INSTALL Loses 2nd Committee Member with Passing of
St. Louis, November 15, 2005--The International Standards and Training Alliance (INSTALL) has lost its second founding committee member in less than a month with the death of Co-Chairman Arnold F. Dickson.
A veteran retired floor layer in the western Pennsylvania area, Dickson died October 31 of a massive heart attack. He was 70 years old. A native of Pittsburgh, Pa., Dickson had a long history with the Floor Coverers Local 1759, having served as its president for 16 years. Throughout his career, he has also served as the Local’s business manager, steward, and treasurer. A major focus during his time with Local 1759 was increasing quality of installation through better training for union apprentices and journeymen.
Based on this commitment to raise the skill levels of floor covering professionals, Dickson played a key role in helping to expand INSTALL’s alliance program, which placed technical and education experts from leading mills and manufacturers into the role of advising on INSTALL curriculum.
Dickson served as labor co-chairman of the INSTALL labor-management committee since its inception in 1990. He immediately led the group to look beyond its initial task of assimilating hard tile installation training into existing United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America flooring training centers. Instead, Dickson helped steer the creation of the INSTALL program to address the lack of qualified floor covering professionals in the industry.
“We are truly saddened to lose Arnie. He was a great asset, and a wonderful gentleman. We will miss him,” said INSTALL Director Jim Schmid.
