Education, engineering and an expanding business

By Dani Sheehan. 

Safety is a huge reason for installing snow retention systems, but there are many other benefits. At TRA Snow & Sun, safety and success are both achieved through proper engineering and education among roofing professionals. 

At TRA Snow & Sun, they may not be able to predict the future, but they sure are excited about it. In a recent interview, we met with Ben and Terry Anderson to talk about how far they have come since Terry started the company, what they’re doing today and where they’re headed. It might almost be summer, but snow retention education is just getting started! 

Terry recounted the origins of TRA Snow & Sun, tracing back to his days as a roofing consultant. He described encountering issues with snow and ice damaging tile roofs for an international client, which led him to realize the lack of effective solutions in the roofing industry. He shared, “I talked to various manufacturers of tile in the United States and Canada, but they didn’t seem to have the answers. It became apparent to me that there was no engineering behind [snow retention at the time].” 

Determined to fill this void, Terry founded the company and collaborated with the state of Utah to conduct rigorous testing on snow retention systems. “We tested our products and different roofing materials to determine the failure points,” Terry explained. “From there, we worked to refine our products and manufacturing processes.” 

Ben is currently the COO of the company and adds that over the last six years they’ve seen more rapid growth than in previous years. In their efforts to raise industry standards, Ben mentioned their recent educational seminar. He explained, “We did a huge educational seminar that we had never done before. We were planning on 30 or 40 participants, but we ended up with over 110 RSVPs.”  

The success of the event has inspired them to expand their educational initiatives further, with plans to offer similar seminars in different locations, such as Denver, Boise, Vancouver and Reno to provide free training and insights to industry professionals. “We want to provide great concepts for people to understand why we’re doing what we’re doing,” Ben expressed. 

He and Terry also emphasized the importance of educating roofing professionals about the significance of engineering when it comes to snow retention. Terry explained, “I can’t stress enough how engineering is a critical part... Ben has done a great job with a video brochure to help people understand the need for engineering.” He expressed concerns about the lack of engineering in retail products and highlighted how these efforts are attempting to address the issue. They also have ongoing efforts to develop engineering software to assist distributors in explaining engineering to their customers. 

The conversation underscored TRA Snow & Sun’s dedication to education and engineering excellence, with a shared vision of raising industry standards to ensure the safety and integrity of every roofing system.