The shingle manufacturer that’s helping future roofers

By Evelyn Witterholt. 

By donating materials to the SkillsUSA student competition, TAMKO has made a positive impact on the future of the roofing industry. 

This year’s SkillsUSA National Leadership & Skills Conference was a massive success for the roofing industry. Thousands of students attended this trades conference, with many participating in competitions to show off their skills. The show had its own roofing pavilion for installation competitions and thanks to material donations by TAMKO, future roofers got to put their skills to the test. 

At this year’s competition, students who are interested in construction compete by building a tiny house in two days’ time. This was the first year that the build included a small steep-slope roof.  With this competition needing materials, TAMKO stepped up to the plate by donating shingles. Thanks to them, these young professionals were able to test their skills with the actual materials they’d be using in the field. 

While at the show, we got to speak with Jim Forehand from TAMKO about their participation in this year’s conference. He told us that a big reason why they have donated their materials and time is because their high-performing shingles work well when they are installed properly. TAMKO donated over 50 bundles of shingles so the students could install the mini-roofs on their structures. 

Jim also complimented the students who did a terrific job installing their products and demonstrating a willingness to grow their roofing skills. He even had some teachers asking if they could bring excess materials from the competition back to their classrooms. 

“This looks to be the next generation of folks that will be working with our product,” he said. “We just want to make sure when they're putting these on, they're doing them in the correct manner so the homeowner gets a really good roof.”