Fuse Commercial national accounts program also grew by more than 50%, according to Mike Hutton, senior vice president, Fuse.

Cheryl Durst, executive vice president and CEO of the International Interior Design Association (IIDA), encouraged contractors to leverage their expertise as an unbiased resource for flooring projects, floor preparation, and successful installation methods. Offering continuing education units is one way to get a foot in the door of design firms. “Bring macro ideas to start,” Durst said. “Talk to them about projects—knowledge about an enterprise—and add specific product information later.”

For more information, visit https://fusealliance.com.

Complete coverage of the conference will appear in the May issue of Floor Trends magazine.