The Floor Covering Education Foundation (FCEF) is proud to sponsor and support Sen. Ted Budd’s (R-NC) Employer-Directed Skills Act, co-sponsored by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La). This legislation represents meaningful progress in aligning workforce development with real employer needs. Its impact will be felt in states like North Carolina and Louisiana where workforce solutions directly support local businesses and communities.
The Employer-Directed Skills Act empowers employers to play a direct role in identifying, training and hiring the workforce they need. By strengthening access to workforce funding and strengthening collaboration between industry and workforce boards, this bill helps remove barriers that too often slow down skills training in high-demand sectors like flooring. For North Carolina and Louisiana, this partnership is especially significant. Both states have strong flooring manufacturing, distribution and retail networks that rely on skilled installation professionals. As demand for quality installation continues to rise, building structured training pathways becomes essential — not optional.
Through FCEF’s Basic Floor Covering Installation programs, we are actively creating those pathways.
Our programs are expanding into multiple states, partnering with technical colleges, community colleges and high schools to deliver hands-on foundational installation training. These programs do more than teach technical skills; they introduce students to a viable, respected and rewarding career path. They also provide local floor covering dealers with access to trained, entry-level talent who understand industry standards and expectations before they ever step onto a jobsite.
But training is only the first step. Hiring these students is where the real impact begins. Dealers and contractors who bring graduates into their businesses are not just filling open positions; they are investing in the long-term stability of our industry. By providing mentorship, continued education opportunities and real-world experience, employers help these students build sustainable careers.
We are also seeing an exciting trend: retail sales associates enrolling in the Basic Floor Covering Installation programs. There is no better foundation for someone selling installation than to understand it firsthand.
Workforce development is not the responsibility of one organization or one employer. We all have an active role to play in ensuring the floor covering industry is supported for the future with qualified talent. FCEF’s sponsorship of Senator Budd’s legislation reflects our belief that employer-driven solutions are key to building sustainable workforce pipelines nationwide.
In March, WFCA is graciously taking us back to Washington to meet with additional states and representatives to continue raising awareness about the flooring industry and our workforce development needs. Advocacy matters. Visibility matters. And collaborative leadership and policymakers are essential if we are to create long-term solutions.
Supporting FCEF means supporting the future of floor covering. Support FCEF — and the industry will continue to build a strong tomorrow.
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.
