The Floor Covering Installation Contractors Association (FCICA) opened its 2024 Spring Mid-Year Meeting in Dalton, Georgia, where commercial flooring contractors experienced two days of training sessions on subfloor prep and installation best practices and a third day of plant tours. Other event highlights include a panel on recruiting the next generation, a roundtable discussion on how FCICA and the International Certified Flooring Installers (CFI) association can continue to work together to improve training opportunities for commercial flooring installers and the keynote given by Shaw Commercial Division EVP Kelley Fain on day two. 

"In this rapidly evolving market, how can we leverage the power of perspective to set our industry up for the next 50-plus years," said Fain. He shared a personal story of an HVAC repair service providing a high level of responsiveness, frequent communication and education as an example of one way to elevate the commercial flooring industry. But what impressed him most was the followup by the technician who reached out to him personally, "Those are the little things you don't have to do. I believe we do a lot of that in our industry, but we have to keep doing [it at] that level." 

Industry pros Jose Gonzalez, co-founder, Preferred Flooring; Ben Walker, COO, Go Carrera; and Jim Lockwood, productivity and quality manager, Consolidated Flooring, provided some perspective on "Recruiting and Retaining the Next Generation of Flooring Professionals." The panel, moderated by Ed Metcalf, co-founder, Metcalf Advisory Services, fielded questions on motivating the next generation, integrating technology into the installation process, how to attract women to the industry, and what can be adopted from the union.

According to Gonzalez, the non-union side of the industry could benefit from the union's structure and the path they have in place to ensure career advancement. Walker adds, "I think that unions are probably the best trainers that I know of in the flooring industry, and I think that the more the non-union side can emulate that and adopt that and understand how unions train people—there's a lot of value in that." 

Lockwood feels that offering incremental pay is another strategy that could be adopted on the non-union side, "We have first year, second year, third year, fourth year, then a certified B-rate journeyman and then a certified A-rate. So, you have five steps before you get to the certified higher rate."

FCICA members can further enhance their business by partnering with CFI, said Pat Kelly, FCICA Board Chairman, at the opening of the Contractor Round Table. Last year's CFI + FCICA convention was the first time the two entities came together. During that time, both organizations discussed the benefits of the partnership. 

"One of the things that we talked about was the idea of cross pollination—the idea that CFI had offerings and FCICA had offerings that we can market together and capitalize on the strengths of each organization to really ramp up the training side of things," said Steve Abernathy, COO, World Floor Covering Association (WFCA).  

The Contractor Round Table was an opportunity for CFI to cover all the ways in which FCICA members can get involved, starting with commercial installation training in both resilient and carpet. Following that session, Mike Kelly, account manager with Synergy Flooring and FCICA's Steering Committee Chairman, reviewed the Certified Installation Manager (CIM) two-day training program that FCICA offers. 

"The FCICA Certified Installation Manager program is the only certification program available in the floor covering industry that is specific for installation project managers," said Kelly.  

Currently, there are 290 FCICA member companies who employ more than 2,000 people. Eight contractors who traveled from California, Georgia, Nebraska, Texas and Tennessee completed the CIM two-day course the weekend before the meeting, bringing the active CIM count to over 400. 

Brent Stone, project manager, Floors Inc. out of the Omaha, Nebraska location, completed the CIM two-day course. "I worked in construction over the last 15 years, not so much with flooring," he said. "In terms of just managing your costs, understanding the process, understanding communication, understanding being on top of things right away, the CIM program definitely taught you everything that you need to know. It's gonna help me out 200%." 

Working out of the Lincoln, Nebraska location of Floors Inc., Scott DeBerg, account executive project manager, took the course to help fill in knowledge gaps. "I came from 23 years of owning an installation company, so already having that management was crucial for my position with Floors Incorporated," he said. "Taking this course really solidified a lot of the things that I knew, but [I] also [gained] a lot more information from it in how to hold project costs down."

Last year, Neslie Martinez, project manager, Northwest Commercial Flooring, was awarded the Ardex scholarship for the CIM program. "I am very thankful for Ardex and everybody that was involved in that decision," she said. "I finished it! I [gained] a lot of knowledge from it." She works alongside her father Francisco Martinez who has been in the industry for 30 years and started Northwest Commercial Flooring 15 years ago. Neslie's sister, Karina, also works in the flooring industry. She is the assistant project manager for Synergy Flooring and has been with the company for eight years. 

All three family members attended last year's CFI + FCICA joint convention and are looking forward to the two organizations partnering again this year. "What I liked about the convention in Orlando was that both CFI and FCICA worked together, and I hope that this year they get to work [together] again and its bigger and better and we can all learn and [gain] more knowledge," said Karina Martinez. 

The second annual CFI + FCICA convention will be held October 1-3, 2024 in Orlando, Florida at the Rosen Shingle Creek hotel. 

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