Did you know that as a WSRCA member, your membership provides you with complimentary technical advice from one of the most qualified professionals in the roofing and waterproofing industry? Whether you have a question about how to properly install, maintain or repair a specific roof system — or want advice on a current project, WSRCA members can contact our Technical Advisor for direct assistance.

To our members, technical advice is valued at $1,775 annually!*

* WSRCA conducted four qualitative research focus groups sessions throughout the western states (Phoenix, Los Angeles, Portland and the Bay Area) The dollar value listed is an average 'ROI' estimate by WSRCA members averaged over those sessions.

Regards,


Alec Ward | Director of Membership
Western States Roofing Contractors Association
275 Tennant Avenue, Ste 106 - Morgan Hill, CA 95037
Local: 650-938-5441Toll Free: 800-725-0333

Convoy Supply, a North American leader in the distribution of construction materials has announced the addition of Mr. Jamie Mantle to the new position of Vice President of Sales, adding to their team of well-known industry experts.

Mr. Jamie Mantle, new Vice President of Sales at Convoy Supply

Mr. Mantle will be responsible for the management of all sales and customer-facing activities for both the Canadian and US territories for Convoy Supply.

“This restructuring will allow Convoy to build on the successful collaborative work achieved by our current  team of General, Sales, and Operations Managers over the past several years” ,  says Alma Garnett, President of Convoy Supply. “Already a friend and industry partner,  I have great confidence that Jamie’s leadership will add significant clout to Convoy’s sales strategies and market presence as the company continues to expand its reach and its commitment to service excellence.”

Mantle joins Convoy from Soprema, where he has spent the last 14 years as Vice President of Sales. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to this new role, having worked in both distribution and manufacturing within the building materials industry for the last 36 years.

Crashing The Glass Ceiling

Women are Climbing the Ladder of Success in the Roofing Industry

Courtesy of: Roofing Contractor Magazine

Roofing is an overwhelmingly male occupation. Whether contractor or crew, the guys who work in roofing are just that: guys.

Women in roofing are so rare they’re almost non-existent. The National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA) has done some informal surveys, said 2015-16 President Lindy Ryan, and found that somewhere between two and 10 percent of roofing employees are women. National construction statistics, which include roofing contracting as part of the building occupations category, put the number of hard-hatted women at less than 10 percent.

But the number of women in roofing is increasing, and through organizations such as National Women in Roofing (NWiR), which boasts 500 members, they are finding their voice in the industry. From the manufacturing plant to roofing company management positions, women are gradually becoming more visible.

Like their male counterparts, women come to roofing from different backgrounds and with a range of goals and ambitions.

Diverse Influences

Ryan, the first woman in history to lead NRCA and a founding member of NWiR, has more than 25 years of construction management experience. Now a senior vice president at Tecta America Corporation, a nationwide commercial roofing contractor, in Sanford, FL, she once owned her own construction business and holds a Florida roofing contractors license.

Considered a trailblazer, she describes herself as “old school.”

She still lives in the town where she grew up – Orange City, Fla. – and has a cat named Jake. Her mom grew up there, too.

“I went to the same elementary school that she went to,” Ryan said, “and I graduated from the same high school that my mom graduated from, 21 years later. I've lived there my entire life except for my time in college, which was in Orlando at the University of Central Florida.”

Her parents were major influences in her career. “My dad gave me confidence that I could do anything,” she said. “My mom taught me to believe in myself. They have always been my biggest supporters.”

After graduating in 1980 with a degree in business, Ryan went on to obtain her real estate license and later her broker’s license. In 1997, she became a state certified roofing contractor. She started at Tecta America in 2005 after the company bought her construction business, General Works LLC.

During her time in the construction and roofing industry, she has been active in the NRCA, serving on a number of committees, including technical operations and government relations. Also interested in legal issues related to roofing, Ryan is a supporter of ROOFPAC, the NRCA’s political action committee, and a former president of the National Roofing Legal Resource Center.

On the other hand, Missy Miller, plant manager at the Atlas Roofing manufacturing facility in Hampton, GA, grew up around construction supplies.

“My dad had a hardware and lumber company growing up (in Florence, AL),” she said. “I actually remember running across the tops of the Atlas shingles he stored under his sheds when I was little.”

Her other influences include her coaches – “I played a lot of sports growing up and have always thrived in team and individual competition,” she said – and her grandfather, a former chemical engineer for the TVA who always tried to help her with her homework.

In college, she studied chemical engineering because, she said, “I was always good in science and math. I wanted to do something challenging in school, so I chose chemical engineering from the beginning. I remember my sister trying to talk me out of it, but for some reason I had made my mind up.”

Miller, who has been with Atlas since June 2014, began her career at a company that made fabrics for automobile seats and decorative upholstery. She next moved on to a sheetrock plant and then to Saint-Gobain, the world’s largest building materials company, where she was a quality manager and later a quality and process engineer for the glass mat operations. Glass mat is a primary component of asphalt shingles and Atlas was one of her customers.

“Just about every manufacturing process has a chemical component,” said Miller, whose specialty is process engineering, or finding ways to improve the manufacturing process.

At Atlas, she directs the operation of the plant with an eye toward making quality products in the most cost-effective way possible.

Like Miller, Brooke Ivey has roofing in the blood and like Ryan, is still part of the area where she grew up. She started working summers at her father’s company, Ben Hill Renovations in Douglasville, Ga., when she was in middle school. Later, the job helped her save up for her first car.

Now residential coordinator/marketing for the company, she never planned to make roofing a career.

“I went to college as an early childhood education major,” she said. But she loved working at Ben Hill while she was in school, helping the accountant enter accounts payable in the ledgers, doing filing and answering the phones. Then she began helping with marketing and designing the company’s business literature.

“That’s when I decided to change my major to business marketing, she said. “I kept working part time until I graduated and then I worked there full time after college. I've been there ever since. Now, I have gained more responsibilities and co-manage the residential department and hope to take over once my dad retires.”

One Of The Guys

Being a woman in a man’s field, Ivey not only had gender dynamics to deal with, she also had family issues.

“First I had to earn all the guys’ respect and prove to them I was there for the long haul,” she said. “I had an added challenge being the owner's daughter. We all know what comes with that.

“Now 10 years later, I don't run into that so much. We have a great, solid team and we all work together great – though sometimes people on the phone are surprised to speak with a younger woman.”

For Miller, who went into manufacturing immediately after college, dealing with the guys was difficult. She soon learned to adjust.

“I had to learn to take emotion out of the equation and stick to the facts and data,” she said.

“I believe that women have a harder time gaining credibility, whether real or imagined. I have worked in places where women were treated as inferior and where women were treated as equals. It is hard for me personally as I still feel like I have to prove myself sometimes, but I am very blessed to work with the group I do now. Atlas has been nothing but supportive, and that has been invaluable to me.”

Ryan’s experience, though positive and rewarding, still entailed some lessons.

“I’m thankful and blessed to have spent my career with so many smart, visionary men,” she said. “Have there been challenges? Sure. They were part of the learning experience. I had to learn how to be strong enough and not become a witch.

“Primarily, men want to work with people who are strong, have an opinion and conviction, but are not difficult. I don’t believe I face any challenges that men don’t face.  We’re all in this together.”

A Path For Others To Follow

Figuring out how to stand toe-to-toe with the guys is crucial for women who want a successful career in a male-dominated field. Knowing one’s worth and contribution to the company may be equally important.

“Learn where you can contribute and make a difference,” Miller advised women coming up on the manufacturing side.

“It wasn’t until about four years into being a manufacturing engineer that I learned that I could really save the company a lot of money and that I was good at the process details. I was able to gain confidence and step into new roles and thrive. Do not be afraid to speak up and also ask a lot of questions.”

Men actually like working with women, Ryan said. “Women think differently, and that difference can sometimes be a game changer.”

For their part, women need to be genuine, she said, as well as team players who should seek out or build a good team to work with. Also, she said, “be prepared, learn as much as you can, be pleasant, laugh, look and act the part, don’t second-guess yourself and believe in yourself.”

Finally, Ivey’s counsel is brief and to the point – and underpins any other career-building suggestions for women or men: if you want to make a go of it, stick with it.

Antis Roofing & Waterproofing Is Making a Difference By Embracing Community Service

Courtesy of: Roofing Magazine, Chris King

If the name Antis Roofing & Waterproofing sounds familiar, it’s probably because you’ve seen it in the trade press quite a bit lately. The Irvine, California-based company received several awards at the 130th National Roofing Contractors Association Convention, including first place in the CNA/NRCA Community Involvement Award, which honors NRCA contractor members for charitable works. Two Antis Roofing employees, Narciso Alarcon and Manuel Cortez, received Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards from the Roofing Industry Alliance for Progress, and Alarcon was also named the Best of the Best by the Alliance and Professional Roofing magazine.

 In March, the company’s founder and CEO, Charles Antis, was elected to the board of directors for the NRCA. Later that month, he was honored by Alzheimer’s Orange County for his volunteer work on behalf of that organization and his company’s community service projects. In April, Antis was named to the board of the Orange County Ronald McDonald House.

For Charles Antis and everyone else at the company, it’s been a whirlwind year. “Someone was joking that it’s like Academy Award season,” Antis says. “I don’t want to get too caught up in it, but this may never happen again, so I want to enjoy every moment of it. I want to make sure my team enjoys every moment of it. It’s been really nice to be recognized for stuff that we think is important because it shows us that other people think it’s important, too. And there was a period where maybe it didn’t feel that way. It feels like it’s working and we’re making a difference, and that’s why it feels pretty awesome today.”

Filling a Niche

For Antis, the company’s community service projects are inextricably linked to its purpose and mission as a company. He says it just took him a while to realize that fact.

Founded in 1989, Antis Roofing has 90 employees and specializes exclusively in work for homeowners associations. Most of the roofing work involves clay tile, but it also does a lot of asphalt shingle roofs, metal roofs, and single-ply systems—primarily PVC. “Our only focus is HOA,” say Antis. “Our company services approximately 1,200 HOAs that average 200 units each. That’s 240,000 individual homeowners that could call us at any one time, so that’s a challenge.”

The demanding HOA market keeps the business running on all cylinders, notes Antis.“Because we were focused on this super-high customer care market, we developed some really great qualities as a business,” he notes. “For example, we photograph virtually everything we touch, everything we see, everything we do. We upload about 6,000 images per day because that’s what it takes to protect all of our stakeholders, from our material suppliers to our manufacturers to the individual homeowners association board members and homeowners. We memorialize everything that occurs with photographs and notes in our enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, much like a property manager would.”

In the drive to improve his company, Antis asked himself a lot of questions, including basic questions about what motivates him and the true purpose of his company. “Somewhere along the line we discovered that our purpose is to keep families safe and dry,” he says. “That’s what helped lead us to our philanthropy. It brought us back to the community.”

Finding a Passion

Antis believes the company’s community service efforts help employees find their passion and make a connection with the community. “Our philanthropy is tied to our central theme,” he notes. “We believe everybody deserves an opportunity to live in safe, dry home and have a happy family there.”

The first board Antis joined was for Habitat for Humanity in Orange County, which embraces the same goal. He also serves on NRCA committees and will begin serving on the NRCA board for the same reason. “I’m able to give back in a way that lifts me, my people, my stakeholders and my industry,” he says. “I’m also on the board of Ronald McDonald House, which is again giving people a safe, dry place to live while they visit their sick children in the hospital. All of these board memberships that I do are focused on keeping families safe and dry, which is the central mission of Antis Roofing.”

The company has worked with Habitat for Humanity since 2009, and it also helps other nonprofit organizations by repairing, maintaining and replacing their roofs at no charge through the Antis Foundation “This year we are keeping 15 different nonprofits dry,” he says. “In fact, we have two complete re-roofs we are setting up this summer for the Boy Scouts of America and America Family Housing.”

Everyone at the company has found community service projects personally rewarding, notes Antis. It’s also helped the business grow and thrive. “We’ve discovered that the more we give, the more we grow, the more money we make, and the more we can give,” he says. “We are in this awesome little cycle where we have purpose in our work. We understand that there is something magical happening right now, and we just have a hard time saying no when somebody has a leaky roof.”

Antis believes his purpose in life is to ignite passion in others to create social change. “We believe that we can bring that passion out in every worker in our company and all of our stakeholders. We have this crazy philosophy around here that we are changing the world, and because of that, we are changing the world. And that’s freaking awesome.”

KPost Roofing & Waterproofing Continues to Thrive Working Almost Exclusively in the Dallas Market

Courtesy of: Roofing Contractor Magazine

If roofing is indeed a team sport, then few — if any — commercial roofing contractors around the United States embrace the philosophy quite like the team at KPost Roofing & Waterproofing in Dallas. It starts with President Steve Little, who prefers the title of head coach, and it trickles down through the company’s organizational structure, which he prefers to describe in football terms.

“We’re made of three separate units: the offense, which is our sales team; the defense, which is our field leadership and crew; and the special teams, which is our administration,” Little described. “We built the company up like a football team because we knew that if we operated like a football team, that within that team we could train, manage and excel in our skillsets.”

The process, which evolved since CEO Keith Post, Little and CFO Jayne Williams set out to mold their own company in one of the most robust construction markets in the country in 2003, is working. KPost’s 430 employees tallied a company-record $63 million in revenue last year, an increase of roughly 30 percent from the previous year and good for 19th on RC ’s Top 100 list for 2017.

That success, coupled with the scope, safety record and quality of KPost’s work, laid the groundwork for its selection as RC ’s Commercial Roofing Contractor of the Year for 2017.

The continued growth and industry accolades certainly exceeded the expectations the trio had when the doors opened. Little said the initial game plan was to build a company that could generate $10 million in revenue and sustain about 100 employees within the first three years. However, early success fueled their drive, and there seemed no sense in stopping any momentum the company was building.

In football terms, that meant protecting their home turf and clearing the field by proactively organizing a plan that challenged obstacles that could get in the way of reaching the goal line. Little said they did it by stepping out of the way and letting the offense, defense and special teams find their own ways to excel independently, while still keeping the team’s long-term success in mind. 

He left no doubt about his appreciation for all three ‘units’ upon accepting RC ’s 2017 Commercial Roofing Contractor of the Year award at the Best of Success conference in Tucson in September.

“We’re deeply honored to receive this reward and humbled,” he said. “We have tremendous people, and try to give back at every opportunity. This demonstrates that when you give, it comes back to you ten-fold.”

Greeley Roofing Company Donates Roof To OUR LADY OF PEACE Catholic Church

Front Range Roofing Systems Replace Aging Roof At No Cost

by: Andrea North, Greeley Tribune

When Greg Farris told Aracely Garcia his roofing company would replace her church's roof for free, she thought her English had failed her.

"I wasn't sure if I was listening and understanding OK. because my first language is not English," Garcia said. " I thought to myself, 'Maybe I misunderstood.'

But indeed, Front Range Roofing Systems had offered to replace the aging roof of Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church, 1311 3rd St. Garcia, the church's finance director, noticed last winter the church's roof could not hold snow without leaking. Recently, Garcia visited Front Range Roofing Systems for a quote to replace it, bracing for the answer. Farris evaluated the flat commercial roof and estimated $45,000.

But Farris had a better idea.

Some of his employees attend the church, so he felt that donating the roof was a good way to give back to them and the community. Plus, he was celebrating the company's 30th year in business.

"It's in the lower income part of town, so we thought it would be something good to give back," Farris said. "They're our neighbors, so I feel like it's a good, neighborly thing to do." 

Front Range employees donated their labor, and the manufacturing company they work with, Carlisle SynTec Systems, donated the materials. Farris used the job as a training opportunity and had almost 50 employees install the church's roof. The job was complete in a few hours Thursday.

Garcia said she was very grateful.

"Without even asking them, they offered to do that for us and for our community," she said.