The Floor Covering Education Foundation (FCEF), a newly formed, nonprofit organization dedicated to the recruitment, scholarship, placement, and retention of professional floorcovering installers, has unanimously appointed Steve Abernathy as interim executive director. Abernathy, the Chief Financial Officer of the World Floor Covering Association (WFCA) assumed this additional role on January 1, 2020.

FCEF exists to lead a collaborative network of industry and educational partners aligned to create an industry-wide permanent solution to solve the installation crisis. As a driving force in the initiative, the World Floor Covering Association launched the “We are Part of the Solution” campaign, committed an initial seed-funding donation of $1.0M, and is inspiring action and donations by others who are in the flooring industry.

“Steve has been involved with FCEF since its inception and continues to exhibit an enormous amount of passion and dedication to support FCEF’s ongoing efforts to further our mission,” said Board Chairman, Scott Humphrey. “Steve is an experienced leader with 35+ years of experience in the flooring industry and is well-suited for this role as he has served as CFO for the WFCA since 2015 and has played an integral role in the success of the day-to-day operations of the organization. We are excited and grateful that he has agreed to serve in this capacity as we implement a comprehensive search to find a permanent executive director.”

In accepting the appointment, Abernathy said, “I’m honored to lead this organization during the transition process and I am looking forward to working with the dedicated board of directors and committee members as we work collectively to overcome the installation crisis. I believe deeply in this initiative. The Foundation is primed for a bright future.”

The FCEF also announced the formation and appointments of several committee chairs. They include:

• Development - Deb DeGraaf, World Floor Covering Association Chair
• Executive - Scott Humphrey, World Floor Covering Association
• Finance/Investment - Ken Jackson, Shaw Industries Group, Inc.
• Nominating and Governance - Don Roberts, Retail Representative
• Scholarship Distribution - Joe Yarbrough, The Carpet and Rug Institute
• Marketing -To be determined

For more information on how to get involved with FCEF, please visit https://wfca.org.