Lebanon, Tenn.—The Tile Council of North America (TCNA), in partnership with eight leading ceramic tile manufacturers based here, appointed Michael Kephart, president of Kephart Group Inc., to lead its Tennessee Workforce Development Project—an initiative aimed at strengthening the state’s ceramic tile manufacturing labor force.
“This Tennessee Workforce Development Project is a critical step forward in ensuring our industry’s future growth and success,” said Eric Astrachan, executive director of TCNA. “Kephart’s deep industry knowledge, leadership experience and longstanding support of TCNA and the tile industry make him uniquely qualified to guide this initiative. His ability to connect business needs with workforce training strategies will provide tremendous value to the state and our member companies.”
Kephart brings over 30 years’ experience in ceramic tile development, distribution, manufacturing and international trade. He has held executive roles at Dal-Tile and was a founding member, former president and CEO of Wonder Porcelain here.
In his new role, Kephart will collaborate with the eight Tennessee tile manufacturers, the State of Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, the Tennessee Board of Regents and the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) to design education and training programs. These efforts are in hopes to leverage Tennessee’s historic $1 billion investment in workforce development—intended to help both students and career-changers prepare for high-quality opportunities in the tile industry.
Participating manufacturers include Crossville, Dal-Tile, Del Conca, Florim USA, Landmark Ceramics, Portobello America, StonePeak and Wonder Porcelain.
The project will also work closely with Tennessee’s network of higher education institutions—including the Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology (TCAT)—in an effort to develop trade-focused training programs that increase workforce readiness and enhance career pathways in ceramic tile advanced manufacturing.