The flooring industry has talked about the installer shortage for years. But at the upcoming CFI Convention, scheduled to take place Nov. 10–12 at the Marriott Chattangooga Downtown, a panel of industry leaders will challenge attendees to consider a bigger question: Are we truly building a skilled workforce for the future—or are we simply borrowing the workforce we already have?
The question will be explored during a 90-minute interactive panel discussion in which I will serve as moderator. The discussion, which is designed for both commercial and residential flooring professionals, moves beyond simply recruiting more installers. Rather, it will explore what happens after someone enters the trade: how they are educated, how technical knowledge is passed from one generation to the next, whether professional competency is recognized, and whether flooring offers a career path strong enough to attract—and retain—the next generation.
The panel members represent several distinct perspectives across the flooring industry: Roy Allen Lewis, RAL Flooring; David Chambers, Nebraska Furniture Mart; Sandon Carson, Mohawk Industries; David Gross, executive director of INSTALL; John Steier, Steier Flooring; and Greg Wrenn, International Flooring Company (IFC).
Together, they bring decades of experience in installation, manufacturing, flooring dealership operations, workforce education, apprenticeship, technical training, business ownership and installer advocacy. That diversity is intentional. Building a sustainable workforce cannot rest on one organization or one segment of the industry. It requires manufacturers, flooring dealers, educators, training organizations, employers and installers to understand how their decisions affect the people entering—and remaining in—the profession.
Among the questions the panel will tackle: Is flooring installation a career talented young people intentionally choose—or simply one they happen to find? Does greater skill and continuing education lead to greater opportunity? Are experienced installers passing along current, technically correct practices—or sometimes repeating methods simply because “we’ve always done it this way”? And after a new installer receives formal training, who is responsible for protecting and reinforcing that education once they reach the jobsite?
The conversation will also examine the true value of quality installation. A flooring product may be engineered, tested and marketed to perform at the highest level, but ultimately the customer’s experience can depend on the professional who installs it. The panel will discuss how installation quality affects manufacturers, flooring dealers, employers, customers and the reputation of the industry as a whole.
Most importantly, this will not be six individual presentations. The session is structured as a conversation, with panelists building on one another’s perspectives—and with installers in the room invited to participate. Their experience from the jobsite will be essential to identifying what is working, what is not, and what must change.
The goal is not to announce another committee, task force or industry initiative. It is to challenge every part of the flooring community to ask what it can do differently to recruit, educate, mentor, recognize, advance and retain skilled flooring professionals.
The future of flooring installation will not be determined simply by how many people enter the trade—it will be determined by the kind of professionals we help them become, and whether we give them a reason to stay.
Attendees are invited to help shape the discussion in advance. Send questions to me at kwhitener@fcef.org with “CFI Convention” in the subject line.
Kaye Whitener is executive director of the Floor Covering Education Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting recruitment, training and retention of floor covering installers. For more information, email kwhitener@fcef.org.
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