It was a Great Meeting in Virginia Beach

By Heidi J. Ellsworth. 

RoofersCoffeeShop® participates in the 56th Annual Summer Convention for Virginia Association of Roofing Professionals (VARP). 

RoofersCoffeeShop is known for being on the road and participating in our great roofing industry associations. Recently, I hit the road and traveled to Virginia Beach for the 56th Annual VARP Summer Convention. It was great. I was able to make industry friends and incredible roofing contractors.   

According to VARP’s recent announcement, “this year’s convention kicked off with the welcome reception and cornhole tournament. Congratulations to this year’s champions: Justin Maitland of Johns Manville and Anson Martin of Valley Roofing. As one attendee put it, "the first night was very casual and fun and allowed for a lot of networking with new connections and catching up with existing connections." 

The next morning was the annual meeting and education sessions. Committee chairs updated members on the status of various VARP activities and programs, including advocacy and workforce development. For the education portion, attendees were treated to a presentation by Lisa Sprick, NRCA’s Chairman of the Board, who gave an update on the current roofing industry landscape.  After that, Patrick Readyhough led a group discussion on the roofing industry best practices. 

The discussion included important topics that are affecting all roofing companies including mergers and acquisitions; hiring, retention and core values; and promotion from within along with safety and recruitment bonuses. One very interesting discussion was on the use of AI Chat and how companies are using it to write SOPs, marketing documents and recruitment ads. The format included questions submitted ahead of time and then Patrick leads the discussion. It was very insightful.   

The annual awards banquet was held later that evening. Attorney General Jason Miyares was the keynote speaker and was recognized by VARP for his work to support small businesses. After dinner, VARP recognized this past year’s outstanding volunteers and installed the 2023-2024 Board of Directors: 

Contractor of the Year – Paul Davis, Jr., Phoenix Roofing 

Supplier of the Year – Jim Tait, ABC Supply 

Associate of the Year – Bill Hale, Hale Associates LLC 

Hall of Fame – Rick Dalianis (retired) 

2023-2024 Board of Directors 

President - Marc Reitzel, Reitzel Home Improvement 

1st vice president - Bob Shackford, Paramount Builders 

2nd vice president - Thomas Easter, Roof Services Corp 

3rd vice president - Mike Bruni, Owens Corning 

Immediate past president - Todd Scanlon, TST Roofing 

Mid-term directors (2022-2024 Term) 

• Lloyd Bolick, REI Engineers 
• Austin Eells, AES 
• Adam Lambruno, GAF 
• Sarah McLaughlin, Kyro Builders 
• Frank Painter, Painter Roofing 

First year directors (2023-2025) 

• Adriana Atheortua Arango, ABC Supply 
• Kerry Jackson, Baker Roofing 
• Justin Middleton, NB Handy 
• Steve Spencer, DryHome Roofing 
• Jeff Wilson, Superior Distribution 

VARP sent out a special thank you to all the sponsors who made the event possible, including RoofersCoffeeShop! It was great to see our friends from Bitec, Hunter Panels, APOC and Johns Manville. 

Platinum sponsors 

• ABC Supply 
• Architectural Exterior Solutions 
• Atlantic Construction Sales 
• Atlas 
• GAF 
• James Insurance 
• Mid-Atlantic Roofing Supply 
• Owens Corning 
• Superior Distribution 
• Viking Products Group 

Gold sponsors 

• Hertless Brothers Roofing, Inc. 
• TST Roofing 
• Bitec inc 

Silver sponsors 

• Hale Associates LLC 
• J.D. Miles & Sons, Inc. 
• Johns Manville 
• Petersen Aluminum Corporation 
• Sentrigard Metal Roofing Systems 
• SOPREMA 

Bronze sponsors 

• ICP Group 
• Integrated Products Group 
• RoofersCoffeeShop 
• Hospitality Suite 
• ABC Supply Co., Inc. 

Remember to mark your calendar for the 2024 event: VARP 57th Annual Summer Convention, July 24-26, 2024 at The Homestead.