(Kansas City, MO) - Jerry Murphy, regional manager for Fishman Solutions opened the industry meeting on Wednesday evening by saying, “We, at Fishman Solutions are so proud to witness this monumental event; the first industry-sponsored CFI- WFCA Resilient Certification. I have been in this business for 35 years and I never thought I would see the day that the largest resilient manufacturers in the world would come together to form one educational unit. With the manufacturers placing their logos aside and working side by side with the CFI instructors, we are all focused on a mission. This is indeed an historic event.”

Manufacturer representatives included Rick Herr, Tony Pastrana and Tim Provence from Armstrong; Joe Cea and Ed Justice from Congoleum; Kevin Flannigan from IVC; Dick Schmidt from Johnsonite; Terry Fitzpatrick, Ron Wheel and Bill Wiese from Mannington and Jeff Silfies from Tarkett. Distributor representatives included Jerry Murphy from Fishman Solutions and Tim McAdoo from J. J. Haines who attended the Friday session.

The event began with a catered dinner by Fishman Solutions on Wednesday evening. Joe Cea, Chairman of the CFI Resilient Committee welcomed and thanked everyone for attending. He explained the purpose of the event and congratulated the group for working together for the good of the industry. Bob Gillespie, Past President of CFI explained that the training was a work in progress until this event. He stressed the importance of receiving comments from everyone concerning additions or revisions to the program to end up with a product that provides the flooring installer with the best possible training.

Gillespie continued, “Installers will look back someday and feel privileged to have been involved in this event. You have an abundance of information to share because the manufacturers know their products better than anyone else. Working together, we cannot fail in presenting this unique program. CFI is a recognized brand name with some of the finest installation training in the industry because we present generic training to encompass all types and brands of flooring. We know how important it is to present the installation specifics that are critical to the success of each product. You are giving us information that will be used in these programs. We welcome your comments and look forward to working closely with you in the future.”

Tony Buckhardt, CFI Master-II and Secretary of the organization presented the program schedule and what was expected of the installers to earn their certification. He addressed the point system of grading and what the instructors would be looking for if the installers were to complete the course successfully. “CFI is an organization that was established to train installers and certify them according to skills and knowledge. We achieve our goal at every event when proud installers return to their areas to achieve the ultimate in customer satisfaction. CFI, working with the World Floor Covering Association is known for delivering the type of training that is expected and it does make a difference.”

On Thursday morning, the installers arrived at Fishman Solutions to begin the steps toward achieving certification. Jerry Murphy welcomed the group and stated how proud Fishman was to host this historic event. Tony Buckhardt addressed the group and said, “The CFI Proven Methods of Residential Resilient Flooring Installation outlined in the CFI Study Guide is the basis for the written test, incorporating points from each manufacturer that are specific to their products. We suggest that you review this to achieve success in the written test. We also appreciate the attendance of Andrew Goshorn, Charles Harmon and Robert Still of Commercial Carpets of America; Mike Rafatjah of Mike’s Carpet and Robbie Wickline of Flooring America to obtain their CFI Technical Certification. Many of the installers who attended are representatives of the CFI Delmarva Chapter. Value Carpet One, Burkholder’s Flooring America, Eric Burnette Floor Covering, Commercial Carpets of America Carpet One, Flooring America, P&H Flooring, Andre’s Installation Company, Newman Floor Covering and Torres Floor Covering.”

“We began with Safety and Product Identification,” said Bob Gillespie, CFI Master-II, as he presented the PowerPoint designed for the training. “We covered OSHA, EPA, the RFCI, ASTM Standards and product identification. We discussed the types of wear layers and construction of the resilient flooring and the standards for quality installation and the importance of the manufacturer guidelines.”

“With each of the manufacturer technical advisory teams participating, the topics of moisture testing procedures, the substrate and subfloor, the layout, fitting of the materials, subfloor preparation, seam cutting, bonding, adhesive and preparation to install and the seam treatments were discussed. The installers were actively engaged in the hands-on application following the demonstrations by the instructors. The first day concluded with the CFI written test,” said Roland Thompson, CFI Master-II and President of the Delmarva CFI Chapter.

“The second day began at 7:30am with the layout and installation of luxury vinyl tile; the completion requirements of the installation and the successful repair techniques,” said Buckhardt. “The written tests were distributed and all questions that were not answered correctly were addressed, so no one left not understanding what is required. The installers will receive the CFI Residential Resilient Certification and become a member of the organization.”

“This type of training resulted in 21 better educated resilient flooring installers walking out of our building.” Murphy continued, “You could see the pride in their steps. I think we can all agree that education, coupled with the opportunity to hone the installers’ skills, are key ingredients for better installations. If every city follows this, we could see a lot less callbacks and have happier end users. No matter what level of the business you are in, we all want our customers satisfied.”

“The installers and the CFI instructors were impressed by this type of training done by people who do this for a living. It was a learning experience for everyone; we all learned something because each one of these representatives is so good at what they do; they really know their products and the installation requirements. This was quite an unprecedented experience with all of us working together for the good of the industry. Jerry Murphy described it best by saying it was historical,” said Gillespie.

“I was honored to be a part of this historic event. In my 45+ years in this industry, I have never witnessed such an intense group of installers wanting to learn and expand their expertise. To have all the major manufacturers present to do the training is in itself an historic event. The installers were trained and instructed by the leaders of the resilient industry and well should be proud to have been a part of this certification,” said William Wiese, Mannington technical services. “As members of manufacturers’ staffs, it was rewarding for all of us to be able to explain the differences in the installation of our products to assist the installers in avoiding difficult situations. This group has an advantage that few are able to receive at a training event because of the contributions by the manufacturers.”

Ed Justice, Congoleum Installation Specialist stated, “This was a great experience to participate in such an historic event. Every installer I spoke with at the class made very positive comments regarding the class curriculum and also the format used to convey each topic during the class seemed to be very well received. I have had the privilege to teach installation classes for over 20 years with Congoleum, but this class was a dream come true. To be a part of history in the making when representation from all the resilient manufacturers came together in the spirit of installation training with a common goal to offer the best training class our industry has ever seen was truly a remarkable experience. This was a huge success.”

Roland Thompson, CFI Master-II stressed, “It is impossible to say only a few things about this event. I have been in the flooring business for forty years. With that being said, the experience of being a part of this certification is on the top of the list of things of which I am very proud. Watching all the different instructors working together for one cause, along with seeing the installers taking in every word, is indescribable. I cannot say enough about how everyone worked so well together to provide the best possible training experience. I have already spoken with many who attended and they cannot say enough about how lucky they feel to have part a part of this and are ready for another training event. I can’t say enough for all the local dealers and distributors who enthusiastically donated items to make this event successful. Dan Place from P. H. Flooring said that Luke from their company came home excited and learned so much and he was very nervous about attending. The Delmarva CFI Chapter is very proud to be a part of this event.”

“This event exceeded my expectations, all the trainers worked together so smoothly and cooperatively. The CFI team was exceptional and Roland and the Delmarva CFI Chapter deserve recognition for making this happen,” said Tim Provence of Armstrong.

Joe Cea of Congoleum added, “The Congoleum Corporation is proud to be a part of the historic CFI training. Ed Justice and I with over 30 years of training experience also came away with learning new installation “tricks.” We extend our thanks to Jerry Murphy and the staff at Fishman Solutions for hosting the training, for their great facility and for providing lunch for everyone.”

Andrew Goshorn, President of the Maryland Northern Virginia Floor Covering Association said, “The importance of the scholarship funds from World Floor Covering Association that enabled a large group of flooring professionals to attend a CFI training workshop makes this type of training affordable which is so necessary. I attended to gain the knowledge for a CFI Technical Certification which helps me to fully understand the requirements of this type of flooring installation and to discuss specifics with the manufacturers who were represented and how this relates to the real world application.”

“I would love to see the carpet, ceramic, laminate and wood manufacturers all step up and sanction one certification as the resilient flooring manufacturers are doing. This will improve the installation world,” said Murphy. “Fishman thanks CFI, Armstrong, Congoleum, IVC, Mannington, Johnsonite and Tarkett for this opportunity. We thank our vendors, Crain and Gundlach and our fellow distributors, Allied Products and J. J. Haines for their contributions that made this event possible.”

“This event has indeed set a precedent for CFI and the industry,” said Jim Walker of CFI. “Without the support of the WFCA, a majority of installers would find installation training unaffordable. We commend their efforts for including installation in the WFCA programs. Skilled and knowledgeable installers are the retailers’ best support to achieve the ultimate goal of a quality installation. CFI strongly suggests that all flooring installers become a part of this organization to not only benefit from the scholarship programs, but to better acquaint themselves with the business ideas that are shared by WFCA. CFI is appreciative of every manufacturer who took the time to be a part of this event; of the manufacturers who donated products and supplies and for the installers who understand that knowledge is power. And, I can’t state it often enough how much CFI appreciates the support of Fishman Solutions and everything they do for the benefit of quality installation. This industry needs everyone working together to be successful and provide our customers with what is expected from a flooring installation.”

Support for this event came from manufacturers who were not present, but provided product and tools. AAT, Allied Products, Armstrong, Beno J. Gundlach Company, Better Tools, Bullet Tools, Bosch, Carpet Cushions and Supplies, Carpet Shims, Congoleum, Crain, DeWalt, Dustbuster, Duo-Fast, Fishman Solutions, GE, J. J. Haines, Johnsonite, Koolglide, Mannington, Mohawk, Personna, QEP, Seam Master, Stanley, Taylor Tools, TRAXX and Wagner Electronics.
CFI, the leading organization for flooring installers has trained over 48,000 since 1993.

For information concerning the programs that encompass the majority of flooring products or to host an event, contact CFI at (816) 231.4646 or cfiguy@earthlink.net.