INSTALL said that nine companies joined the group after participating in the INSTALL Michigan Floor Symposium recently. The event, which featured a range of product demos, continuing education courses and an installation showcase, is the first in a series of planned regional INSTALL events. Hundreds of Michigan-based specifiers and other construction professionals were on hand for the show.

“Our goal is to create a networking opportunity among the three critical components of a project: the contractor, the supplier or manufacturer, and the customer,” said Tom Lutz, coordinator of the INSTALL Michigan program. “We believe the regional symposium format will allow local professionals to meet and discuss the importance of including installation specifications for a project. Doing so will promote the use of competent, skilled flooring professionals.”

Close to 40 companies set up exhibits at the meeting, including INSTALL’s nine new partners: Blakely Products, Blue Ridge Carpet, Contract Resource Group, ITW Industrial Fastening/Duo-Fast, Erickson’s Flooring & Supply, Beno J. Gundlach, Lock-Crete, LD Commercial Solutions, and Radio Distributors.

Longtime partners were also on hand at the event, including MAPEI. According to MAPEI’s technical service manager Mike Micalizzi, the company is proud to support INSTALL. “MAPEI believes that INSTALL contractors are committed to doing the job right and that their training is top-notch. We support them because we have the same focus and because we both want to further the industry’s installation standards,” he said.

One attendee said the event was worthwhile. “This was a very informative event and I hope to see this sort of thing happening more often,” noted William Langford, zone building supervisor for the Detroit Public Schools. “I was able to learn about a lot of new products and installation specifications and guidelines that can help me immediately.”