NTCA Forms Tom Ade Scholarship Fund
Flowood, MS, March 2, 2021-The National Tile Contractors Association (NTCA) recently announced the formation of the Tom Ade Scholarship Fund. The fund will be used to support the Tom Ade Ceramic Tile Scholarship, named for the industry veteran, which was established in 2014 by the NTCA to provide educational opportunities for children and grandchildren of the association’s contractor members.
In the past seven years, NTCA has issued scholarships totaling $150,000. Now, in 2021, according to NTCA executive director, Bart Bettiga, the association has established an investment fund that is solely designated for scholarships.
In 2018, Laticrete International joined NTCA as a sponsor of the program, pledging dollars on an annual basis. Scholarship awards are announced in the spring with official presentations taking place at Coverings at NTCA Awards Night. A third-party administrator is being secured to manage the process moving forward.
Ade was the NTCA Ring of Honor recipient in 2006, as well as the association’s winner of the Joe A. Tarver Award for Lifetime Service to the tile industry in 2019. He has given or pledged more than $300,000 to the NTCA to use for scholarships for deserving children and grandchildren of NTCA contractor members. Ade was president of NTCA Five Star Contractor, Filling Marble and Tile in Cologne, New Jersey. In addition to supporting the scholarship program,
Contributions to the scholarship fund can be one-time, annual, or monthly in any increment. Donations can be made through this link, or be mailed to the NTCA, P.O. Box 13629, Jackson, MS 39236, with checks made out to the association and earmarked for the Tom Ade Scholarship Fund.
Pic: Tom Ade, left, receiving the Joe A. Tarver Award from NTCA’s executive director, Bart Bettiga in 2019.