The Floor Covering Education Foundation (FCEF) has had an intense and focused year rallying the industry around the goal of reducing the shortage of installation craftsmen in the flooring industry. Each of the organization's initiatives is focused on one of the three primary components of its mission: recruitment, scholarships, and placement.
The organization had a lot of wins in 2023. First, it coordinated the industry's first flooring installation technician program at Georgia Northwestern Technical College (GNTC). Two 10-week pilot programs graduated 15 students (see coverage of these courses here). FCEF achieved accreditation on a 15-week course, and the flooring elective option is embedded in the construction program at Atlanta Technical College.