Nothing Boring About Board Meetings!

Last week I attended the Tile Council of North America’s board meeting as I’ve done every year for the last 10 years or so. A comment was made during one of our meetings that got me thinking, something along the lines of ‘although we all know what the TCNA is and what it does, most people have no clue.’ Prepare to be clued in!

Like most trade organizations, the TCNA is composed of members with similar interests, in this case manufacturers of tile and installation products with facilities located in North America. The organization is led by an Executive Director, Eric Astrachan, and a governing board made up of representatives from member organizations including MAPEI. It has a staff of employees based in Anderson, SC very close to the Clemson University campus. Many of these employees are associated with TCNA laboratories that tests products. Others do technical writing, work with standards committees, and maintain the publications and website. The TCNA is funded by member dues, income from the lab, income from publications, and income from being a part owner of the Coverings trade show.

Most of the work of TCNA is done by committees. There are committees for standards, installation products, legal work, marketing, TCNA Mexico, guiding the laboratory, and the one for which I’m the Chairman, the Green Initiative Committee. Each of these committees works in the background during the year and gives a report to the entire group during the board meeting. As the report is given, members ask questions and discuss the progress on topics of interest to them. Care is taken not to discuss anything that could be construed as anti-competitive and legal representatives are on hand throughout the meeting both as participants and as watchdogs to make sure the group doesn’t stray onto topics that might be covered by anti-trust laws.

I can’t speak too much about what was actually discussed during the board meeting because much of it is ‘forward-looking’ or exploratory in nature. There was considerable discussion about the new requirements of LEED v4 and the Globally Harmonized Standard (GHS) for communicating product hazards. Other discussion focused on dynamic coefficient of friction (DCOF) which has replaced static coefficient of friction (SCOF) for determining if a floor is safe to walk on when wet. The laboratory continues to grow in revenue but is struggling to grow physically, efforts are underway to find more space. The budget is balanced both in the US and for TCNA Mexico. A careful eye is being kept on new trade agreements that have been stagnant for years but are finally getting some renewed life after the last elections.

Involvement in TCNA and other groups (MAPEI is an active member in many such trade groups including NWFA, ASC, RFCI, ICRI and many more) helps members stay current on trends and laws that affect them and gives us a unified voice in discussing ongoing efforts in government, standards development, and trade agreements. Chances are good if you check back in with me in another 10 years, I’ll just have gotten back from the TCNA board meeting.