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Kephart to lead local tile manufacturing strengthening initiative

May 14, 2025

Efforts are in hopes of leveraging Tennessee’s historic $1 billion investment in workforce development

According to a release by the Tile Council of North America’s (TCNA), Michael Kephart will lead the Tennessee Workforce Development Project. The initiative is aimed at “strengthening the state’s ceramic tile manufacturing labor force” while working with TCAT and other institutions to design education and trade-focused training programs.

“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. “Michael’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.”

The TCNA will partner with eight ceramic tile manufacturers based in Tennessee.

Kephart has over 30 years of experience in the tile industry including:

Being Executive and founding member of Dal-Tile
Being the former president and CEO of Wonder Porcelain
ceramic tile development
distribution
manufacturing
international trade.

Kephart will collaborate with:

Eight Tennessee tile manufacturers (including Crossville, Stone Peak and Portobello)
The State of Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development
the Tennessee Board of Regents
Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD)

These efforts are in hopes of leveraging 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: