Contributed SKILL BUILDING — Carpentry students at Jefferson County Joint Vocational School participated in a professional floor-covering training program and worked with master installers during a week of instruction followed by three weeks of floor replacement work in the school’s main office. Upon completion, each student earned an International CFI certification and the Trained Floorcovering Professional designation while also being added to Trade Tap, World Floorcovering’s employment agency for the flooring industr

BLOOMINGDALE — Carpentry students at Jefferson County Joint Vocational School are building skills from the ground up after taking part in a professional floor-covering training program.

Instructor Dave Lucas said about a dozen students participated in the program in April, taking part in short-term, hands-on courses taught by certified flooring installers while completing a flooring replacement project in the school’s main office.

The effort began through discussions between JVS officials, Mark Farnsworth, president of Floorcovering Basics, and Emily Boyer, adult education coordinator at Tri-County Career Center.

Farnsworth developed the training program and secured funding through the Ohio Department of Labor, enabling partnerships with Boyer and other career centers to help build the workforce. The program initially worked with three juvenile detention centers to help place about 200 youths on a career path before expanding to Tri-County Career Center, where roughly 100 students ages 14 and older participated through The GRIT Project.

“There’s a lack of tradesmen in the flooring business, and this is a program Farnsworth created because there’s a need in Ohio. The trade is in big demand,” Lucas said. “The state provided funding to get the program started, and two professional floor layers came in to train the students for a week. The students then completed the project over three weeks.”

Master installers led training sessions April 13-17 and remained on-site as students removed carpeting, sanded and scraped floors, applied clear sealants and installed new flooring across about 1,500 square feet in the main office, hallway and an adjoining room.

The JVS purchased flooring materials for the project while Lucas and aide John Eick supervised the work.

Upon completion, each student earned an International CFI certification and the Trained Floorcovering Professional designation. Graduates also will be added to Trade Tap, World Floorcovering’s employment agency for the flooring industry.

Lucas said flooring careers are in high demand and can provide strong earning potential.

“The main objective is to bring more new members into the flooring trade,” Lucas said. “If there is enough interest, the students could attend a four- to five-week training program in the summer to become certified.”

He added that he was pleased with the students’ efforts throughout the project.

“The trainers worked with the kids, and the kids worked hard,” Lucas said. “It was a great experience.”

Superintendent Ted Gorman said Farnsworth approached the school with the opportunity to help students learn a valuable skill while earning certifications.

“This experience gave our students the chance to learn in the classroom and then apply those skills on an actual job site, which is exactly the kind of real-world learning we want to provide,” Gorman said. “I want to thank Mark Farnsworth, president of Floorcovering Basics, and Emily Boyer from Tri-County Career Center for helping bring this opportunity to Jefferson County JVS. Their support made it possible for our students to gain valuable experience while completing a flooring installation project right here at our school.”

Gorman said the instructor and installers who worked with the students provided valuable insight into the flooring industry and its expectations.

“This is what career-technical education is all about: students learning a skill, working alongside professionals and seeing the results of their hard work in a finished project they can be proud of,” he said.

Farnsworth said there is a growing need for workers in the flooring industry and that the training program helps address the shortage.

“When you look at high schools and colleges, no one teaches the floor-covering trade, but floor covering is everywhere,” Farnsworth said. “Ohio is the first state to implement the program, and Ohio State uses my manual.”

Students also learn sales, estimating and inspection skills, preparing them for careers that can begin around $40 per hour.

“I think taxpayer money is going to skilled trades because that is what the government is pushing,” Farnsworth said. “We’re aging out, and we’re supposed to be passing this down.

“They will receive international certificates, and the credential they receive replaces their electrical license. Everyone also becomes part of the World Floorcovering Agency. We’re doing this all over the U.S., but Ohio is the start of everything.”

SKILL BUILDING — Carpentry students at Jefferson County Joint Vocational School participated in a professional floor-covering training program and worked with master installers during a week of instruction followed by three weeks of floor replacement work in the school’s main office. Upon completion, each student earned an International CFI certification and the Trained Floorcovering Professional designation while also being added to Trade Tap, World Floorcovering’s employment agency for the flooring industry.