December 2020 President's Letter

Committed to connection

It is my honor to serve as the president of the National Tile Contractors Association (NTCA). If we’ve never met, let me introduce myself: I am the owner and president of Heritage Marble & Tile Inc., in Northern California and have been working in the tile industry for over 40 years. I have had a long-standing commitment to improving tile installation industry standards and practices through my professional roles, and look forward to serving as your president for the next two years.

I have been a member of the NTCA for over 15 years and have contributed to our organization through serving on several committees. Currently, I serve on the NTCA Standards and Methods Committee and Technical Committee, and the American National Standards Institute A108 Committee. I am passionate about advancing the mission of our organization to develop and maintain industry standards, promote qualified labor, and meet the professional development needs of our membership.

In my new role as president, I will work with NTCA leadership to strengthen our organization by attracting and retaining talented contractors from all populations to expand our membership. By becoming a more diverse organization we will be well positioned to meet the business and practice needs of our members and the communities that they serve. We have a strong trade association that is revered by others, and there has never been a more important time than now to be a member of this association.

I am also strongly committed to expanding training and education programs to reach a wider audience. Given the fast-changing world of material technologies and growth among our partner manufacturing companies, it is critical to keep field technicians informed about best practices for the installation of materials that they use. I believe we have fellow contractors in the tile industry workforce that would benefit from the training opportunities, apprenticeship programs, insurance programs, retirement programs and other cost savings programs that would promote growth and make their businesses more profitable. I will work with NTCA leadership to tailor training programs that meet the current needs of our workforce. I am fortunate to inherit the gold standard in leadership from Bart Bettiga and Jim Olson, with whom I look forward to working closely during the next two years.

Our social media platform will take on a new look and we will embrace technology to communicate with our members and disseminate information about our activities via a digital platform to make it more accessible from mobile devices. Having a digital presence will ensure that we are effectively communicating with our membership and will give us a more visible digital presence on Facebook and YouTube.

In addition to these changes, in 2021, we are launching a new large-format bi-annual publication called TileLetter ARTISAN. This will focus on beauty – of precision tile setting, of craftmanship and artistry. It will celebrate these qualities, provide practical information for those who want to take their craft up a notch, and inspire others to get in on this highly creative aspect of the trade. The mission is to celebrate, inform and inspire – and also to connect today’s tile setters with the legacy of the craft through the ages. Look for it in April and October!

It is an exciting time to be part of this great trade association and I look forward to meeting you all in person at either a trade show or seminar.

Sincerely,

Martin G Brookes, President, National Tile Contractors Association
martin@heritagemarbletile.com