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More than 300 focus on skill, productivity, & attitude at INSTALL Leadership Conference
4/18/2010
For three days in April, more than 300 members of the floorcovering installation industry gathered at the training home of INSTALL, with the primary focus of learning strategies to increase skill, productivity, and attitude on all flooring job sites across North America.
INSTALL and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters (UBC) hosted the Floorcovering Leadership Conference April 5-8 for union contractors, mill and manufacturer partners of INSTALL, training and certification experts, the flooring media, specifiers, and economic policy experts. UBC General President, Douglas McCarron, also attended the event to offer his support and leadership, first at a contractors’ luncheon and again to the general audience. He urged contractors to mandate intensive ongoing skill-upgrade training for all of their employees, and to insist that all floorlayers earn the INSTALL certification in resilient, carpet, hardwood, or a combination of these three.
The event was held at the Carpenters International Training Center (CITC) in Las Vegas, NV, a 400,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art training headquarters of the UBC. The UBC represents all mechanics within the INSTALL alliance.
Conference Recap
Jeff Faux from the Economic Policy Institute and Ken Roper from the construction industry management consulting firm FMI opened the slate of guest speakers. Each gave excellent insight regarding the economy and what to expect in the construction industry in the coming months and years.
To launch discussion about floorcovering, the audience heard from Tony Keane, President and CEO of the International Facility Management Association, and Frank Hurd, Vice President and COO of the Carpet and Rug Institute. Both noted the importance of skill, productivity and attitude on any flooring jobsite, and congratulated INSTALL for its commitment to train and then test and certify its mechanics.
“IFMA and INSTALL both value training and certifications. Both are recognized by businesses. Both have earned respect from the construction industry,” Keane said. He later said he will encourage all 122 IFMA chapters across the country to get involved with local INSTALL affiliates in their area.
Exhibiting at the trade show portion of the Conference were INSTALL partners Forbo, Johnsonite, Pro-Knee, Helmitin, Wagner Electronics, Mats, Inc., Duo-Fast, UFLOOR Systems and LGM & Associates. Educational workshops centered on technology, training, marketing, contracts, specifier outreach, and leveraging the INSTALL program to win work.
To help close the Conference, INSTALL’s Labor-Management Committee’s Management Co-Chairman, David Meberg, encouraged participants to spend time educating the thousands of INSTALL mechanics across North America about the advancements discovered and discussed during at the Conference. Meberg is President and CEO of Consolidated Carpet, based in New York City.
“INSTALL has proven to be a lifeline in this recession, and I believe we illustrated why and how we are a viable solution at this conference,” said INSTALL Director, John McGrath.
For more information about INSTALL, contact McGrath at 215-582-4108, email him at INSTALL@carpenters.org, or explore this web site.