As the Floor Covering Education Foundation (FCEF) nears its third anniversary, a look back reveals a series of wins, including the creation of the Basic Floor Covering Installation Course that was implemented in community and technical colleges. But as Jim Aaron, executive director of the FCEF, reveals in this Q&A with FCNews senior editor Ken Ryan, much work still needs to be done—specifically flooring suppliers and “thousands” of flooring retailers need to step up and support this effort.
Summarize FCEF’s progress.
It’s important to recognize that there was no proven roadmap or blueprint to follow when starting the FCEF. The mission statement was established by the founding FCEF board members, but what was missing was the “how.” So, not only did we need to develop that plan, but we needed to build “the foundation of the foundation.” And that meant establishing all the internal processes and protocols, developing a marketing strategy, building websites and much more. We’ve done all of that and we’ve built a replicable plan that is already making a difference.
Standout accomplishments?
Part of what has created and then worsened the labor issue is the absence of any formal and industry-recognized training in communities across the nation. When training for every other trade is available in practically every city and town, it’s ridiculous to expect a new recruit to pack up and travel halfway across the country for weeks at a time just to learn basic flooring installation techniques. That’s why creating of the Basic Floor Covering Installation Course to implement in community and technical colleges was so important to making a lasting change. We brought the three major training organizations together and facilitated the development of that course content. This had never been done before—and what I’m most proud of the FCEF team accomplishing.
What key objectives still need to be reached?
The FCEF is executing what I call a twin-track approach. The long-term approach involves creating lasting change and sustainability by ramping up the replication of the technical and community college program. Our long-term goal is to have the program operating in 200 technical colleges by 2028. That’s aggressive but doable if we get the support we need from the industry. But we also know we need some short-term wins. There are so many retailers that simply need installation crews now, or their business will be in jeopardy. That’s why our short-term approach involves working directly with retailers to bring short-term training from our approved training providers right to them. We have an execution plan that makes the whole process simple. Retailers just need to connect with us to discuss their needs and we can plan next steps.
To what extent is the flooring industry responding?
As we meet with technical and community colleges interested in implementing the Basic Floor Covering Installation course, it’s amazing to hear how other industries financially support the recruiting and training of the next generation of people into their industry. So many other industries have been doing this for decades—and they’ve been doing it on a grand scale. The flooring industry is incredibly far behind on this issue.
Goals for 2024?
2024 must be the year we go from having a small group of manufacturers and retailers financially supporting FCEF to achieving broad, industry-wide support. I don’t know any other way to say this—but if we can’t get to a place where dozens more suppliers and thousands of more retailers are supporting FCEF instead of just a handful, FCEF could cease to exist.
Other than financial, what kind of engagement is needed for FCEF to find success?
I am absolutely certain that no significant progress against the installation labor crisis will be made without significant engagement and activity at the local level.
