Gobis is 2015 TCNA Tile Person of the Year
SAVANNAH, Ga. – Dave Gobis, a recognized figure in the North American tile industry for education and standards, is the Tile Council of North America (TCNA) Tile Person of the Year Award for 2015.
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Beginning as a tile setter in his grandfather’s shop, Gobis went on to run his own tile businesses, lead the Ceramic Tile Education Foundation (CTEF), and offer his services as a consultant and forensic tile inspector.
In presenting the award at Total Solutions Plus 2015, TCNA Executive Director Eric Astrachan noted that Gobis is an “industry guru,” a go-to resource in the tile industry who continues to have enormous influence in the realms of education and training, standards development, inspection and consulting.
In accepting the award Gobis remarked that the honor is like winning an Academy Award®, “because tile’s been what I’m all about.”
“He started in tile as early as he could haul a bucket,” said Astrachan, who also noted that his own longtime friendship began when Gobis was the Regional Director for the National Tile Contractor’s Association (NTCA) in Region 6. At the time, Astrachan was at the time running installation crews.
“Every time Dave and I would get together, I learned something new about tile and tile standards,” Astrachan said.
Two decades later, Gobis said, that’s still true.
In cataloging Gobis’ many noteworthy achievements, Astrachan focused on his nearly-decade-long post as the CTEF executive director and technical director. Gobis demonstrated his strong commitment to standards-based, non-proprietary training, and much of the core curriculum created by Gobis is still in use today at CTEF for its various installation and inspection courses.
Astrachan also credited Gobis with “keeping CTEF going at a difficult time,” which very much relied on Gobis’ generosity of time and resources.
“My time at CTEF represents the pinnacle of my career,” said Gobis. “I feel very strongly about training, standards, and standards development. It is really important to have verifiable conformance, and develop even, non-biased, and non-marketing-driven standards for our products.”
Gobis also urged industry leaders to invest resources in expanding training efforts and marketing tile as both a material and career of choice.
“One of the reasons I’m so passionate about training and education is because I was able to do so well in tile,” Gobis said.
After learning the trade from working closely with his grandfather, Ralph G. Mayfield, a master tile-and-stone installer and owner of Mayfield Mantel and Tile, Gobis received formal training in tile setting in Jacksonville, Fla.
Later, Gobis set up shop as a tile contractor in Racine, Wis., first as GM Associates and later as Tile Concepts. In the 1980s Gobis joined the Southern Tile, Terrazzo, and Marble Contractors Association (which later became the NTCA), serving as Region 6 director and chairing the Training and Education and Website committees.
In addition to supporting his fellow contractors through association work, Gobis said he took special pride in taking care of his employees, paying them wages equal to those of union workers even before his shop became unionized, and providing them with generous benefits, including merit raises for employees who attended educational sessions.
After selling Tile Concepts in 1998, Gobis readily accepted the challenge to lead the fledgling CTEF, and he expanded his participation in the tile industry by regularly contributing articles to trade publications and speaking at industry events. “
This is really when we started to see a lot from Dave,” said Astrachan, “in an inimitable style that is absolutely the one and only Dave.”
Gobis also became involved in standards development, especially through the ANSI Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) A108, the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) C-21 Ceramic Whitewares Committee and the TCNA Handbook Committee.
Gobis retired from CTEF in 2008 and launched David M. Gobis CTC, LLC, providing forensic tile installation inspections and consulting on a national basis for owners, end users, manufacturers, and contractors.
“For Dave the thrill is really in the challenge and the challenge now for him is figuring out what’s happening on jobs that he’s consulting on. As he has told me more than once: ‘If you don’t wanna know, don’t ask,’” said Astrachan, who also noted that Gobis operates a lab in his home.
“All the testing that I’ve always wanted to do but never could do because there was no budget for it… now I can do it,” said Gobis. “If there is a problem, I will find out what caused it.”
Astrachan noted that NTCA honored Gobis with its prestigious Joe Tarver Cornerstone Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2009.
TCNA is a trade association representing manufacturers of ceramic tile, tile installation materials, tile equipment, raw materials, and other tile-related products. Established in 1945 as the Tile Council of America (TCA), it became TCNA in 2003, reflecting its membership expansion to all of North America.
The TCNA Tile Person of the Year Award is given annually to an individual in recognition of his or her exceptional service to the North American tile industry, as determined by the TCNA Executive Committee of the Board of Directors.
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