By Emma Peterson. 

A panel of industry experts discusses the growth and evolution of the roofing industry. 

Earlier this month, The Coffee Shops™ crew headed to the International Institute of Building Enclosure Consultants (IIBEC)’s 2026 Conference and Trade Show. While there, we had the opportunity to host a special, live Coffee Conversations® that brought contractors and other building envelope experts together for a panel discussion about the show and state of the industry. 

The panel was made up of four incredible professionals: Greg Hlavaty of Western Colloid, Sean Connolly of Walker Consultants, Lauren Morley of R3NG and Dustin Smoot of Terracon Consultants. Together, this panel offers expert insights into all sides of the industry they serve, and how contractors and manufacturers are moving forward into 2026. 

When asked about this year’s show, Greg highlighted the incredible turnout, sharing, “In the past, it was a show that only the big manufacturing firms were at, but today we’re really seeing a great turnout.” Sean had a similar takeaway, adding, “It's bigger and better than ever, I'm seeing more and more manufacturers participating, which is fantastic.” 

One of the main talking points of this year’s show was the significant changes that the building industry has gone through in recent years. Dustin elaborated, “I've been in the industry for about 25 years. I started out as a roofer as a kid. And I’ve seen a lot of change in the way we think about roof performance...” One of the biggest changes being that we now think about how an entire building envelope functions, rather than just thinking about how individual elements perform. This outlook has shifted how brands must market their products and services.  

With this perspective shift, building consultants have become more important than ever.  Lauren explained, “Of course, I try to stay on top of the trends and think about the big picture, but having consultants involved is really helpful. They know what's happening and they know what to design, and I'm lucky that I can just kind of trust them to think about the whole envelope so I can focus on my part.”  

Watch the whole recording from the show to hear more from Greg, Sean, Lauren and Dustin.

By Emma Peterson. 

Learn from a variety of contractors in the industry about how technology and customer-centric relationships have helped them find success. 

Don’t miss this multi-part CoffeeCast™, “Building Business Relationships to Delight Customers,” sponsored by Jobba Trade Technologies. In the series, Heidi J. Ellsworth and Jobba’s Vice President of Marketing, Karol Weyman, host guests to discuss building customer and business relationships through technology, like Jobba’s cloud-based software. Their programs allow contractors to enhance every aspect of their business, from sales to scheduling to reporting.  

They believe that all roofing contractors, subcontractors, manufacturers and consultants should have access to the information and technology to operate their businesses as successfully as they can. This CoffeeCast™ is a great step towards this goal and an entry point for contractors of all size to start utilizing technology to strengthen their organizations. With each video, meet a new contractor and hear how they have been able to grow their success with a focus on business relationships supported by technology.  

The guests include Lauren Morely, the owner and president of R3NG Roofing and Gutters; Alex Knoll, the operations coordinator at Mattco; Kim Davis, the vice president of Davis Roofing and Sheet Metal, Erin Pike, the national service manager at Roofed Right America and Chris McMenamy, the business developer and service director at Statewide Roofing. Hear everything these experts have to share about technology and customer relations in this multi-video CoffeeCast™. 

Watch the videos on the RoofersCoffeeShop® site or on our YouTube page! 

By Dani Sheehan. 

Learning to embrace authenticity is as much a part of the journey as learning about roofing. Hear Lauren Morley’s passion for the roofing industry and the value of mentorship, networking and self-discovery in her professional growth. 

In a recent episode of Stories from the Roof, brought to you by Ruby®, the leader in virtual reception, Lauren Morley joined Megan Ellsworth to talk about her passion for the commercial roofing industry. She is currently the president and majority owner of R3NG based out of Colorado and has been with the company for the last 10 years. 

Lauren started working for her dad in 2014 and was mostly focused on their new construction division, but she was quickly asked to become an owner at all the companies. Not knowing anything about roofing at that time, she dove in for six months of cross training and quickly was introduced to National Women in Roofing where she tried to get as much education as she could. 

She shared, “If I feel like I know what I’m talking about, then I enjoy myself more. And I think over the years I kept getting more and more involved with things like National Women in Roofing or associations like IIBEC and it just gave me that sense of camaraderie and I think that geve me the confidence to keep taking further steps towards where I am.” 

Feeling intimidated when she first started out, she quickly found her place in the industry. When asked what she’s learned from her experiences, she said, “I think it's just learning how to be yourself, not trying to hold yourself to what everyone else thinks you're supposed to be. I think especially being a female in construction, it's easy to think you need to be a certain way or act a certain way.” 

She laughed as she reminisced about some past experiences and her fear about fitting into a male-dominated industry. “It’s funny thinking back, they used to call me the Ice Queen. Because I think there's something about being the boss's daughter and being younger and being female, that I felt like I had to be this rigid, strict person, which was obviously so not who I am. And I feel like once I started just embracing who I was is when I hit my stride a little bit more.” 

Having found her tribe and taking over her dad’s company, Lauren doesn’t think she would have done anything differently in her career.  

Read the transcript or Listen to the podcast to hear more about her past experiences and the unique perspective she brings to understand her customers and employees.

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Lauren Morley from R3NG. You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast!

Megan Ellsworth: Welcome to Stories From The Roof, the podcast that brings you tales from the most unexpected vantage point, rooftops. I'm your host, Megan Ellsworth, and on this show, we'll ascend to the top and explore the world through the eyes of those who live and work above. Join us on this unique journey as we uncover the stories, perspectives and histories of roofing contractors. Let's begin our ascent onto the roof.

Hello everyone. My name is Megan Ellsworth here at rooferscoffeeshop.com, and I am so excited. I am here with Lauren Morley and this is the Stories From The Roof podcast. So we're going to hear all about her and her journey in roofing. So hi, friend. Hi Loren, how are you?

Lauren Morley: Hi, I'm good. How are you?

Megan Ellsworth: So good. So excited to have you on and be here.

Lauren Morley: I know, it's nice to be here.

Megan Ellsworth: Woohoo. Okay, well, I'll just have you introduce yourself. Tell us about R3NG, your name and tell us about you a little bit.

Lauren Morley: Obviously I'm Loren and I'm the President and majority owner of R3NG. We're a commercial roofing company based out of Colorado. We focused on multi-family, steep slope and then low slope commercial. We've been around since 2015, but our parent company's been around since 2008, so we've been in the market for a long time. And yeah, I've been in the roofing industry really for five years, but I've been with the company for 10, which I can't believe it's been 10 years. That's a little bit crazy. 10 years, like a week ago actually.

Megan Ellsworth: Oh, congrats.

Lauren Morley: Pretty exciting. And, right now my focus is almost entirely on roofing.
Megan Ellsworth: Awesome. That's so cool. And you just recently became majority owner and president last year, right?
Lauren Morley: In January. So I was 25% owner for the last two or three years. And in January I became 51% ownership of R3NG.

Megan Ellsworth: That's so exciting. Congrats.

Lauren Morley: Thank you.

Megan Ellsworth: So how did you get into roofing?

Lauren Morley: That's a good question. Well, I was working at a golf course. I wanted to go into golf course management. I got the job there right after high school at 18 and I was still there up until I was 23. And I like to joke that my dad's [inaudible 00:02:29] weakness, 'cos I was reconsidering what I wanted in life and what could provide me the family balance and lifestyle that I wanted and he really wanted one of his daughters to come and work at the company. So I left and in 2014 I went to work for my dad. Now at the time I was actually focused on our new construction division, so we were building multifamily from the ground up and I was learning the ropes from him. And then we owned a GC and a roofing company as well that performed work for our new construction.

When my dad approached me about ownership at all of the companies, and he had asked me if I wanted to be partners with someone who I think most of you know, Jason, the two of us decided to cross-train each other for about six months. And at the end of six months, we said, "Well, we want to own the company, but we don't want to do construction. We want to focus on the roofing company and we want to focus on GC." After that, it was all uphill/downhill from there. So the roofing [inaudible 00:03:38] has been our main focus for the last seven years now. So I grew up in the big construction world, but just was drawn to the roofing industry.

Megan Ellsworth: That's super cool. I love it. I also love a family business partial to that, so that's always great.

Lauren Morley: Our joke is always, I loved roofing. 'Cos it was the one part of construction I could know more about than my dad knows.

Megan Ellsworth: I love that. That's iconic. So can you tell us a little bit about your career once you started in roofing and how you got to where you are today?

Lauren Morley: I mean it's been an interesting journey for sure. I mean, when I started getting a ball with R3NG, I didn't know anything about roofing really. I was pretty intimidated by it. I think having comfort with construction, I had this perceived notion that it would be a very misogynistic industry. I was very lucky to get introduced to National Women and Roofing really early on. So Jamaca Berman, who's now our Regional with GAF, but was our Territory Manager at the time, took me to a National Women in Roofing event seven years ago. And I really dove into that and used that as my big support and just try to get as much education as I possibly could. And I think for me, I'm that kind of person. If I feel like I know what I'm talking about, that I enjoy myself more. And, I think just over the years I kept getting more and more involved with things like National Women in Roofing or associations like IVEC and it just gave me that sense of camaraderie and I think that gave me the confidence to just keep taking further steps towards where I am now, obviously.

I don't know, it's funny thinking back, they used to call me the Ice Queen. 'Cos I think there's something about being the boss's daughter and being younger and being female, that I felt like I had to be this really rigid, really strict person, which was obviously so not who I am. And I feel like once I started really just embracing who I was is when I hit my stride a little bit more.

Megan Ellsworth: That's awesome. Oh, I love to hear that. 'Cos we're all about that. Why not just be yourself and be authentic and show your true colors? 'Cos people appreciate that.

Lauren Morley: Not even vinegar, right?

Megan Ellsworth: Totally. Exactly. Okay, so who is someone that stands out to you in your mind when you think about who taught you roofing? So who's someone that taught you about roofing?

Lauren Morley: I mean, I think for me that answer is pretty obvious. It's my old business partner, Jason. When he realized how much I was taking to the industry and how much base sell which I have for construction, he took me on every roof he went on and taught me everything he knew and introduced me to everyone he knew. I mean, he was definitely, I think we've talked about upstanders. He was my number one upstander for many, many years. I wouldn't be here without him, so it's an easy one.

Megan Ellsworth: Love that. Love Jason.

Lauren Morley: Hi, Jason.

Megan Ellsworth: Hi, Jason. You're famous now. What is a valuable lesson that you learned through your career? Maybe about roofing itself or just about being in roofing or having a career in roofing?

Lauren Morley: I think it's like what we just talked about, right? I think it's just learning how to be yourself, not trying to hold yourself to what everyone else thinks you're supposed to be. I think especially being a female in construction, it's really easy to think you have to be a certain way or act a certain way.

Megan Ellsworth: So true.

Lauren Morley: And I think that leads into the partnership part, too. I've surrounded myself with people who I know will support me and what I am looking to do. And I think if you can bind your tribe, Jennifer Keegan and I talk about that all the time, bind your tribe and just stick to that, then I think you can't really go wrong.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. Love it. So how long have you been a member of National Women in Roofing? Just curious.

Lauren Morley: I mean, I guess seven years probably. I think that's [inaudible 00:08:13], it might've been six? 'Cos I remember the first National Women in Roofing day I went to was the New Orleans one.

Megan Ellsworth: Okay.

Lauren Morley: But I was supposed to go to the one in Vegas the year before that, but I didn't because of COVID. And I'd been involved a year before that, so it might be like five years now.

Megan Ellsworth: That's great.

Lauren Morley: Yeah,

Megan Ellsworth: We love it.

Lauren Morley: Yeah.

Megan Ellsworth: Okay. So if you were to go back to the very beginning of your career on the golf course, would there be anything that you would want to do differently?

Lauren Morley: That's a loaded question.

Megan Ellsworth: The answer can be no.

Lauren Morley: I mean, honestly, I don't know that there is. Part of me wants to say pay attention to roofing earlier, and I've gotten involved with it earlier, but I don't even know that I would've wanted that because I think having had those few years of learning the other side of it was important for me. I looking at where I am now, I don't know that I would've done anything differently to be honest.

Megan Ellsworth: That's awesome. I love that.

Lauren Morley: That's a good feeling.

Megan Ellsworth: That is a good feeling. You're like, "Oh, okay, no. Everything was meant to happen the way it happened."

Lauren Morley: For sure.

Megan Ellsworth: So, going off of that question in a different route, what's the best thing you have ever done for your career? Or for your business, R3NG?

Lauren Morley: I mean, I think on the one side, I passed my Gen oV Contractors License back in 2021. And I think for me that was huge because one, not many roofers in general have it, but I think not very many females have it either. And I think for our company, it was good. 'Cos my dad had always been the one who held it, and I was now the future. But I think it was a confidence boost, too. That's not an easy thing to get. It's not an easy license to hold. And I think that really gave me a lot of confidence to be like, "Okay, you deserve to be here. You deserve a seat at the table."

So, that's probably up there, I think with it. Another really cool thing I got to do that I think helped elevate me a little, at the Wealth Builder at Austin for JF two years ago, I got to sit on the main stage for a community contractors panel, and then Jason and I made it to the final stage for Cutting Edge. So two times in one day I spoke in front of 2,000 people or 1,200 people. I don't know what it was. And that was probably one of the coolest things I've ever done.

Megan Ellsworth: Wow. And nerve wracking.

Lauren Morley: When I saw how many people were there at the main session, I was like, "I think I'm going to maybe want to rethink this, guys."

Megan Ellsworth: I'm actually, I'm going to go back. Go sit down.

Lauren Morley: ... would never come back.

Megan Ellsworth: That's amazing. In one word or a small sentence, I'll accept a small sentence, describe the most important trait in an employee or a co-worker.

Lauren Morley: Okay. I would say probably trust. That, to me, that would probably be it. If I have an employee I know I can trust or a co-worker I know I can trust, that's a big one. 'Cos I think all the other things fall into that, knowing they're reliable, knowing that ... So I think that would be it for me.

Megan Ellsworth: Knowing they're going to get their stuff done and not leave you high and dry.

Lauren Morley: And knowing that they're going to represent us and our brand the way that we want them to, knowing that it felt like all of that, I think falls into that same category.

Megan Ellsworth: Totally. Absolutely. Okay. Who is the best boss you ever had and what did they teach you? It is a loaded question.

Lauren Morley: What?

Megan Ellsworth: This is a loaded question.

Lauren Morley: So the funny thing is, I'm actually going to say that it was one of my managers when I worked at Snooze. So, when I was in golf, I wasn't year round there until year five. So for four years I had to get a summer job or a winter job every year. So I've done it all, the [inaudible 00:12:45] hostess jobs and retail jobs and just all of it. And so my very last part-time job, I was a hostess at Snooze, which was honestly probably one of the hardest jobs I've ever had.

Megan Ellsworth: Oh, I bet.

Lauren Morley: And I remember, I still follow her on LinkedIn. She's also, her name's Kristin Marvin. She's actually doing life coaching now, and I don't know, she just was one of the first people who cut, again, we have a theme here, just really taught me, be yourself, have fun. You don't need to take yourself too seriously. And she was just very cool and very supportive of everyone on her team. And I feel like I really carried that through with me.

Megan Ellsworth: That's awesome.

Lauren Morley: That's probably who I think.

Megan Ellsworth: Oh my gosh, I love that. And fellow woman, we love that, too. Love. Oh my gosh. Okay. What makes you smile when you think about your job?

Lauren Morley: Probably my team. I mean, I'm so lucky, I have the best employees on the planet. Not only are they great employees, but they're all really good friends. That's probably it. I mean, during COVID you couldn't get people to stay at home. So we're all very close. My office admin's been with us for 21 years, so I would say my team, for sure.

Megan Ellsworth: That's amazing. And there's nothing like wanting to go to work in the morning and seeing your work friends and your team and feeling like it's a second home. That just feels so cozy and comfortable and just yummy.

Lauren Morley: I mean, and I think now we're in our new office, and I think the vibe is just so good right now that it's just fun. It's just fun to be here, which is really great.

Megan Ellsworth: When did you move into the new office?

Lauren Morley: The first week of January.

Megan Ellsworth: That's right. That's exciting.

Lauren Morley: It's been great.

Megan Ellsworth: Okay. So when you hire someone new, is there any advice that you give them when they're starting out in roofing?

Lauren Morley: Yeah, there's probably two ways to answer this. I guess.

And I'll say this, I have a tendency, I hire out of the industry a lot. And I think, for me, that's because personality traits and a culture fit is a lot harder to find with somebody with roofing knowledge. I teach that. I think our big thing, and especially keep in mind, we're commercial. So I think when I first hire people, it's be patient. If you're in sales or ASME, you're not going to land a job, maybe for the first year. When you're a superintendent, something's going to go wrong at some point. And that's okay. If you're my services coordinator the first time it rains for 38 hours, you're going to go crazy. But it's okay. So I think just being patient and being forgiving with yourself is important.

Now with females, I think my biggest piece of advice, usually to them and I'm sure Megan, you've heard me say this before, but I have this thing with females and how they interact and grow around men in our industry. And I think that there's this assumption that men who don't inherently support women or aren't right there being the best that they can be automatically are against us. Whereas I think really 70% of guys just don't really realize what they're doing. They just need a little bit of guidance to understand, Hey, do this instead, ask the question this way. Don't assume I don't know it. And I think the thing I tell women is men are going to be your support more often than they're not. So don't treat them like the enemy. And I don't know, I think for me, that's gotten me a really long way. So don't get me wrong. I mean, I have my tribe of girls and I love them, but I also have a lot of men who have given me a seat at the table. So I think that's a great piece of advice that I give.

Megan Ellsworth: That's awesome. I think that's a great piece of advice. And also that just carries to a multitude of people. Just never assume someone's against you until proven guilty, essentially. That's just a good piece of advice.
Okay. So how long have you been following Roofers Coffee Shop, and what's your favorite thing about RCS?

Lauren Morley: Okay, so this is funny. Obviously I've known you and your mom. I mean, how long ago did you and Ivan? Three years ago, right?

Megan Ellsworth: I feel like two or three years ago.

Lauren Morley: And hit it off right away. I mean, I'm pretty sure your mom's been an idol of mine for years. It's weird now since I realize how she's a friend, but I guess I'm friends with Heidi, so it's like I feel like I've been a part of your guys' world for four or five years. I have not actually thought you were for a selfie shot until about nine months ago.

Megan Ellsworth: Finally we booked you.

Lauren Morley: Honestly think I didn't even know I wasn't a part of it, to be honest. I think you came in and spoke to the academy class that I was like, "Oh, there's an actual subscription that I'm supposed to be a part of." But with that being said, I think what I really love the most about it is how much attention you guys pay just to all the little things. I even remember, I put up a random LinkedIn post four months ago to sell a bunch of extra screws and fasteners that we had, like COVID stuff and Alex emailed me an hour later, be like, "Hey, do you mind if we post this and put it in the newsletter?" And I was like, I mean, "Of course we don't mind." So I'm like...

Megan Ellsworth: Please do.

Lauren Morley: ... you really pay attention to your Room For Coffee Shop members and know what we need before I think we really know we need it? So, really wishing I joined more than eight months ago.

Megan Ellsworth: Oh my gosh. That's great. So, I'm also just going to throw in a little testimonial for our club right now. Loren is a member of our club. That's what she's talking about. And we have monthly coffee breaks where people from all over the country get together and chat every month virtually and all sorts of other perks. And Loren is a part of it. So I'm so glad that you're officially part of the family.

Lauren Morley: Officially a part of the team, and also the free content. My staff will advise me if you have stuff on rooferscoffeeshop.

Megan Ellsworth: That's awesome. I'm glad to hear it. Yay. Okay. Lastly, this is the last question. I just want to highlight your work with the GAF Roofing Academy. When's your next one? And tell us a little bit about your involvement with it.

Lauren Morley: Obviously, I appreciate you giving me the plug, 'cos you know how much I love the Roofing Academy. So for anyone who doesn't know what the Roofing Academy is, GAF, the manufacturer, has a free program to their master elite contractors where they will come in if you're in need of hiring somebody. And they will recruit from underserved communities. So anyone for any reason who has found themselves in a part of their life where they are in a place of employment and want to be. And they will set up a full training. All you have to do is provide them a space to do the training and they'll train on whatever you want. So they have in-house sales trainings, they have install trainings. They have, I mean, you name it, they'll train in it. And then you, as the roofer, you get first shot at if you want to hire somebody out of the group.

And then they'll take the rest of the attendees and they'll try to get them jobs in the roofing industry, which obviously, you all know, labor shortage is a huge, huge issue right now. And I'm very big, I grew up in nonprofits helping our communities, one of my [inaudible 00:21:12] in life. And so I think it just does both, right? It's so cool.

So I'm smaller, so I don't really have to hire all that often. And so what I like to do at the academy is host one-off specialty ones. So I've hosted two different all women's classes, and I've got a really, really great group of local contractors who are very, very supportive. I had to give a shout-out to Jeff Gray with Lifetime Roof and Solar because they're a huge partner for me when I do my job there. And so then we can get people hired.

So our next one, I have a little thumbs, 'cos it was supposed to be next week, but we are having to delay it just because of some other situations. But our next one we're doing is going to be a roofing academy that's partnering with the Mayor's Initiative. As a lot of people know, they got a thousand people off the streets in the first 90 days in their term. And their next stage is a workforce initiative. So we're going to be partnering with them to recruit from those efforts and try to get ...

Megan Ellsworth: That's awesome.

Lauren Morley: ... some more people in the roofing industry.

Megan Ellsworth: Man, it's so cool. And I did go and speak to, I think maybe your first all women's ...

Lauren Morley: I think you talked to both now.

Megan Ellsworth: ... academy. And it was life changing and just really cool. And I went to the graduation day and to see for the veterans one that you did, went to graduation day for that and the job fair. And everyone's just so appreciative and grateful and open-minded and open hearts and just so kind. And it was just, I can't speak more highly of it. So I think the work that you and GF are doing with the Roofing Academy is pretty cool.

Lauren Morley: I mean, it's just so funny. If you think about it's like how many of us have hired the guy who watching the door who worked at McDonald's, right? Every contractor out there has hired a guy with zero experience, and these people have at least put in effort to find a program to get trained. And it is incredible the amount these people learn in a week. Some of them know more than some of my technicians. And so to me, it's like they're all here, they're putting in into effort, but they already have more knowledge and some people walking in the door. I think it's just so cool and it's free. You don't pay anything. And if you're doing a regular roofing academy, you don't even have to do the recruiting. They do it all for you. So to me, it's a no-brainer, I think.

Megan Ellsworth: That's awesome. Well, Lauren, thank you so, so much for chatting with me and sharing your story. This has been a blast.

Loren Morley: Well, thank you for having me. It was great.

Megan Ellsworth: Yay. I want to mention that today's episode is sponsored by Ruby. They are a great company. If you need phone answering services, text answering services, so go check them out. They have a directory on rooferscoffeeshop.com, and they're also based in the Pacific Northwest. So we love them. And again, Lauren, this has been so much fun, R3NG also has a directory on rooferscoffeeshop.com. They're an art club member. You should be too. Get on it. What are you doing? This has been so fun. Thank you for chatting with me.

Lauren Morley: I know. This has been really fun. I can't wait to see you again next.

Megan Ellsworth: I know. Yay. Okay, great. Everyone out there, make sure you are subscribed and follow the podcast so you get notifications next time we upload an episode. And we'll be seeing you next time on Stories From The Roof.

If you've enjoyed these unique rooftop stories, be sure to hit that subscribe button so you don't miss a single episode. Go to rooferscoffeeshop.com to learn more. Thanks for soaring with us on Stories From The Roof. We'll catch you on the next one.

By Emma Peterson. 

Building up the roofing sector, one training at a time. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth got the opportunity to sit down with Lauren Morley from R3NG at the 2024 International Roofing Expo (IRE) to discuss being women in the industry. Lauren is the owner of R3NG, which is a roofing company in Colorado. She explained, “We do multifamily residential and we have an in-house service team. We're a GAF Master Elite, Master Select, Chairman Circle, CMP certified, etc.” But their work doesn’t just stop at their job sites, they dedicate themselves to getting involved in their community and bringing more people into the industry.  

One of the main ways they do this is through the GAF Roofing Academy. Lauren explained, “GAF has a free program that they offer to their contractors where they will recruit people from underserved communities. They'll come into your office and do completely free training on whatever you want.” After that training, the partner contractor, like R3NG, gets the first chance to interview and hire the trainees.  

In partnership with GAF, Lauren and R3NG have put their own spin on these training opportunities, focusing on uplifting the women in the industry. Lauren explained that background, “The first year we did it was really difficult. We had to do a lot of grassroots recruiting versus normally the academy recruits are found through local nonprofits to bring in women because it’s a male dominated industry.” That first year, they had 32 women in the class. Now, the program and specific classes with a focus on women can be found all over the country! 

And R3NG is not stopping there! There's a new initiative in the company’s hometown of Denver to find workforce placements for unhoused folks. Lauren explained, “Through different avenues, the mayor’s getting them placed into housing where they're really focused on mental health and helping them rehab and helping them get ready for the workforce.” R3NG is proud to be hosting one of the first workforce initiatives to get these people involved and training them. 

Watch the full interview to learn more about R3NG and their community involvement. 

By Evelyn Witterholt. 

Here’s what’s been trending on the RoofersCoffeeShop®(RCS) newsroom this past month. 

The National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA)’s National Roofing Week is a great way to spread awareness about all the good things the roofing industry does for the world. Although it took place June 4-10, our readers have been excited about this important week since last month! One of our most-read articles last month was a piece by our writer Anna Lockhart, which highlights this important week and all it entails. 

Solar roofs are still on the rise in the industry, with Tesla solar roofs growing in popularity as well. Another one of our top articles last month was highlighting a recent roofing job from Kelly Roofing where they installed a Tesla solar roof on the island of Nevis in the West Indies!  

Our top-read article last month came to us from Trent Cotney, partner at Adams and Reese, where he outlines Florida's Senate Bill 1718, a.k.a. the Immigration Bill. In this article he details what the bill calls for and what it means for Florida residents and businesses. 

Here are the top 10 articles of May 202 

Honorable Mention (#6-#10): 

10 - Bachman’s Roofing was Named a 2022 GAF Master Elite® 3-Star President's Club Award Winner 

9 - Kelly Roofing Goes Global With First International Tesla Solar Roof 

8 - RoofersCoffeeShop® Announces Opening of 2023 Roofing Industry Trends Survey 

7 - How to Encourage Our Youth to Find Their Calling in the Roofing Industry 

6 - FLOW Roofing and True Metal Supply Partner to Give Away New Metal Roof 

Read the Top 5 articles: 

5 - Roofing Company Owner Discusses the Benefits of GAF's Roofing Academy 

4 - Get Ready for National Roofing Week! 

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R3NG Roofing & Gutters Owner Lauren Morley speaks with us about their work with the GAF Roofing Academy and how they help combat the labor shortage.

Editor's note: The following is a transcript of a conversation between our Multimedia Manager Megan Ellsworth, and R3NG Roofing & Gutters Owner Lauren Morley.

Megan Ellsworth: Okay. So why don't we start by just having you introduce yourself, and what do you do? What's your company's name? All that jazz.

Lauren Morley: Yes. So I'm Lauren Morley. I'm one of the owners of R3NG, which is a low-slope commercial, multi-family residential roofing company out of Denver, Colorado.

Megan Ellsworth: Love it. And what's your role?

Lauren Morley: So I'm one of the owners, I run all of the day-to-day operations, and I'm the most involved with sales and marketing.

Megan Ellsworth: Okay, great. So you recently hosted a GAF Roofing Academy for women at your offices in Denver. What the process of getting that started like?

Lauren Morley: Yeah, that's a good question. So I only learned about the academy, the GAF Academy last year at Wealth Builder actually. And pretty quickly, Jason and I were like, "We really want to do that, it's really cool." So a little information about the academy itself, so GAF started this program back in 2019, it's a really cool program. Basically what they did was, they took their care team, which is who trains all of their contractors, and they created a division of it called the GAF Roofing Academy. They partner with their contractors all over the country, and depending on what that contractor is looking for in terms of labor, they will recruit from different non-profits or organizations, people who need a second chance getting back into the workforce. So whether it's former veterans, people who have been formally incarcerated, people who've been homeless, or have just lost their job for one reason or another. They recruit those people. All the roofer has to do is host the academy.

GAF comes in free of charge, and they train the people in whatever they want, low-slope roofing, steep-slope roofing, sales. They actually pay all the students to do the class, and they feed them breakfast and lunch. And then at the end of the class, the roofer has the chance to hire out of the class, and then GAF will help place them in other places. The point of the academy was to help contractors with the struggle of labor shortage.

Megan Ellsworth: That's awesome.

Lauren Morley: So really cool idea, so we go in, and we like to speak at the academy classes. They have me come in, and I speak to what it's working in the roofing industry, and what the different types of jobs are. So six months ago I went in, I spoke in a class, and I made a joke to the teacher, Danny McLaughlin, he said, "If you ever have a woman in one of your classes, let me know. I'll hire her." And he was like, "Why don't you just chose an all-women's class? I was like, "Oh yeah, sure. Why didn't I think of that?"

And I came back, and I told Jason, and Jason was like, "No, no, we should definitely do that." So that was the story of how the idea came to be. And then honestly, at that point, it was just logistics of getting with the academy to get the dates set. GAF does a lot of the front-end stuff, so they would create the flyer. I worked really closely with Danny, he actually lives here in Denver. He's one of the leads for the GAF Roofing Academy, and he helped me create all the content for the class.

Our class was different, 'cause we weren't doing it for us to hire, we wanted it to be an all-women's class. So we made it two weeks long. We covered everything, we covered low-slope, steep-slope, in-home sales, and coatings, and they do product knowledge, and hands-on demo knowledge. It was so much fun, and a lot of what I did was a lot of grassroots efforts to recruit. So I've reached out to a lot of our local non-profits. We worked a lot with the Gathering Place, we worked a lot with Chic Women's Workforce to fill the class of local women who were looking to get back in into the workforce.

Megan Ellsworth: Very cool.

Lauren Morley: And then from there it was just teaching it.

Megan Ellsworth:

Wow. So were those women that have experienced houselessness, or hardships at all?

Lauren Morley: Yeah, it was crazy getting to know the women over the course of the two weeks. I mean, there were some who had struggled with addiction, and had come out of rehab, and were sober, and trying to get back into the workforce. A lot of them had been incarcerated for one reason or another, and they were at halfway houses. I mean, I think out of our group, there was one woman who was homeless in the group, and about five who lived at halfway houses. And just crazy, because, I mean, I think out of those five, three of them already have jobs out of the academy.

Megan Ellsworth: Oh, that's great.

Lauren Morley: I know. Super cool.

Megan Ellsworth: Can you say where they're working?

Lauren Morley: Well, so Erica Gerard hired a woman who we called her our MVP of the class. Erica with Stonescape Steel just hired her.

Megan Ellsworth: That's awesome.

Lauren Morley: So super excited. I'd have to get with Danny, I don't know exactly who else got hired and where, and I'm not as close with them as I am with Erica. But you can definitely give Erica a shout-out because we were so excited that she hired Anna.

Megan Ellsworth: That's awesome. Okay, great. So it was two weeks long, you covered low-slope, steep-slope, coatings, in-home sales. And then also, I came and spoke to the class. This is Megan Ellsworth for the writer's reading this transcription. And that kind of gave them a different perspective of the roofing industry, not being on the roof, or in a roofing company per se. How did you think they received that?

Lauren Morley: Yeah, I think that was one of the really cool parts about our class versus all of the other ones. And obviously, I got the idea to have speakers come in, because I go in and speak at the classes. And I really wanted to make an effort to have women from all walks of life, and women who do all different jobs in the industry come in and speak to the class. Because it was almost funny those first couple days, they assumed roofing went up on the roof, like they had to get up on the roof. And I think through the speakers, we had Sarah Weiss spoke via Zoom, and she spoke to all the different roles within distribution. SRS brought in a woman named Christian who does in-house sales for SRS. Obviously we had you come, which by the way, half the women still use Roofers Coffee Shop, which is really cool. They would come in each morning and talk about articles that they brought on Roofers Coffee Shop, it was really funny.

Megan Ellsworth: Oh my God.

Lauren Morley: Yeah, it was pretty awesome. We had Jennifer Keegan, spoke to the building sciences side, and I think it really gave the women this understanding of how many other opportunities there are outside of being up on the roof.

Megan Ellsworth: That's awesome.

Lauren Morley: Yeah, for sure.

Megan Ellsworth: So what are you doing next?

Lauren Morley: Yes, so this is really exciting, we're really, really excited about it. So we've had in the works for a while, wanting to do an all-veterans class.

Megan Ellsworth: Love it.

Lauren Morley: Yeah, which was kind of the birth of the academy in the first place, was try to bring transitioning vets back to the workforce. Well, I was stressed out last week, and I got to speak on a panel about community engagement, which was really cool. And because of that, I had a lot of people being like, "When are you going to do the next women's one?" And I mean, we're a small company, so my employees can only handle so many classes every few months. But the more I talk to people, the more I was like, "Man, I really don't want to wait until next year to do another women's one." So I'm in a group with a bunch of academy people, and we were all kind of like, "Man, why don't we just do both at once?"

So the week of June 12th, us at R3NG, we'll be hosting an all-women's class again. And then the exact same week, R3NG will be hosting an all-veterans class at the CRA facilities. We will have two academy teachers at the CRA, we'll have two academy teachers here at the R3NG offices. It's going to be really fun. They do these things called cahoots, where they do morning trivia. So we're going to do joint morning trivia with both groups. We're going to do live nailing pattern challenges on Facebook, and how the groups interact with each other throughout the week. A little bit of competition, it's good for everybody. And then at the end of the week, on Saturday, we're going to do a solar shingle training for the crews together. And then we're going to host a job fair. So-

Megan Ellsworth: Awesome.

Lauren Morley: We're really excited about it. It's going to be really cool. So we'll have probably 12 women in the class, 12 veterans in one class, and then a job fair at the end.

Megan Ellsworth: That's great.

Lauren Morley: Yeah, we're excited. That'll be good.

Megan Ellsworth: How exciting.

Lauren Morley: We'll have to come in and talk again.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, I'll come in and talk again, and we'll have even more coverage on Roofers Coffee Shop for the next one. Is there anything else you want to add that we missed?

Lauren Morley: No, I mean, I think the biggest thing would just be, the two really cool things that's come out of this academy, there's now women in Southern California and Utah who are working with me to try and do more all-women's classes, which I think is awesome. And just the academy in general, how many people don't know about it. So I think I would just want people to know they have the resources. So if they want to do something with the academy, all they have to do is reach out to Eric Osuna, and they can reach out to me too, and I'm happy to answer questions. Because it's just such a cool program that's totally free of cost that brings roofers into the industry, which we need.

Megan Ellsworth: Yay. That's so great.

Learn more about R3NG Roofing and Gutters in their directory or visit r3ng.com.

By Cayden Wemple.  

This roofer did a complete 180 when she switched her career in academia to roofing. 

You won’t come across too many cases where someone finds themselves switching careers from collegiate course designer to roofing instructor, but that’s the exact switch that 36-year-old Kimberly Santiago-Vega decided to make.

Kimberly’s job of designing courses for the Ohio State University PhD program was starting to leave her unfulfilled, and she started thinking about her part-time job that she had during college: a construction subcontractor. She had such a fascination with the way that roofs are built, that she decided to quit her job and pursue a career building roofs. She told the Washington Post, “I’ve always been a hands-on person and roofing is something that really intrigued me.” But her parents were not particularly impressed. “My parents were shocked,” she said. “They were like, ‘You have this education — you’ve been studying your whole life. And now you’re just going to give it up? That’s crazy!’” That sentiment has not slowed her down in the slightest, however.  

Kimberly became a licensed roofer as well as an instructor at the GAF Roofing Academy, which is a nationwide training academy for roofers. Since graduating from the academy herself four years ago, she now belongs in an elite club which she calls the “shingle ladies” that includes “female roofing instructors and contractors with a passion for installing neat rows of shingles or tiles on steep surfaces.” 

Kimberly also just taught at a free, two-week GAF Roofing Academy workshop exclusively for women. She hoped that her presence would help empower women who wanted to be in roofing. “Women can play an important role in filling the shortages in the industry,” Kimberly said, “To those who think we can’t do it, guess what? We’re proving them wrong every day.” 

Lauren Morley, who co-owns R3NG, a Denver-based roofing contracting company, was also seeking to empower women attending the GAF Roofing Academy's job fair in her city. She told the Washington Post, “There aren’t very many women doing what I do, and I’d love to convince more of them to give roofing careers a try.” 

Stay up to date with the latest industry news when you sign up for the Coffee Shop eNews. 

About Cayden  

Cayden is a reporter for RoofersCoffeeShop, MetalCoffeeShop and AskARoofer. When he isn’t writing about roofs, he’s usually playing guitar or writing songs for his musical endeavors. 

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of an live interview with  Roofing Visionaries from the industry. All panelists were participants in the 2022 Roofing Visionaries immersive experience held in Chicago and hosted by Jobba.You can read the interview below, listen to the podcast or watch the video.

Heidi Ellsworth: OK, good morning everyone. My name is Heidi Ellsworth and I'm with Roofers Coffee Shop and this is Coffee Conversations. I am so excited. I have to tell you, our whole team at Roofers Coffee Shop is excited about this Coffee Conversations this morning. We are going to be talking with roofing visionaries, yes, visionaries. And what really came together last summer in a true visionary experience that brought out excellent, amazing information that can help the roofing industry take it to a whole new level. So we get to talk about that this morning. It's very exciting.

Before we get started, let's talk a little bit about, this is being recorded and it will be on demand by tomorrow. So you'll be able to share this with your folks, get it out there. So please, let everybody know about it as we share and continue with these great conversations. If you have questions, the chat is open and we would love to have you tell us who you are, say good morning, tell us where you're from and the type of company that you have, of course. So we'd love to hear you all and we're going to get started with this great group talking about roofing visionaries, environment, diversity and technology. We've got a lot to talk about, so let's just get right to it.

I would like to thank Jobba, who is our sponsor this morning. Because not only are they a sponsor, but Jobba is doing some of the most amazing trend setting experiences that you can imagine in the industry. And in fact, that's what today is all about. Talking about their summit and what they did last summer to bring thought leaders together. So Jobba, thank you, thank you, thank you for everything you're doing for the industry and for being such a great partner with Roofers Coffee Shop. OK, so first of all, I would like to introduce our amazing panel. And our first person I'd like to introduce and I'm so happy, Karol, I think this is the first time you've been on Coffee Conversations.

Karol Weyman: Yes.

Heidi Ellsworth: You're always helping and making it work, but this is the first time you're on. So welcome to the show. Karol, can you please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about Jobba?

Karol Weyman: Yes. Hi, I'm Karol Weyman. I'm the VP of marketing for Jobba. Jobba is a SaaS company, a service provider for the roofing industry. And we are a platform that keeps really listening to the roofing industry and making it better. And we also see the advantages of really getting to understand the issues with the industry so that we can elevate the whole industry as a whole.

Heidi Ellsworth: And you're doing it, you're doing it. Karol, what's your position at Jobba?

Karol Weyman: I'm the VP of Marketing.

Heidi Ellsworth: Awesome. OK. We're going to come back to you in just a minute after we do a few more introductions. And this person really doesn't need an introduction. He is a regular on Coffee Conversations and Roofers Coffee Shop, but John Kenney, welcome to the show this morning. Can you please introduce yourself?

John Kenney: Yeah, good morning, always happy to be here. Great group we got too. Pleasure to be here with everyone. John Kenney, a lot of you know me. Or if you don't know me, I spent about 45 years in my career over on the roofing contracting side. Enjoyed working through just about every position possible. I love the industry, top-notch. I love our industry more than anything. And now, I currently co-founded Cotney Consulting Group. I am the CEO. And what I do now is work in the roofing industry with roofing contractors on whatever their needs may be. So again, always enjoy working with Roofers Coffee Shop and everybody in our industry.

Heidi Ellsworth: Wow. Thank you for being here, John. As always, great. And I am really proud to introduce someone new to the industry who has brought us such great information and is doing such amazing things in Chicago. Brian Lamar Alexander. Brian, welcome to the show. Please introduce yourself.

Brian Alexander: Hey, good morning everybody. My name is Brian Alexander. I am a Chief of Staff at an organization on South Side, Chicago called Project H.O.O.D., H.O.O.D. stands for helping others obtain destiny. We do that in literally any way that we can in order to meet the need. I'm just looking forward to sharing more of our journey with you guys here in just a bit.

Heidi Ellsworth: That's great. Brian, welcome. Thank you so much.

Brian Alexander: Thank you.

Heidi Ellsworth: And from the roofing industry, I am so happy to welcome Jason to our panel. I know you've been on watching a few times, it's your first time on the show. Welcome. Please introduce yourself.

Jason Domecq: Yeah, thanks a lot for having us. It's great to see everybody here. Wow. And I have to say, being on for the first time, it's so great seeing everybody from around the US, from Wisconsin to British Columbia, Iowa, Ohio, Massachusetts, D.C., this is great. So I'm Jason Domecq. I'm one of the co-owners of R3NG here in Denver, Colorado. Super excited to be on here and this is just a great forum. Happy to be a part of it.

Heidi Ellsworth: That's great. We're really excited to hear your thoughts and your experience from last year.

Jason Domecq: Yeah.

Heidi Ellsworth: And then someone who we have been loving, have been involved with National Women in Roofing, has been involved so much with Roofers Coffee Shop. So Lauren, I'm so happy to have you here today. Please introduce yourself.

Lauren Morley: Yeah. Thanks, Heidi. It's good to be here. Super excited. I hadn't been on it, now I think this is my second week in a row on Coffee Conversations.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah. It's cool.

Lauren Morley: So yeah. I'm Lauren, I'm the other owner of R3NG. And I've been in the industry, I've grown up in construction, but I've been in the roofing industry for eight years. And like Heidi said, I'm really, really involved with National Women in Roofing and just trying to elevate the industry through different programs. So I'm really excited to be here. This is an awesome group. So super honored to be considered a visionary.

Heidi Ellsworth: It's going to be pretty exciting, I'm telling you what. OK. And last but certainly not least, our friend Michael Black. I've seen you so many times and I'm so happy to have you on the show. And Sutter is such an amazing company. Please introduce yourself.

Michael Black: Yeah, thank you. I'm excited to be here. My name is Michael Black. I am the director of service and maintenance for Sutter Roofing Company. Sutter is a commercial roofing contractor here in Florida and West Virginia. Originally started in 1902. We're a fourth generation roofing company and next year we're going to be a fifth generation roofing company. So looking forward to talking to everybody today.

Heidi Ellsworth: Congratulations. That sounds great. OK. Five generations. That's amazing. OK, we are going to get started. So I am just going to let Karol set the stage on exactly how the summit came about, what happened. Karol, take it away.

Karol Weyman: Well, thank you, Heidi. Yeah. So we call this immersive events, a summit for roofing visionaries because everyone that attended really sets themselves apart from just the daily grind of the roofing industry. And the intention for us all getting together was to gain firsthand knowledge that allowed us to reflect on issues within the roofing industry. And the focus was really focused on rapidly changing technology, economic and social issues. And so we used the term immersive because it wasn't just meetings with PowerPoint, it wasn't getting around a table, it was really a day of thought-provoking experience as we exposed examples of in interconnected systems and communities within the roofing landscape together. And so we considered this a very intimate convening of leaders. That's how we really approached it. In the roofing industry, we were seeking enablers of growth within the industry and we wanted it to be invigorating and reflective.

So our team put together a program with site visits that let our guests see these areas of interest in real time. So we knew it was going to be a powerful day and we brought people together to engage directly with one another with the hope that they'd be a seed for change within the community and within the industry. And so the good news is that we were right. I mean, some of our influencers really understood the mission and they're here today to share their experiences and what they gained from that day and how they really put their words into action from that day. So that was a really amazing day and just to see what has happened since then has been extraordinary. And there's still so much more we can do. So that's my setting the stage for that.

Heidi Ellsworth: Well, and one thing, Karol, I really want to mention too is first of all, I was supposed to be there and I had COVID.

Karol Weyman: Yes.

Heidi Ellsworth: I am so sad. So next time, next time.

Karol Weyman: Yes.

Heidi Ellsworth: But the other thing is I just think it's really important too that Jobba did this not for Jobba. This wasn't to come in and talk about Jobba or to talk about even the software or anything like that. This was really a give back to the industry to bring new ideas. Can you just real quick just highlight on that?

Karol Weyman: Yeah. We didn't want it to be, when people are interested in technology and they want to go find or a service for them, we would like to think that we're front of their minds for something like that. But I think we realize that in the roofing industry and all industries in the whole, there's definitely some issues that are happening that run the gamut. And so we think, philosophically, in our company that we need to solve really tough problems in order to elevate the industry. And then the industry, things will happen eventually for Jobba. And they have.

Heidi Ellsworth: Right.

Karol Weyman: But that wasn't the intent of this at all. And in fact, people would be like, "Hey, why aren't you talking about Jobba?" People were really surprised that we weren't, it wasn't a sales pitch, it wasn't something that we were interested in doing at that time. We really wanted to expose issues and where we can help as an industry. Knowing all the people that attended and all the people that are on this panel, they are extraordinary humans anyway. And the things that they're able to do and when they put their minds to it is just amazing. And you're going to hear more about that during this time.

Heidi Ellsworth: It's really cool. It's really cool. Now, I want to remind everybody the chat is open, so if you have questions, I'll try to intersperse them. We're going to get through everybody. But I will be taking your questions as we go. So here, we're going to Michael. I would love for you, OK, so as Karol mentioned, it was really in three parts. There was sustainability, there was labor and diversity, and then there was technology. So we're going to start on the sustainable side of the part of your visionary summit. And so Michael, can you kind of tell us what that part was about and how it really affected you?

Michael Black: Yeah. Plant Chicago was really a cool experience for me. Plant Chicago is a local organization up there that works to develop and share methods for recycling, sustainability, they let people come in and grow their own food. It was really cool to go in there and see how they do everything, how it works in the community. What really caught my eye is everybody's used to recycling. Everybody at home has recycle bins or whatever, but to hear their vision and the way they talked about it made you open up to you can always do more. So in construction we went beyond just the regular recycling. I got back and started thinking how can we do more?

We did do a bunch of different changes in our company. We installed metal dumpsters, we recycle, we're recycling batteries now in the office. We got recycle bins next to the printers. Just that little bit. You don't have to do a lot, but just doing a little bit makes a huge difference. And they really brought a vision of that you can take something and it can be reused. It doesn't have to go straight to the landfill. You can take that product and it can be reused and reused again. And once you get that mindset going, you start thinking about it, you can really help this planet out, honestly. So I mean, they really did a great job of explaining to me on opening up your mind and thinking beyond just your regular, "I'm just going to put this piece of paper in the recycle bin." Start looking at everything in the company. And what can we do to recycle this? Where can we use this again in another part? So it was a really great experience. They did a really good job up there. I really enjoyed it.

Heidi Ellsworth: And being able to bring that back to your company and with the culture of that sustainability, how does that help the culture of your company overall? I mean, we always want to talk dollars, but it's so important for the culture.

Michael Black: Oh, definitely. It definitely helped. Some of the people were like, "What are we doing? Why are we doing this?" Because they just didn't understand. But some people, it really intrigued them also. It intrigued a lot of us to go in our own local communities and do some more volunteer work and kind of do that same thing. So it does create a good culture. Like I said, some people, you got to explain it to them and make them understand so they get the vision of it. But once they got the vision of it, now we got people in all the office. Like when your wireless mouse, when the battery goes dead, you usually throw it in the trash. Now we got a bin to put that battery in and we take it and we dispose of it properly. So it's just the little things like that that people started catching on and people started doing it. And then to walk around your warehouse and the office and actually see the recycle bins full, that's a good feeling, that you know that people understand it and they got it.

Heidi Ellsworth: And that's something they can, because I think so often, especially in roofing, we think, "Oh, it has to be this big project of shingles and tear offs," and everything like that. But what you really brought was every day back from this journey.

Michael Black: Yeah.

Heidi Ellsworth: That is amazing. OK, we're going to come back to that because I want to make sure we kind of set the stage with everyone. So Brian, we are so excited to hear from you about Project H.O.O.D., Please share with us about Project H.O.O.D., but also about that day when everyone came in and how that really made such a difference.

Brian Alexander: Yeah, absolutely. And thank you guys so much for the opportunity to be here and just for your work. Funnily, when you said that the company was a SaaS company, I was like, "I had no idea." And I think it speaks to how you guys have engaged in this work and I'm just super, super grateful for that. Just for you guys just always leading and helping to connect really, really important groups together, which is really, really appreciated. So at Project H.O.O.D., the H.O.O.D. stands for helping others obtain destiny. Quite literally, it's what drives us, it's a source of the work that we do. Here, on the South Side of Chicago, really quick, the organization was founded by Pastor Corey Brooks, aka, the rooftop pastor. Well, again, just had such a heart for the community and was just so sick of what he was seeing that he decided to put everything on the line and camp out on a rooftop for 94 days to tear down a motel that was really the source of a ton of the violence and sex trafficking, drug trafficking. Out of those efforts, he ended up camping out for 94 days, was able to raise enough funds to tear it down.

Out of those efforts, Project H.O.O.D. was born. We're located in an area that in 2014, the Chicago Sun Times wrote an article calling us the most dangerous block in all of Chicago. And that's something that we really, really took great offense to. And have for the last decade, have just been in action creating programs to help to transform the lives of people on the South Side of Chicago and beyond. We've seen a ton of success. Violence in our is now down 52% year over year. And I think it comes down to a really simple statement, just that we want our guys to put down their guns and to pick up hammers. Right? We really got to get folks to work in our community and help them to really transform their lives as well.

So the latest iteration of this was that for our 10-year anniversary, Pastor Brooks decided to again camp out on a rooftop, but this time not to tear something down but to build something. We are in the process now of raising $35 million to build an 89,000 square foot leadership and economic opportunity center. And I can get into a bunch of that later. But on the back wing of this building will be our trade school. It'll be where we'll be. We'll have automotive trade training, we'll have construction, we'll have carpentry as well, electrical as well. And this is a key component of our programming because it enables us to, despite our folks backgrounds and records, give them an opportunity to really transform their lives as well. And it's something, it was so worth it to Pastor Brooks that he decided to camp out on a rooftop. Literally, it ended up being for 344 days, guys. But in that timeframe we've been able to raise 28 and a half million dollars. We'll be in the ground in less than 60 days. It's crazy. We just signed our contract and we're just super, super grateful as well.

So when Jobba came out to come visit us, it was really just such a great opportunity because initially I was under the impression that, "OK, well, let's connect our kids with some jobs." But it was so, so, so, so much more than that and we're just grateful for you guys. It's leadership and being able to share a lot of our experience with you guys as well about the work that we do. Just to kind of give you a piece of context, our last construction cohort, we had, I think, close to 25 or 30 slots available and we had over 200 applicants. So again, there's a lot of narratives in our community about people don't want to work and blah, blah, blah, but these numbers are this way every single time that we open up our doors for a construction cohort. So we're looking forward to scaling this work and beginning to really understand what the other opportunities are that are available and how we can be helpful in changing the hearts and minds of people in the community and providing some really, really awesome opportunities as well.

Heidi Ellsworth: Brian, we talk day in and day out in the roofing industry about the labor shortage and you just pointed out that there's no labor shortage.

Brian Alexander: Absolutely.

Heidi Ellsworth: That's what we need to hear. Right? We are looking in the wrong places. And so this needs to change. How are the young men and women who are going, who are getting hired and going into the trades, what is the feedback?

Brian Alexander: Man, so funny enough, one of our greatest success stories is actually a group of kids. There were brothers, I think, three brothers and a cousin, who all went through our construction trade training program and all got hired at a roofing company. And it was so funny, a few months back, one of them was talking to our president, Desmond Marshall, who really is super, super hands-on with that program and is largely responsible for a lot of the success along with the rest of our team. They were calling and saying, "Des, I'm getting on a plane." He was like, "You getting on a plane to go where?" He was like, "I'm going to South Carolina because I got a roofing job. Well, I did so well on the first job that now I'm getting on a plane and I'm traveling." This is the kid's first time on a airplane. Right?

Heidi Ellsworth: That is amazing.

Brian Alexander: For us, it's a matter of providing the opportunities, preparing them as well. We do a ton to work with the employers as well, to help to bridge the gap and get them to really understand the opportunities that are available and be as much of a support to them as well as these individuals transition from life in the streets to a life of employment and prosperity and just beginning to really transform their lives. So we're super, super grateful.

Heidi Ellsworth: We are having some comments coming through. Brian, you are inspiring people. So we're going to come back to that. We're going to get through the rest of the day. The next step was to talk with the GAF Roofing Academy and how we can start bringing this to play. So Jason, if you could kind of tell us about your experience and what has happened from there.

Jason Domecq: Sure. So I'll kind of break this up into two different parts. But I do want to backtrack on something that I think Karol and Brian kind of said as well. So when we got invited out to Chicago for this Jobba event, my first thoughts were, "OK, great. This is going to be another great opportunity to kind of learn about some other companies." I didn't have any kind of real clue really what it was about. And like Karol said, it really was a great immersive experience just to see what challenges that Chicago and those areas were facing. And it kind of opened my eyes a little bit that this wasn't really just about Chicago. The things that we all faced as far as providing different kinds of opportunity, levels of education, I think the positive change then ultimately to transform people's lives. I mean, that's really what that whole immersive experience was really about. Was just to expose us to a much greater level of need for just change in our industry to really raise the bar, if you will.

It really was just an amazing experience. And I think how the Roofing Academy kind of came into it, Lauren and I had gotten back from Chicago and immediately had a lunch with GAF, specifically the Roofing Academy. And at that time, they were kind of rolling it out. And so Lauren and I had a discussion with them about really what the program was about and I walked away from that lunch thinking, "Wow, this is exactly what Brian was talking about at Project H.O.O.D.," and I quickly got on a phone call with Karol, "You guys have got to get in contact with these people. This would just be a great opportunity," et cetera. And so really that's kind of, for us, how Roofing Academy in and of itself really just didn't, they obviously have had an impact on us here in Denver, Colorado, which I'll let Lauren explain more, but really about how we can use that as a springboard to help change across the US.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah. Sometimes you just don't know what you don't know. Right?

Jason Domecq: Yeah. Yeah.

Heidi Ellsworth: And so this gives you that opportunity to really dive in and say, "OK, we can do things different."

Jason Domecq: Yeah.

Heidi Ellsworth: And you have. So Lauren, I know we were honored to be able to be a part of what you and Jason and your team did there. Tell us about, and I'm going to actually say Megan Ellsworth was, who couldn't be here today. She's traveling today, everyone. So if you're wondering where our producer is. But Lauren, tell us about how you took what you learned from Chicago and applied it into Colorado.

Lauren Morley: Yeah. Yeah, so I was actually on your boat, Heidi. I didn't have COVID, but Jason had a lot of traveling going on in that time and I think I tried up until two days before the experience to make it down there and I couldn't swing it.

Heidi Ellsworth: Oh, OK. So same thing.

Lauren Morley: He was texting me and telling me about it throughout the entire experience. And I'm on board with Heidi, I will definitely be at the next one. And Jason had talked to me a lot about Project H.O.O.D. because just helping people in communities that need it is something that's always been really important to myself and to Jason. And like he said, it was kind of just funny timing. At that time, we'd been trying to get to know the Roofing Academy. They had just come out to Colorado. The lunch Jason was talking about was literally two days after he got back from Chicago. And it just was one of those almost kismet moments where it was so clearly going to be a great partnership for us and for the industry.

So really quick, just for anyone who doesn't know about the academy, basically, what GAF does is they'll partner with their contractors and they'll go across the nation and they'll come out and they will recruit from communities like the South Side of Chicago, people who are in need of finding a new job, a different industry, a second chance. And they will provide a full one week or two week training at no cost to the contractor, at no cost to the students. Training them in whatever it is the contractor is in need of hiring. And then that contractor will get to hire out of that group. And then afterwards, they will place these students within contractors across that state. And it's so incredible to me because, like Brian said, there isn't a shortage, we're just not looking in the right places. Right? Last year, GAF trained 905 people and placed 564 of them in positions across the roofing industry. And to me, it's just one of those things where how do you not take advantage of that? Right?

And then obviously, what Heidi's referring to is we kind of took that, we introduced the academy to Project H.O.O.D., Who is still doing active trainings on a regular basis with them, which is really cool. And then we actually planned a two week all women's class here in Denver, which was really cool. It was a really fun experience. We had 18 women graduate from the program and we've currently already placed about half of them. And we're actually hosting another class the week of June 19th. So we'll be hosting another all women's class. But at the exact same time in a different location, we'll also be hosting an all veterans class as well.

Heidi Ellsworth: Oh, wow.

Lauren Morley: So yeah, it's a great program and it's something that to be able to partner with people like Project H.O.O.D. to really make a difference, it's pretty awesome.

Heidi Ellsworth: I have to tell you, when Megan participated in that with you, Lauren, and spoke about Roofers Coffee Shop, because you just asked her to come speak and Roofers Coffee Shop, she was thinking no one's going to care. Right? No one cares about this. And she walked away with, "This is the most amazing experience I've ever had." And people, everyone does care. And so it's amazing the difference you're making. You and Jason have made in Colorado. Brian, you're making. I mean, this is changing lives, which is so important. So the last step of that visionary day was on technology. And John Kenney, you're so involved with RT3 and everything else, so talk to us a little bit about that final stage.

John Kenney: Sure, happy to. I do want to just back up and let Brian know. Brian, I think the Project H.O.O.D. experience, I've been to a lot of training centers and a lot of programs throughout my career, you're definitely the best I've seen for a couple of reasons. You should be modeled throughout any major metropolitan area in this country. And I think that would help our problem, not only just in roofing but the entire construction and labor force. And what you do is you bring to the community excitement to see what opportunities are out there ahead of them. And I know when I got a chance to speak to the students and the ones going through your program, that's what I got out of it. Everyone was excited and wanted to move in a direction of making themselves better. And my hat's off to you on that and you should be a model around the industry.

Brian Alexander: OK.

John Kenney: So I wanted to just get that out there.

Brian Alexander: Man. Thank you for that, man. Our team is absolutely amazing. They're second to none. And we just really, really appreciate the opportunity to be able to serve as well, John. Thank you.

John Kenney: You're welcome. So now tying into the technology part. Yes, that part was extremely exciting for a couple ways. I was listening to the group and listening to the presentations on the technology, especially the robotics. And one thing that was a general message was what you would expect is excitement for technology and fear of technology. I think what I mean by that is especially today, now you're seeing more and more in AI, I think we're starting to get to it's got great potential, it could have bad potential and I think people are thinking that. But the big thing going back to this is looking at that losing the human touch. We talk about roofing being a human touch relationship. And it is a lot of artisan work in a lot of our areas. But I do think you're going to see the technology melt in and merge in very well, especially when you got the younger generations coming up through that are more apt to using it, more familiar with it, not so scared it.

Couple places that I think you're going to see it. Definitely robotics are going to play a part by looking at what we saw. And I see now, example, they've actually put that ChatGPT into a robot now that we've been seeing from Boston Dynamics out there. And it can communicate back in a human level and take directions and do it. So where would we use that? Material handling. As far as imagine a welder on a single-ply roof that can actually take the temperatures back and put it through an AI sequence and be able to adjust it so you don't have the cold welds or the problems with the start, stop. So that's the exciting stuff I see in it. And also what I like about looking at taking that from a material handling standpoint, take the AI to the next level that they were programming the robots with. You're going to be able to analyze your businesses better for risk management.

And I think you're going to see technology come in in areas that we're going to be able to adopt it, accept it and get familiar with it. And then you'll see it expand out into other areas. And that's where I see a lot of the younger upcoming generation really going to get excited about jumping into our field, to work with that human and technology interaction. So I don't see it replacing the human ability, at least not in my time, but I do see that it's going to be a great mix between the two. And that's what I'm excited about.

Heidi Ellsworth: We are constantly talking about labor and this has solved, what you did last, the vision and really bringing this out, is actually solving so many areas of that. Whether it is getting to new sources like Project H.O.O.D., really being able to, or whether it's talking about robotics and how are we going to bring the industry up with using technology, not having it use us, using it as a tool. I think is amazing. So Karol, kind of on that recap, I mean, you're hearing all of this, you have to just be kind of beaming with pride.

Karol Weyman: Yeah. I think one of the things that Brian talked about when I visit him prior to the actual events, he talked about how exposure is so important. There's a fire that's lit when someone's exposed to something that they potentially have a passion for. So when you think of robotics, you think of recycling and you think of just people, just being exposed to things. I think it's more than a coincidence that Jason met with GAF. I think things align because you are looking for them to align. I think that you're looking for the solution. And I feel like with technology and having it not replace human touch, it's really being able to, it's almost like a marriage. Making sure that humans are focusing on what they need to, like growing their business and solving other problems while this is already figured out. And maybe not a lot of people wanted to be doing that job.

So I think that there's just so many different synergies that happen from that day. And to see them play out, it brings so much pride into what we did, but there's still so much more that we can do. Just being able to have outreach to other areas of the country and talking about the recycling as being reduced, reuse, recycle. But if you can reduce and reuse, you don't have to recycle. So the next step is how do we reduce, how we reuse? But it starts with recycling, it starts with being cognizant of it. So when they say 3% of everything gets recycled, that means 97% is not. So just even being able to move that level, I mean, I have so many things going on in my head right now because of the three different areas that we really were discussing, but it's just such pride. So yeah, thank you for asking that.

Heidi Ellsworth: It is so cool. So I want to bring in some of the questions that are coming in because there's a lot. And so Brian, we're going to be aiming some of these your direction here. And so I want to go back. And Kyle, thank you for being on so much. And he said, "That's right. We just need to tap into the intellectual property that resides in those most neglected areas that we pass up on a daily basis." And of course, he said, "28 million. That's fantastic. Nice work." So what I would like, Brian, how can people across the country, like Kyle said, tap in and how can they help? And also let's hear how they can help you guys to hit that 35 million.

Brian Alexander: Yeah, I mean, well one, just thank you guys for the platform. We're extremely humbled by all of this. This wasn't our intention. Our intention was just to help as many people as possible. So to be here is just amazing. I think that the thing that's important when it comes to understanding how folks might be able to be as much of a contribution as possible, I think it's kind of impossible unless you do what you guys did, which is just show up. Right? You have to show up, you have to come down, you have to see it, you have to interact with the people. And then whatever God places on your heart, it's our job to be a conduit for that work. We understand that a lot of the folks that we serve have criminal backgrounds and records and it precludes them from a ton of opportunities.

So for everything from construction, it was a no-brainer for us. But also, we are working with Dreamworks. If you want to be a computer animator, they also don't care about your background and your record. Right? So we want to be as much of a conduit for real opportunity as we possibly can be as well. And as we move into construction of this facility now, and as you guys all know, construction costs, they went crazy up, they've come down a little bit but not much. And we are, right now, just looking to garner as many partnerships as we can with suppliers of materials, with laborers as well. We're realizing there's just a ton that's going to go into building an 89,000 square foot facility. And outside of the price tag, what we really see is just a true opportunity to be able to fold in some companies, some individuals who really have a heart for this work, a heart for these communities and a heart for transforming lives as well.

So we're grateful to have folks like Ozinga Concrete is coming on and they're donating all the concrete for the project. Related Midwest is going to be donating their services, they're our GC on the project. Trammell Crow Company is our owner's rep. They're donating their services to us pro bono as well. So I think there's just a ton more of these sorts of opportunities that are available. Our models, they work, the lives are being transformed as well. And we look forward to just being more of a conduit and a hub for these conversations as well and connecting our folks in our communities with these opportunities so that they can begin to transform their lives, support their families, and transform this community and communities all over America as well. Of course, if anybody has a check for 35 million, we will absolutely take that.

Heidi Ellsworth: You'll take it. Well, I'm telling you that there are some manufacturers who I think are listening into this too and distributors, obviously a lot of contractors. So anyone who wants to get involved, we can definitely connect. I mean, just look at Project H.O.O.D., but this is the kind of stuff, I mean, I have to tell you, Brian, the roofing industry is amazing at giving back, but sometimes they just don't know where. So this is a perfect opportunity.

Brian Alexander: We're really, really grateful because also we're working on this project, but now that we've kind of gone through this project utilizing new market tax credits, all these things, we're like OK, now that we've proven ourselves by going through the fire, we realize that we're able now to do a lot more. So we're shifting our focus a bit to doing some affordable housing in the area as well. So all that to say, there's just a ton more opportunities that are going to become available and we just look forward to folding in as many wonderful folks and companies as possible as we work to transform the lives of the folks here on the South Side of Chicago.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah, I love it. Well, we have contractors out here. Greg, thank you. He said, "Incredible work. Great work, Project H.O.O.D." And then Michael, I want to take this back to you because I love your comment here. You said, "If I had a company in the Chicago area, I would definitely get in touch with Project H.O.O.D." Yeah.

Michael Black: Absolutely. I mean, right now the labor shortage, especially down here in Florida, it's hard to get anybody just to come to work just to show up. And we go to job fairs, we go to high school trying to recruit roofers. If we had a Project H.O.O.D. in Florida, absolutely we would go to it and use it. Because after seeing it firsthand and being in that community and seeing the kids that were there, I mean, those kids were happy. They were happy. They were outside. I think they had a pizza party when we was there and they were all outside playing. And those are good kids. And like Brian said, they're willing to work, they want a job, they want to do something. And absolutely, with the labor shortage we have, especially here in Florida, if there was a Project H.O.O.D. anywhere in Florida, we would definitely partner up with them and use their program. Absolutely.

Lauren Morley: And I guess what I would say to that is you might not have Project H.O.O.D., but you do have access to the academy. Right?

Michael Black: Yes.

Lauren Morley: Which recruits people from the exact same type of environment. People who have the same backgrounds, who have the same struggles, trying to enter new industries. Which I think is what's so cool about the connection there, right?

Michael Black: Yep. Absolutely.

Heidi Ellsworth: It is. Well, and in fact, Terry just mentioned here, Terry, thank you so much. "We have just hired a young lady who completed the GAF training in Idaho. It is nice to have someone with some welding skills," I love that, "And she's shown incentive in showing up every day for the GAF training. I really like the all veteran class idea too." So Lauren, maybe talk a little bit more about that.

Lauren Morley: Yeah, I mean, I think I'll say two things to that. People will say, "Oh, a week of training, is that really something?" It is incredible the amount these students learn in such a short period of time. I mean, I tell you on the third day of our training, some of these women knew more than my techs twos do. And I think exactly that. How many of us have hired the guy who walked in the door who just worked in fast food. And she hit the nail on the head about, oh gosh, that was punny. Sorry.

Heidi Ellsworth: No pun. Right?

Lauren Morley: So these people have already put in that extra step to go to this training, which is so much more than most of the people who come to work for us. And they've shown that they can show up for a training every day, which is pretty important. Right? As far as doing the group specific ones, the all women's one or the all veterans one, they're incredible. I mean, honestly, they're life changing. The amount of impact that you're having on these communities is really cool. But I think it comes back to what Brian said, if you're going to do something like that, you have to show up, you have to be involved. To do things like that, I'm very involved with the direct recruiting from different nonprofits in our area because I want to make an impact on my community.

There's ways you can do the academy where you literally just call them and they'll do all the work and they'll recruit for the class and they'll bring them in. And that's still really incredible. They're still helping a great group. But it is pretty awesome being able to do something like the all veterans class and knowing that you're making an impact on that one specific community. If anyone's interested in doing something like that, just reach out to your local GAF territory manager. They should be able to put you in touch with whoever your nearest GAF Academy recruiter is, and then they'll just be your partner from there.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah. So Jason too, I think there's probably a lot of people out there who are thinking, "Well, this all sounds great, but I just don't even know where to start. How do I even do that?" And so Jason, you came back from this and you reached out. Did you reach out to GAF or was this just a coincidence that you guys were all meeting? How did that work?

Jason Domecq: Yeah, so actually Lauren and I attended a GAF event, and that's where we first learned about the Roofing Academy. And then that's when we had initially scheduled our lunch with them to just kind of learn more about it. So it was just kind of a coincidence as far as the timing goes with going back to Chicago for this experience and then also coming back and having lunch with them to figure out more really what it was about. And you just never know the type of individual that's going to walk through your door wanting a job, whether they're just an applicant. But the people that actually come to these events, like the Roofing Academy, I mean, there's a need and they want to do something. And more often than not, what we've found so far is that a lot of the people that have come through the academy, it's not just about, like what Lauren said, hitting the nail on the head, if you will, swinging a hammer. It's the experience and what people can bring to the industry from their experiences.

Whether you need someone who knows accounting or knows how to work behind the scenes to help support the actual company doing the rest of the work, whether they're from marketing, whether they want to get into the supply chain world or into the manufacturer world. I mean, it's really about providing that kind of opportunity that can then serve a need to help better the industry. And people don't know what kind of opportunity this is and how inspiring it really can be for them and what kind of growth opportunity that it can really provide to individuals until they actually try it.

Heidi Ellsworth: Right.

Jason Domecq: And we've had so many people come back and say, "You know what? I had no clue. I really had no clue that one, this would be fun. Two, just a lot of opportunity out there. And I can see a path to move forward in."

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah. I think that's so strong. And I want to kind of follow, and please, if you have questions or thoughts or anything, but I do want to kind of follow up on some of the other things also that as we're talking about this. So Michael, I'm going to come back to you first just on the sustainability topic. And I know that NRCA is very active right now, on really helping contractors out there on the sustainability side of it and what's happening with environment, what are contractors having to deal with. But there's also a lot of contractors, I think of Peter [inaudible 00:43:55] out of Maine who's doing all this recycling and they're working through a lot of different things. What are some of your thoughts on taking, first of all, helping people get started, but second of all, what's your next steps?

Michael Black: Well, I mean, one thing, first, you got to do is you got to do your research. You got to find out in your local community who actually takes the recycling materials and how to properly get rid of stuff. So that's the first thing I would suggest is go through your local communities and find out who you're recycling people, where you can drop the stuff off, who's actually taking it and all that other stuff. The second step is get with your roofing manufacturers. Some of these roofing manufacturers are already involved in huge recycling plans. I know in some instances, like PVC roofs, we can tear them off, fold them up, palletize them, we can ship them back to their manufacturer in some instances for recyclability. So it's really about getting with your manufacturers. Go to them because they're the big players. They're hooked up with the big nationwide accounts. Get with the manufacturers, ask them how we can recycle the material.

And get with your local communities and see exactly what to do. I know I did a lot of research on Google when I got back to find out where do I take batteries. Just something simple like that. And there's a special battery place here. And just about every place I Google, there's a place where you can take dead batteries, that's recyclable. So it's just a matter of doing your research. And get with the manufacturers because they're already involved. They got programs and I'm sure they'd be more than happy to help you. And that would be my advice is team up with your manufacturers, the roofing material, and then just Google and research your local communities of where you can go and how you can help.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah. And I want to say we had amazing Coffee Conversations with Owens Corning on recycling in Q1 of this year. And so you're right. They're doing some amazing things that are going to help everybody take that next step. Karol?

Karol Weyman: And I wanted to mention, there's another, these are the people that are here today, but we had such a great group of people that attended. And one of the people that I want to give a shout-out to is Wendy Marvin, she's a CEO of Matrix Roofing and certainly an influencer in the industry. And one of the things that she commented when we were talking about sustainable materials and methods, this is her quote, "If you start with the end of the lifecycle in mind, there's a paradigm shift. We've agreed as an industry what materials to use, but they aren't necessarily the right ones." So ecosystems and partnerships across not just within them, this can be vital for growth. To be able to think of the end and how that's going to affect what's going to end up in a landfill, what's going to end up not being able to be recycled.

And so I think there was such thought-provoking conversation and just being able to do your research, like Michael's doing and other people, and hearing about Owens Corning and knowing that they are very passionate about that. And they have the resources to potentially do some investigation on that or create a panel on how we can reduce our landfills and reduce. Being in that situation, I mean, our earth is in trouble, whether you want to take that on or not. But everyone has their passion. And so I think another point I wanted to make that someone also mentioned, that people don't live in silos, so why should we operate in them? And so I think being able to connect with people because we do so much more as a group than you can do singly. And so I think everyone, if these are thoughts on your mind and you're attending this and you're thinking to yourself, "Well, what can I do?" Reach out to any one of us. We want to make this a better industry and a better world for people.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah, it's so true. Karol, maybe you can put the blog back into the chat again, just so everybody can see it. So there was a blog on this where you can read all the information on this day and what happened. It's amazing, is so good. And so one of the follow-ups that I want to put out there, and John, this is going to be a shameless plug, but I'd love for you to talk a little bit about how people can get involved with Roofing Technology Think Tank. Because what this visionary day did fits right into the model of Roofing Technology Think tank, maybe you all hear it as RT3. Talk a little bit about that, John.

John Kenney: Sure. Well, you can reach out to me and I'll get you in contact with the right people to get you in there. Or you can go to their website and you can join that way. But let me tell you what I enjoy working with the groups. I'm sitting on a task force just for technology, and there's so many interesting things that are coming out of that. We started out thinking about, well, software is in the industry. We've gone so much further than that now. Thinking about the makeup of the roofing contractor, where their stages of maturity are at compared to the type of technologies they need to embrace and how their companies run. So this is all being done from one idea that started out with, "Hey, we need to standardize how we look at software." So from that, we've opened up a whole new field of where we're looking at to benefit our industry.

And we look at a lot of things. We go out and do these site visits. Right? We do our days out for that. And we have people come in and the amazing technologies are shown at our meetings that you don't normally get exposed to if you weren't involved in it. So I highly recommend anybody in the industry, and it doesn't matter whether you're a contractor, whether you're in consulting or in architectural design, manufacturing, repping, whatever it is, come in, be a part of it, learn about how the industry's moving forward. And the best part about it is we like diverse ideas. OK? So we're not like one idea, we move in that direction. We have changed gears, but stayed on the same ultimate path of making the industry better because everyone has some fantastic ideas that they really melt together working through RT3.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah. And it's easy to get involved with the community. And I will say Karen Edwards is the executive director, she's amazing. She's also the CEO of Roofers Coffee Shop. So if you are interested. So that's why I'm kind of like no matter which area today that you're interested in, I wanted to make sure there was a follow-up for everybody to be involved on some level or all three, hopefully. So Brian, I would love to have you talk about the young people. I just think I'd love to have it end on the young people who are interested in getting into the trades or into Dreamworks, I love that, to whatever they're doing. And really how as an industry can we embrace that diversity and become better.

Brian Alexander: Yeah, no, absolutely. I think it comes down to just a couple of things. I think it's exposure because it really is an untapped resource. Even we aren't really capable of really fully understanding really what's possible. But it's our goal to just to expose our youth to as many different opportunities, ways of being, ways of thinking, ways of operating, so that they are able to then form their own opinions about how they really want to go forward and live their life. And that's our job to just be as much of a conduit for that as possible. Within the Leadership and Economic Opportunity Center. I think it's probably the best way to frame it up for the youth. So within this facility, and this is all going to be, we're just scaling the operations that we currently have now.

But for example, this summer, we'll have over 250 youth in a free summer camp. Right? Last year, we kicked it off and some of our really, really great partners, like folks from American Airlines came down, took our kids out two or three times over the course of the summer to go visit aircraft hangars, to take them on site, to let them understand, well, these are the sorts of jobs that are available within this space. Right? Here are the different skill sets that kind of go into them. And here are the people who are living these lives and they come from backgrounds that are similar to yours. Immediately then, that light bulb goes off for a ton of them. And we start hearing them say, "I think I want to leave, I want to go to college," or, "Hey, what about that one job over here?" Or, "The one lady who came, is that still available?" And things like that.

So we're just super, super grateful for you guys just being present to the opportunities that are available with our youth and really look forward to just being as much of a conduit as we can for that work as well. So just, I mean, exposure. Mentorship is another one. It just helps out a ton. And again, these kids, they just need to, if you can't see it, then you can't be it. Right? You have to kind of plant, use these things as opportunities to really plant these seeds and get them to understand the opportunities that are truly, truly available to them as well.

Heidi Ellsworth: I love it. Well, I do want to say the three brothers and the cousin who are working for a roofing company and flying to South Carolina, please give them our name and have them send us their story and their information. We would love to get that out for everyone and talk about that.

Brian Alexander: Will do. Absolutely. Absolutely.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah.

Brian Alexander: Absolutely. Yes.

Heidi Ellsworth: That is so awesome.

Karol Weyman: It gives me chills. That does give me chills.

Heidi Ellsworth: I know, I know. It's so amazing. So Karol, I can't believe it. It always goes so fast.

Karol Weyman: Top of the hour.

Heidi Ellsworth: Close to the top of the hour. Can you just kind of do a little recap for us? These are the pictures at the end of the day from the event. Just kind of give us a little bit of recap on everything that's happened today. It's just been so amazing.

Karol Weyman: Yeah. So I mean, again, this panel is amazing because they really took everything that we had exposed them to and went above and beyond. And so I guess what I really would like to do is challenge anybody to come up with some other topics or some other areas of need or places of need and is willing to host potentially the next summit. And we would be on board and we would help. And I think that there's great people that can take it to the next level and really make a difference long term. And so I guess what I would like to ask is if anyone is interested in hosting, please reach out to me. I would love to hear them and we'd love to make something happen.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah.

Karol Weyman: Yeah, so thank you.

Heidi Ellsworth: I think we're going to be on talking quite a bit, Karol. We have a lot out there. And I do want to say, Elizabeth just said, "Listening in from Sika Corporation, most of these conversations gave me chills today. So inspiring. Happy to help anyone understand more of how we recycle and reuse our roof membranes. Looking forward to reaching out and learning more myself about getting involved in the mentoring program." So Elizabeth, thank you. That is so great and I agree with you. We're going to be having some discussions. We got to do this again and we'll be bringing the troops together. Right? We bring us all together and make this happen some more, this visionary. And just kudos to Jobba for really bringing this together the first time. And Karol, everything you did. So any last comments from our panelists? Anybody, any thoughts that you'd like to share before we end this great Coffee Conversation? John, I'm going to have you just give a little last thought.

John Kenney: Sure. This was great, that we had this. I'm looking forward to the next one. Always. I love the innovation. I love getting people together and thinking outside the box. You can't go wrong. And again, it goes back to what we said, there's excitement and fear about change. There always will be. But when you get a chance to come together and actually talk it out and see what's going on out there and educate, education takes away fear. And when you know what's going on and how you can use things and better progress through all the technologies and all the great things that are out there, sustainability, training. And again, Brian, kudos. You guys are doing such a great job with the youth. I was excited to see that and I look so much forward to seeing where we go next.

Heidi Ellsworth: That's so cool. Michael, I see you nodding.

Michael Black: Yeah, no, it was a truly great experience. I enjoyed being there. I enjoyed the group of people we was with. We had a lot of conversations, a lot of ideas. It was very helpful for me, myself, to bring ideas back. And I know others have too. There's people that were there, again, that are not on this call, that I talked to that got a lot out of this experience. So I think it's good for the industry that this happens. That we get together, we share ideas, we learn about stuff, and then we go out and we actually do what we're learning about and help the community out. I think that's the best.

Heidi Ellsworth: Come together. Jason?

Jason Domecq: Yeah, no, thanks again for just the opportunity and, again, to be a part of this conversation. And it really is just about what we can do to further the education within our industry, helping to promote positive change and just providing opportunities to really help transform lives. And this has just really been all about that in my mind. Those are my kind of takeaways from the experience. And just so grateful and honored to have been a part of it. Thank you.

Heidi Ellsworth: That's so cool. And Lauren, bring us home. Last thoughts.

Lauren Morley: Yeah, I mean, I definitely won't miss the next one. I promise. I can report I'm excited. And yeah, just we're so appreciative to be a part of it. It's been a crazy last year for Jason and I. We've gotten to a lot of really, really cool things. And I can't really wait to see what impact that has on others in the industry and what more we can continue to do.

Heidi Ellsworth: I love it. And I want to say thank you to everyone who's on. I hope panelists you were reading all the chats that are coming through. Thank you, everybody, for your kind words and for being so inspired and being a part of this. Please share the on demand link for this episode so that other people can see it and we can continue to spread the word and really make sure that we continue this. We continue what Jobba did. Jobba, thank you so much. Karol, thank you so much for everything you do for being here today.

Karol Weyman: Thank you. Thank you.

Heidi Ellsworth: Thank you. And I do want to say we are going to continue it, in two weeks. We are going to be having Your Mind Matters: Mental Health Awareness Month. And we are very excited. We are going to have Mandy McIntyre, who is a mental health expert in roofing with Level Up, and Paul Reid, who is one of the co-founders of Roofers in Recovery. This is going to be powerful and it's something that everybody needs to know about because this, again, saves lives. So join us, two weeks is going to be May 11th, same time, same [inaudible 00:58:53] channel. And I just want to thank all of you. Thank you, panelists. Thank you, everyone, for being here. And we will see you next time on Coffee Conversations.

By Anna Lockhart.  

The Colorado-based residential and commercial roof contractors discuss their experience working in the industry and building lasting relationships with their customer base. 

R3NG has served the homeowners and business owners of Colorado as a trusted roofing contractor for the last eight years. A low-slope roofing business based in Denver, R3NG provides full re-roof and in-house roofing for their client base. Dedicated to being a trusted and reliable knowledge and labor source for their community, R3NG is excited for what the future has in store under new sole ownership by Lauren Morley.  

As the R-Club’s April Roofer of the Month, Lauren sat down with Megan Ellsworth to talk about her role within R3NG. As of April 28, she will be the sole owner of the company, a step she and her team are excited to take.  

Lauren went into detail about the company’s specialty work with low-slope roofing, “For us low-slope commercial roofing is going to be our bread and butter, as well as HOA, multi-family. That's the world we've always lived in, and the same goes for our in-house services team, it’s one of the things that we like to think sets us apart from the rest.”  

R3NG has a lot to celebrate and look forward to, and when it comes to celebrations, there’s no shortage of things to be grateful for as a team. When it comes to the little things to celebrate and take pride in, Lauren explained that her team emphasizes the promises they make to their customers and do what it takes to deliver the best service and communication. 

“We have what we call our culture and customer engagement strategy. It's called P.R.I.M.E. It stands for plan, repair, restore, replace, inspect, maintain and educate. And it's something that we really implement everywhere, not only with our customers, but with our employees and with our partners in the industry,” she commented. “We think it just sets us apart and it's something special to us because education is such a cornerstone of what we do and it's how we provide a service instead of just being a contractor.”  

Learn more about R3NG and their company culture by listening to the latest R-Club podcast episode.