NTCA names Florida contractor Tile Person of the Year
The Time Person of the Year is Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook. But who is the Tile Person of the Year?
The answer is John Canto of Canto Tile & Stone in Tampa, Fla. The National Tile Contractors Association (NTCA) presented him with the Tile Person of the Year award at the industry’s Total Solutions Plus Conference.
Canto served four years as the association’s regional director in the late 90s. He served as NTCA president from 2006 to 2008 and chairman of the board from 2008 to 2010.
The Canto family has been associated with tile contracting for almost 80 years. Canto worked for his father at Hillsborough Tile from 1969 to 1982, specializing in both commercial and residential tile work. Later, Canto joined Tampa, Fla.-based Craig Tile, a growing commercial and residential contractor. Canto remained with the company for 25 years, starting as an estimator, and subsequently holding positions in sales and project management. During his tenure with Craig Tile he was promoted to VP and eventually president.
He formed Canto Tile and Stone in 2007, along with wife Linda, son John and daughter Natalie. In 2009 Canto Tile was awarded the NTCA Five-Star status -- one of only 18 firms to do so to date. In 2010 Canto was recognized as an industry consultant, passing a rigid set of association criteria to honor industry experts for job site investigation and reporting.
