The team of American Ceramic Tile & Supply and its affiliated Visalia Ceramic Tile accept their FOBA honor on Aug. 19, 2026. Photo by Devon Jacoby for Backstory Creative

The Business Journal’s Family Owned Business Awards (FOBA) honor multigenerational companies across Fresno, Kings, Madera and Tulare counties. Eight companies were named honorees this year, and four took home awards at our program Wednesday evening. American Ceramic Tile & Supply won in the large business category. Here’s a closer look at the family behind it.

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For nearly 50 years, American Ceramic Tile & Supply and its affiliated Visalia Ceramic Tile business have built a Central Valley operation around family, craftsmanship and service.

The Martinho family business, winner of The Business Journal’s 2026 Family Owned Business Award in the large business category, traces its roots to 1959, when founder Tony Martinho entered the tile industry. Tony and his wife, Betty, established American Ceramic Tile & Supply in Visalia in 1977, opening what the company describes as the first tile store in Tulare and Kings counties.

The family expanded into professional installation in 1985, when Tony founded Visalia Ceramic Tile Inc. The businesses have stayed 100% family-owned as leadership passed from the first generation to the second and third, with members of the fourth now becoming involved.

The companies employ more than 150 people, including about 20 Martinho family members.

“Our grandparents taught us that business is about serving others,” said Sam Bruce, president and CEO. “Values that we were started with are integrity, service and craftsmanship.”

From product selection to installation

American Ceramic Tile & Supply operates as a full-service tile and stone distributor, offering ceramic and porcelain tile, mosaics, glass, accents, ledgestone, natural stone slabs and other building materials, along with design center services and prefabricated countertops.

Visalia Ceramic Tile provides C-54 licensed and bonded installation for residential and commercial projects. Together the companies handle everything from product selection and design to fabrication and installation.

The company expanded into a 10,000-square-foot facility in 1993 before moving to a 40,000-square-foot showroom and warehouse in Visalia’s Industrial Park in 2005. More recently it added a 10,000-square-foot fabrication and retail sales facility near its headquarters.

Its installation work now reaches beyond Visalia, with projects throughout the Central Valley, the Central Coast and Northern California.

 

Training its own installers

Workforce development has become a major focus for the family, which operates an apprenticeship program and invests in employee training and industry certifications.

“We have the most certified tile installers in the country,” said Teresa Inglehart, chief operating officer and director of residential operations. “We’re really proud of the amount of training that we have within our staff, and it just allows us to offer a more elevated product and service.”

The company has been recognized as an NTCA 5-Star Tile Contractor by the National Tile Contractors Association and has at times been the largest employer of certified tile installers in the country, with more than 30. It also received the UpSkill Tulare County Award for its apprenticeship training program.

The family says its biggest challenge going forward is attracting and retaining skilled workers amid a shortage of labor in the construction trades, which has made those efforts an increasingly important part of the company’s strategy.

A mural, a gym and a stadium

The family has supported Visalia Community Stadium, Fresno State scholarships, the Visalia Rawhide, Visalia Unified School District FFA, the Tulare County Fair 4-H and FFA auction, youth sports, Valley Children’s Hospital and Habitat for Humanity.

The company installed a tiled 9/11 mural at Fresno’s Roeding Park at no charge and created a 37-foot World Mural at Valley Children’s Hospital. Its facilities also include Tony Martinho Court, a gym used by youth sports teams, school teams, adult leagues and community organizations.

Preparing the fourth generation

Tony Martinho died of cancer in 1993. The second generation continued operating and growing the business. Today members of the third generation — Bruce, Debbi Barton, Inglehart, Bryce Martinho and Jon Martinho — hold leadership roles, while the fourth generation is beginning to join.

Over the next five years the company plans to keep growing while remaining family-owned, expand its apprenticeship program and prepare more fourth-generation members for leadership.

“We are preparing our next generation of family leaders by really teaching them values, because that’s what it all starts with,” Bruce said. “Leadership to us is about serving others. That’s what we want every generation to carry forward.”

For Inglehart, that growth is ultimately about preserving what the family started nearly 50 years ago.

“As a family business, I would love to leave a legacy of service that just really is an ode to my grandparents,” she said. “Really, just in honor of everything that they’ve started.”