By Cass Jacoby, RCS Reporter. 

In honor of Women's History Month, we celebrate some women-led businesses in the roofing.

Roofing is an overwhelmingly male occupation. Whether contractor or crew, the majority of workers are typically men. The U.S. Department of Labor considers roofing a male-dominated profession, but that doesn’t mean women in roofing are unicorns. Take Marianne Sumter, owner of Wil-Mar Products, as proof of how women are not only present in the roofing industry, but are essential to its success.  

With a desire to continue her husband’s legacy, Marianne became the owner of Wil-Mar Products, stepping into a leadership role in a male-dominated industry. And she has successfully led the company with strength and expertise. To this day, Marianne continues to provide excellent customer service, meet the demands of the industry and develop lasting relationships with women. 

And there are even more stories of women revolutionizing the roofing industry. Women now fill positions ranging from roofing, marketing and sales to consulting, manufacturing and research. Female professionals are also stepping into leadership roles at roofing manufacturing companies and starting their own roofing companies. Read on as we highlight women leading the roofing industry! 

Ethelmae Humphreys has been a trailblazer for women in roofing since the 1940s. She had just graduated from high school in 1944 and her parents moved to Joplin, Missouri to start TAMKO Building Products. Ethelmae headed to college at the University of Kansas, earning a bachelor's degree in liberal arts. Upon graduation it became clear that her father’s failing health meant he would need assistance running the company, so she came home and helped out, and was named the executive vice president of TAMKO. Together with her husband, she grew the company into one of the largest privately owned roofing manufacturers in the country. After her husband’s death in 1993, she took over as CEO until her son took on the role of president and CEO the following year. 

Associations 

Plenty of roofing associations pride themselves on being women-led or having women in high-ranking positions. The Roofing Alliance, celebrating 25 years as the foundation of the National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA), has appointed Alison LaValley as the new executive director and recently has made Kelly Van Winkle the first female vice president. 

Additionally, Lisa Pate serves as the executive director of the Florida Roofing and Sheet Metal Contractors Association (FRSA), Tracey Prociw is the executive director and board secretary of The Roofing Contractors Association of Washington (RCAW) and Suzie Boyd is the current president of the Colorado Roofing Association (CRA). With female leadership, these associations have prospered and grown; these women have paved the path to a better roofing industry.  

Plus, there are plenty of women in roofing who hold leadership positions. Johns Manville is proudly led by a team of women who represent their Roofing Systems Leadership, including: Director of Human Resources Brandi Duncan, Director of Product Management and Marketing Jennifer Ford-Smith, Owner Services Leader Mandy Schweitzer, Director of Commercial Services and SIOP Tesha Kroll and Director of Technology Zebonie Sukle. 

Many women have started their own businesses in the industry too. Art Unlimited is a women-owned business, with the second-generation leadership of Anna Anderson and Elizabeth Chapman taking the company’s digital and marketing expertise to a national stage. 

RoofersCoffeeShop® is women owned and led too! Established in 2002 by Vickie Sharples, the Coffee Shop is “where the industry meets.” Heidi J. Ellsworth became a partner in the company with Vickie in 2015 and today the RCS crew is led by Heidi, who also has her own marketing and consulting business, HJE Consulting.  

RCS COO Karen L. Edwards has helped Heidi grow the website and push boundaries in this male-dominated industry that is slow to change. She is also the Roofing Technology Think Tank (RT3)’s communications and engagement leader and owns her own marketing and sales company, Casimir Group. Studies show that women who support other women are more successful. Research conducted by Harvard Business Review found that having a network of close female contacts helps females land executive positions.  

According to Forbes, these inner circles provide necessary support and recommendations when their peers are faced with challenges and cultural bias, especially in male-dominated industries like roofing. As the president of RoofersCoffeeShop, Heidi has exceled in empowering other women to be successful within the roofing industry, fostering employees at all levels within the company to build a strong network that is both diverse and supportive of all people, brining then into the trades for an opportunity of a great career. 

Furthermore, organizations like National Women in Roofing, of which Heidi is a founder, are providing opportunities and support for women in the roofing industry. Today, with the efforts of many in the roofing industry, NWIR has created a new understanding, interest and demand for diversity. Women are more prevalent than ever in the field and at trade shows, meetings and board meetings. Through mentoring, education and networking, women have more support than ever to find a rewarding career in this industry.   

There is more than enough space on the roof for women in this industry. With so many female role models and female-led roofing initiatives, the future of roofing looks female! 

Stay up to date with the latest roofing industry news when you sign up for the RCS Week in Roofing e-news.

RCAW hosts “Tenacious Trio” of events including sporting clays, a biannual dinner and the PNW regional tradeshow. 

The Roofing Contractors Association of Washington (RCAW) is hosting their Pacific Northwest regional tradeshow April 21- 22, 2022 at the Muckleshoot Events Center. With up to 79 exhibitors and nine educational track sessions, and live demonstrations this is a day for anyone at any level in the company to come and learn and get updated on the latest and greatest in the roofing industry. 

RoofersCoffeeShop® will be on hand live streaming and the Roofing Contractors Association of Washington is looking forward to welcoming contractors and industry professionals alike to a redesigned and reimagined show for the Pacific NW.  

Check out the three big events happening this year: 

Sporting Clays 

Seize the day at the 2nd Annual Sporting Clays Competition! Held at the Tacoma Sportsmen's Club from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. This is a limited attendance event and includes lunch, prizes/some bragging rights, and a great trophy. 

Biannual Dinner Meeting with Gary Smith from the IBA 

After a morning of fun, enjoy an evening of networking and learn how what happened in the latest legislative session in Olympia will affect your business – now and in the future. In addition, we will be handing out RCAW awards and some other surprises. Get your first introduction to the Muckleshoot Events Center at the Muckleshoot Casino starting with a cocktail hour at 5:00 p.m. in the foyer and dinner and the presentation from 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. in the Green River Room. Enjoy a five-star buffet-style dinner including a main course of seared sirloin with Bordelaise sauce or salmon fillet with a seasonal sauce. 

PNW Regional Trade Show   

On April 22 at 9:00 a.m. RCAW will cut the ribbon on the newly imagined Pacific NW Regional Trade Show.  Recognizing a need for a regional opportunity to see and learn and holding firm to RCAW’s need to grow with the industry, they have planned this show to fill that need! Check out the tradeshow itinerary: 

Friday, April 22 

9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Pacific NW Regional Trade Show Begins 

10:00 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. Fall Protection Safety Class - Part 1 – Jennifer Richards - SMTI 

10:00 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. Effective promotion of your roofing company – Anna Anderson – Art Unlimited 

10:00 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. Managing by the Numbers – Gary Cohen – Certified Contractors Network 

11:30 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. Break out session – Heidi J. Ellsworth, President – RoofersCoffeeShop 

11:30 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. Estimating the Right Way – John Kenney, CEO – Cotney Consulting Group 

11:30 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. Fall Protection Part 2 – Jennifer Richards — SMTI 

2:00 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion – Rae July, Steep Slope Manager – Chinook Building Envelope Services 

2:00 p.m. - 2:45 p.m. How to manage L&I Citations on the job site – Ruth Lewis, CEO - Stop Claims Corp 

2:00 p.m. - 2:45 p.m. Workers Compensation – Shea Carroll – Brown and Brown 

The event guarantees fun, networking and education that will leave you and your business feeling empowered. RCAW has crafted a program that is designed to give you new tools for your business that will help you be the best you can be.  

The two-part fall protection certification class is being provided free of charge to trade show participants and is a value of $75 per person, and we have many other national speakers on hand with a wealth of information for the business owner or manager. 

Register for this trio of events today! 

Learn more about RCAW in their RoofersCoffeeShop® directory or visit rcaw.com.

By Roofing Contractors Association of Washington (RCAW). 

Spread the holiday cheer to everyone by gifting toys to children in need. 

With the holidays coming up, that means it’s also time for the Roofing Contractors Association of Washington (RCAW)’s annual Toys for Tots drive! This year, any toys donated will be given to children by U.S. Marines. 
 
For RCAW, Toys for Tots has a special place in our hearts. Every year we get our members to join us to raise as much money and collect as many toys as we can in order to give back to those who just need a smile. 
 
Once we've gathered all the toys, the U.S. Marines will put all those toys into the hands of deserving children in our region who may not have had any Christmas Joy without the generosity of this roofing community. 
 
If you have toys to donate, you can schedule a pick-up by calling the RCAW office at 253-561-7229 or emailing us at memberservices@rcaw.com. You can also bring your toys to the Holiday Gala and the U.S. Marines will collect them at our annual Holiday Gala on Saturday, December 11. 
 
You can help us meet our goal of raising $10,000 by donating funds online here. 

Learn more about RCAW in their RoofersCoffeeShop® Directory or visit rcaw.com.

Why Join the RCAW? 

The RCAW provides membership benefits that add to your bottom line. While the RCAW is not specifically designed for small or large businesses, it is designed for businesses that want the best for their company and industry. We provide your business with guidance to legal and governmental organizations, reference to insurance companies, publications, speakers, safety information, and training, plus professional assistance with issues like safety, governmental regulations, warranties, materials, and industry problems. The RCAW also receives many inquiries for qualified contractors. Join today and be part of the pro's network!

By Roofing Contractors Association of Washington (RCAW).  

This festive fundraising event benefiting Toys for Tots is back for 2021! 

‘Tis the season to reserve your tickets for The Roofing Contractors Association of Washington (RCAW) Annual Holiday Gala! RCAW and the U.S. Marines come together as a roofing community to lift spirits this season, with a Gala to raise money for Toys for Tots. Taking place Saturday, December 11 at 6 p.m. at the Bellevue Marriot Grand Ballroom, this event will be jam-packed with festive and fun activities for a good cause, among the highlights of the event: 

• Plated dinner  

• Live and silent auctions 

• Dessert dash 

• Photobooth  

• Casino 

• Awesome prizes 

Fundraising highlights 

To donate to any of these wonderful causes, please check out our auction items and you'll find each one up to take donations 

Legislative consultant 

Every year it is imperative that as business owners we are kept up to date as to the new laws that will affect our business, staffing and overall profitability. Gary Smith lobbies for our association in Olympia and keeps us up to date on all the changes, as well as notifies us when we need to testify to support, stop or modify something that has been proposed. In addition, the legislative fund pays for your membership in the Independent Business Association and the educational and informational value we receive from their monthly blasts is of great importance. 

Help us, help you! 

Donate toward the RCAW legislative fund to pay for all of the value received and keep this flow of information coming. 

Toys for Tots 

The mission of the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation is to assist the U. S. Marine Corps in raising funds to provide toys to supplement the collections of local Toys for Tots Campaigns, to provide promotional and support material and to defray the costs of conducting annual Toys for Tots Campaigns.  

Davis Memorial Scholarship Foundation 

The Davis Memorial Foundation's mission is to support education, particularly as it relates to the development of a well-educated construction industry. Founded in 1997 in memory of Larry and Mary Davis, the Davis Memorial Foundation awards scholarships and grants, and sponsors technical seminars at colleges and universities. Become a Partner of the Future by donating to the Davis Memorial Foundation scholarship fund. 

Reserve your tickets to the RCAW Holiday Gala today!

Learn more about RCAW  in their RoofersCoffeeShop® Directory or visit rcaw.com.

By Karen L. Edwards, RCS Editor. 

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

In looking at our most popular articles for the month of June, safety in the heat was high on the list. We’ve been in the midst of a heatwave recently and it’s good to see that contractors were preparing for it last month so their teams would stay safe and healthy.  

Two of the top three articles were about solar power and commitments to a sustainable future, topics that are rapidly growing in interest. Other top stories included a project profile, tips on getting better online reviews, advice on implementing technology in your company and the importance of educating homeowners while you’re on the job.  

The top story of the month was the announcement from Beacon naming their inaugural female roofing professional of the year.  

If you didn’t get the chance to read any of these articles yet, follow the links below to check them out.  

Honorable Mention (#6-#10) 

10 - Santa Monica Roofing Project is a Work of Art 

9 - Why You Should Be Educating Homeowners While on the Job 

8 - Make Technology a Team Approach 

7 - Six Reputable Metal Coil Suppliers to Choose From 

6 - Follow Up Leads to Better Reviews 

Read the Top 5 articles: 

5 - Roofing Contractors Association of Washington Has Some Fun Summer Plans 

4 - Preventing Heat-Related Illness and Injury 

3 - GAF Reinforces Commitment to a Sustainable Future with Inaugural Social Impact Report 

2 - What Homeowner’s Want: Discreet Solar Power 

1 - Beacon Announces Winner of North American Female Roofing Professional of the Year Competition 

Get the top news each week in your inbox when you sign up for the Week in Roofing email newsletter.

By Cass Jacoby, RCS Reporter. 

Members look forward to a summer of golf and fishing to generate funds to support the RCAW. 

The Roofing Contractors Association of Washington (RCAW) knows how to do summer right! The association has cooked up some fabulous plans for fun in the sun, from golf tournaments to salmon derby’s, RCAW promises a season of fun events that help support the organization. Check out these summer events full of prizes, festivities and good old-fashioned sport and grab your tickets to participate! 

Salmon derby 

July 28, 2021 marks the 7th annual Salmon Derby. This fun event was dreamt up about six years ago to add value added programs and help with their safety advantage program. Now, post-COVID, the 2021 Derby promises to be bigger and better than ever. Expect raffle prizes, a best photo contest, live entertainment at the dock and a catered lunch, all of which is included in your Derby ticket.  

The RCAW invites you the Point Defiance Marina to get your fish on! First place takes home not only the biggest fish, but wins $1,000, bragging rights and the opportunity to drink a beer from the Derby Cup.  

Get your tickets today and get ready to set sail on a fun day of fishing. 

RCAW Open annual golf tournament 

RCAW’s most exciting and competitive event of the year is back again! The RCAW Open annual golf tournament is set to take place on August 27 at the Auburn Golf Center. The tournament will feature a couple of hole-in-one contests and games of skill. Plus, LPGA golfer and Dixon Golf will be on hand. 

Bragging rights and a trophy are on the line, in addition to a whole lot of prizes. You won’t want to miss out on what the hole sponsors have planned for the 18-holes in this scramble.  

Space is limited, so head to the tournament website and get registered to golf!  

Learn more about Roofing Contractors Association of Washington in their RoofersCoffeeShop® Directory or visit www.rcaw.com.

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Wendy Marvin, CEO and owner of Matrix Roofing. You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Good morning, and welcome to Coffee Conversations. My name is Heidi Ellsworth. This is part of RoofersCoffeeShop. You have to see, I am pretty excited about things this morning because I've got my friend, Wendy Marvin, here. Good morning, Wendy.

Wendy Marvin:
Good morning, Heidi. So nice to be here with you.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I know. We got coffee going, we're ready.

Wendy Marvin:
Got it.

Heidi Ellsworth:
This Coffee Conversations going to be on, as it should be, nontraditional, with you and I visiting. It's also about recruitment. Before we get started, so everyone knows, this is being recorded. It will be available on demand later on today. You can share it with anyone out there. We want you to engage. This is going to be all about brainstorming, Wendy is going to share some of the things that she's doing, and then we're going to be bringing people on with questions and ideas. We're going to get to that, about the ideas part here in just two seconds.

I want to make sure that you understand. In the control panel to your right, I guess it's to the right, wherever it is on your screen, you're going to please ask questions. We've got Megan Ellsworth in the background. She's going to be chatting with everybody and bringing you on to the show, so you can ask questions. Remember, do you want to come on video? Great. If you only want to do audio, that's awesome. If you just want to write your questions in there and have me ask them, we can do that too. Whatever your comfort zone is, at 6:00 in the morning, Pacific Time.

Wendy Marvin is the owner of Matrix Roofing out of Vancouver, Washington. We're both on the 6:00 schedule this morning, which is ... Thank you, Wendy for doing that. Wendy is also on the board of Western States. She is very involved with national women and roofing with RCAW and RT3.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Wendy, welcome to the show.

Wendy Marvin:
Thank you. Thank you. Great to be here, appreciate you having me.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Well, this whole thing started, this Coffee Conversations started when you and I were visiting about recruitment, and how we're a little tired of talking about it, and not doing anything about it. The only way we really can continue to take this initiative of getting more people, and I'm going to say people, because we need, overall, across the board, more people into roofing. We need to start sharing some of our thoughts. We need to share what we're doing and what's working. That's why I was just like you're doing such amazing things. I would love for you to share with everybody, we've got some slides here, we'll have the links and some of the resources. Let's just start off with that. Maybe talk about your company, and what you're doing on recruiting.

Wendy Marvin:
Oh my goodness, that's a lot. I have a roofing company. We were around 13 years, and we're facing a lot of the same things that a lot of people are facing right now. We're having a hard time recruiting roofers, we're having a hard time keeping roofers, we are dealing with things in the industry that are unprecedented. All of us are facing this pandemic stuff and trying to figure out how to swim through jello and herd cats and all the other funny euphemisms we're using. It's like it's just we've never been here before. We've been in a lot of conversations over the years.

You and I have, and then I have in other industry places, not just construction, just talking about, how do you bring people to the table? How do you get the right people in your company? We've really gone outside the box. I think that that's what really sparked you and I to start to have this is, first and foremost, I'm willing to talk about it. I'm going to give you resources from the state of Washington and all the other contractors from the state of Washington are going to be able to look at those resources. I don't care, because I really just want to help us lift the industry up.

I think that that's one of the places where you come from, Heidi, that I've always respected and definitely a place that I believe in, is just you got to give back. An industry who holds things so tight and just doesn't share and doesn't support each other, it's just not as successful as one that really lifts everybody up. We've got a great community that does that in general. You mentioned being frustrated about people not getting things done. It's like that stuff, that these things aren't moving fast enough. You and I are both grassroots people. It's like, if it's not moving fast enough, let's find a way to kick it in the butt. That's what I think we're trying to do.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. Wendy, that's what I've loved. Because you've really taken it to that next level on a local basis of getting involved. You said something this week that I absolutely love, you said, "I'll share everything I'm doing because this takes years, this takes time to get involved." Some of the ideas that you're going to be talking about today, just so everybody out there listening, this is not a quick fix. There may be are a few quick fixes out there, I haven't seen a whole lot.

This is something that we went for so many years with telling our kids to go to college and not supporting the trades, taking shop out of the schools, all those different things. This is going to take that same amount of time getting back involved. Maybe let's start off, let's go. Megan will split the slide. Let's talk about some of the things that you're doing, especially with Washington Workforce.

Wendy Marvin:
Okay. The story all starts with the fact that we've been involved with our community. I think that we get caught up in an industry of, excuse me, construction, where we start thinking about ourselves as contractors and that has stigmas and things attached to it and stuff. Bigger than life is to just be out there talking to other business owners. Doesn't matter what you do. You're a business owner. We work with people who do skincare, and we work with people who own coffee shops, and we work with people who run the local PepsiCo distribution center.

Businesses, businesses, business, and if you can get your mind wrapped around that, then you can start engaging in the community. For me, it started grassroots level as really being involved in the chamber, our local business chamber. Then I got involved in volunteering, then I got involved in being on some local boards, and then the Workforce Southwest Washington group came to us because one of my directors is a similar minded person. She is on the board of Workforce Southwest Washington has met these people.
When we started really having some in-depth conversations about ... We're just running into brick walls everywhere we turn with traditional recruiting methods, with having your roofers talk to their family members. There's only so many cousins that we can hire. She brought that forward.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Or kids.

Wendy Marvin:
Yeah, right. She brought that forward, and so we started talking to. Well, then the pandemic hit. This group's got federal funds available to retrain workers who are in the field and are in an industry. Hospitality was really struggling for a long time. A lot of these people are looking to retrain and go into other industries. That was how we found them. We've met, we've done some planning with them. We've done some advertising with them. We've had a couple of recruits.

What ends up happening with the federal fund level is that when you hire one of their workers, they pay the wages of that worker for a period of time. Talk about a double-edged gift is, first and foremost, you've got somebody eager to learn and retrain. Secondly, you've got a break to be able to give somebody a chance that maybe isn't traditional for our industry.

Heidi Ellsworth:
That's cool. A lot of stuff that what we're going to talk about, we're going to have these resources here. Wendy, you said to me, these kind of programs are in every state. It's just a matter of reaching out and finding out where it is and how to plug in.

Wendy Marvin:
Yup, yup, absolutely. All 50 states, all 51.

Heidi Ellsworth:
All 50, there [inaudible 00:08:45]. Okay. Then really looking at non-tradition, when we flip to this next group on ... This is really outside the box of getting involved out there and finding people.

Wendy Marvin:
Yeah. Met another person through EOCF with the Workforce Southwest Washington people. Just again, another person who knows a person, who knows a person, EOCF itself really doesn't do that kind of work. They don't supply workers and things. They've put us in touch with resources. Through somebody we met through EOCF, we met another group, and that's how we got plugged into Cascadia Tech, which is the local organization that helps. Even though EOCF is not necessarily the organization that could help us, it's a bridge.

People connecting people to each other is really what this is about. Now we are having never known about that group before. We're now getting ready to participate in a charitable fundraiser that they're doing. Now they've met a funder that maybe they didn't have before.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. Like you just said or it started out with ... It's about community, getting involved in your community. How much do we talk about that? All the time. It just leads you from one thing to the next. Okay. One of my favorite things. I want you to tell ... This is actually where you and I met. For many reasons, I just love this, but ...

Wendy Marvin:
Just a couple of years ago.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Just a couple of years ago. The Oregon Tradeswomen, these kind of groups are across the country. They train and they bring in ... Free, at least in Oregon, it's free. They bring in young women, and they train them in the trades, so they can pick what they want to do, whether engineering, plumbing, electrical. Roofing wasn't really big with that. The National Women in Roofing of Southwest Washington, Oregon, tell them what you did, and that's where I met you. I love this so much.

Wendy Marvin:
Oh, it's so funny. The NWIR out of Oregon is actually the one that scheduled this, and I ended up volunteering with them. It was a ... Because this is more of an adult organization that retrains women, what they do is they have a trade fair every year, and they bring these students from these alternative schools who are in, basically, the construction trade things. They have a job fair. We had a table there. I'm pretty sure it was Stephanie from Bliss that got that one going for us. They had a job fair, and we manned a table there.

What was really fun is just to be there. I'm an owner, and I'm a unicorn in our industry anyway. When we were there talking with these young women from these trade schools, and they were from St. Helens and there were some from Washington as well that came in and everything. We met with them. Then what we did is we partnered with another organization where they were making ... It was a framing group and they were making birdhouses. We partnered with them and had them bring the birdhouses over and we roofed the birdhouse with them.

It's just a neat opportunity to just personalize an industry that people don't ... Everybody has this, like you think about roofers. We joke about plumbers, what do you think about guys bending over a plumber? Do you ever think about a woman doing a plumbing job? You don't. We think about women in roofing very, very rarely. It just was really cool to be in front of all those young people and having this huge fare. I mean, it's construction. They've got big construction vehicles in the parking lot that the kids get to get in and drive, and I don't know about drive. Can I just [inaudible 00:12:37] and then ...

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. They got to go up. They went up in the cranes and on the roofing union from Portland was there and they were doing heat welding and they were doing different types of ... They had flame. I mean, the girls were all over it. They loved it. I think setting those kind of examples, but when it goes back to recruitment, now you have how many? I know before COVID, that the Oregon Council did a couple times, and now you have all these girls out there seeing you, seeing Shelly from interstate who own roofing businesses, seeing other women who are working in the trade, and they're like, "I can do that," and so the long term strategy.

Wendy Marvin:
Consider the possibilities, is really what we're looking for, to just have them even have that on their radar is, hey, that might be something cool.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah, yeah, exactly. Now, one of the things that Wendy and I talked about before this is we want takeaways. We're not just talking we want takeaways. On this, if you check in with your National Women in Roofing Council, locally, they may already be doing some job fairs with young women or build camps. Or I know in Pennsylvania, they're doing let's build with young women. There's all kinds of things going on. If you Google this, which is what I did, you will find these trades women organizations all over the country.
It's an opportunity for you to get involved with them to bring roofing to their focus, because a lot of them do not have roofing. They have all the other trades, but not roofing. It's a great long term strategy to look through. Next, Megan, we have the ... Oh yeah, this one, we have women's build this coming up. This was one of yours things that Habitat ... Again, the whole giving back and Women's Ville. Wendy, how have you used this for recruiting?

Wendy Marvin:
Again, it's just the opportunity to meet people. The Women Build, in general ... The Habitat organization, just in general, I just love. It's a charitable organization, but it really engages the families that are receiving the homes. It really engages the community and gets them behind building these homes. Obviously, the way we started with them as they asked us for a donation. We've done five or six habitat houses now where we donate the labor, the materials donated, or sometimes we coordinate that. Then the next level is getting involved in the Women's Build.

Through the community that I have met, I met a woman in our area, Andy Costello, who was the chairman at the time of the Women's Build organization. I, honestly, have never joined them in the Women's Build. That's always hits on weird ... During Western States when we're out of town or something. I've never, honestly, been on site with them, but we've supported them. My people have been out there. It's just an amazing organization. Even in the events that they go for fundraising, we have at lunch or we've had a casino night, different things, the people who are working there are at these events.
They're like, I've seen you, you're that roofing lady, and what do you ... Oh my gosh, how's business and everything? I don't know. I don't apologize for being a roofer. You know what I mean? I still get the crap about, oh, you've been on a roof or whatever. It's like, yeah, I have. I'm a business owner, and I'm out there representing my business. I don't apologize for that. I think that's a different mentality.

You're out there. It's like if you're coming and you're new to an event, you're feeling like, oh, I'm just a construction company or I'm just a roofer, it's like you don't have to be that. You're a business owner, and you're inspiring people by being there and telling people the stories about what it's like to have a house that's leaking that you were able to help fix. In these instances, we get to talk to these young women or these women in general. Sometimes it's 60-plus-year-old ladies that are out there swinging a hammer for the first time and some of the stories we've heard about people that have spouses have passed away. They never had that experience. Now they're out there swinging hammers with their tool belt on. I just love that stuff.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I've heard from people across the country to, and like you said, at the beginning, it's not just about Women's Build, it's about Habitat for humanity overall, and that they have with their teams going out there and meeting people. I've heard people who have been sitting there working together, and this person next to him, they're like, "Hey, you're interested in a job?" They've hired. They've hired. They've gotten networked and found people who are already out there already working, who may have this love for the trades, and are interested in coming to work. Again ...

Wendy Marvin:
Yeah. Maybe they work at a dental office at the moment, but this is what they really love doing. They didn't even know they could consider it to be a career.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Now they can, yes.
I mean, they're always good, but we're trying to make it easier. I just want to remind everybody, we do have a couple questions coming in, we're going to get to those next. If you'd like to come online, talk to me again, and we'll get you set up as a panelist. If you want me just to read the question, we can. Please put your questions in here. We're going to have just a couple more slides on different ideas, and then we're going to start getting everybody coming on here and talking about things. Megan, next. Okay, this is the tech academy.

This is what you're talking about earlier. Just real quick, I'm going to put out there that this is what I'm hearing across the country also, from NRCA, from members everywhere, that they are getting involved in the vocational schools and the tech academy. How did this work for you, Wendy?

Wendy Marvin:
For people who don't know what these are, they've removed shop classes from the high schools. That came as the funding starts to go towards pushing people into college and doing those things. There isn't that much need, what's the general thing. Then it's that perception of like the kids that are interested in nontraditional schooling that aren't really thriving in a high school environment, that aren't really going to be those people that would want to go to college initially, there's a lot of them. There's a lot of them. Cascadia Tech is our local high school.

I wish I could do better at describing all of the different realms, but construction is just one facet of this. It preps kids for healthcare. It preps kids for construction. Some of the kids can graduate with a construction certificate. Most of the seniors that graduate at this school are already hired into local construction companies. Again, through work for Southwest Washington, we met the man that used to be a big part of this, and he's now the representative in the field. They ended up having a conversation with us.
We had to get on a waiting list last year in order to be considered for this next year's classes. When you talk about those long term strategies, we're really excited. Yes, we want to graduate. What's really cool about this, and I don't twist it around a little bit, but these kids graduate with not only the technical knowledge that you need for construction, they understand measuring, they understand blueprints, they understand that they have welding and plumbing and electrical and different tax that they can take. These kids are also skilled in life learning.

They have specific classes for how to meet and greet, how to make eye contact, how to shake somebody's hand professionally. I just interviewed a young lady from the Cascadia Tech a couple weeks ago with my director, Darcy, and this 17-year-old girl who's a first generation from, I think, her family was from the Ukraine area, first generation, stood up when we walked up to her, shook our hand, spoke to us like an adult. She was more poised than some of the adults that we've met in interview processes. It was crazy.
It's all a big part of this understanding, preparing them for the world is really what they're doing. The kids that graduate from this academy, graduate in general, with jobs in the $20 to $30 an hour range. It's an entry level job. They're not flipping burgers. They're skilled. Even if that particular line of work doesn't work for them, they're skilled and ready to go into a field of learning that is limitless, basically. Construction, you can go so many different ways. Cascadia is overflowing.

We've been on boards and meetings, and I'm not trying to bash anybody, but back to our point of grassroots. We've been on boards with the local colleges, this Cascadia Tech. Some of the local CREDC groups or economic development council groups, and whatever, and it's like, when you're working from the high level, the 10,000-foot level, the colleges interested in retraining kids to go to college. The Economic Development Council is retraining kids for their ... Everybody has their own version of what they want this to be.

I just want to get kids out into the field and have them consider construction. That meeting was the springboard for me reaching out to you about this whole concept. It's just like ... Because I went back to my person and I said, "How long has this been going on?" She goes, "Oh, they've been having these conversations for three-and-a-half years." I'm like, "Man, this is going on all over the world in terms of people are trying to find solutions, but we're caught in that bureaucracy that doesn't allow things to move like it should." One of the beautiful things is, how do you do it?

First, you get involved. You know what the program is. You start to get the people involved that are graduating from that in your company. Then we just do things like this. They start to give people to consider the resources.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I think, too, part of that is you are hiring. Even if you don't hire that person you just interviewed or maybe the next person, but you're hiring and you're giving them opportunities, and you're finding out what they're interested in. I've been seeing that a lot with mostly young women coming into the industry saying, I'm looking for a job, I'm interested in roofing, who do I talk to? Okay, here, do, do, do, do. Talk to all these people. That network of not just holding it tight, but sending it out and sending all these young people and older people who are wanting to do something different or have been in hospitality. I love what you're doing, Wendy. I think it's so important.

Wendy Marvin:
Thanks. Thanks. Yeah, so we've been really blessed. We've been very blessed.

Heidi Ellsworth:
We want to put some kudos out to our dear friend at RCAW.

Wendy Marvin:
Yeah. Along with the community involvement is you've got to get involved in your associations, your local associations. You mentioned I'm on the board of Western States, but Western States is regional. It's not just my state. Tracey's group for Washington, RCAW is with our state, and what's really cool about the pandemic is I feel like it really bubbled up the people who are interested, like you and I, more in helping people than they are in generating revenue. What happened during the pandemic when it first hit?
Tracey came out with just a boatload of free resources. Anything we can do to help you guys stay in business, because we were all just like deer in the headlights. None of us knew what was going on. Tracey came out ... Kottke Construction lawyers is another one that Trent's group came out. Trent saved us during a time when we had ... We were at Washington State, one of the few states that got locked down for construction. We were considered non-essential.

Because of Trent, I had letters in my vehicles showing the loopholes that allowed my guys to continue working during that time. That came directly from my membership in RT3 and RCAW and you and meeting those people. Sometimes it seems like it's a lot of money, but it is absolutely priceless to be plugged into these organizations. Again, when I need workers or I need something special, I reach out to you, I reach out to Tracey, I reach out to Western ... Where do you go? You go everywhere, because you never know where you're going to hook those people. I'm not just looking for a body, I'm looking for the right people for my company. That limits the pool even further. These are just great resources that you can't ... You just can't bypass.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Well, and every state organization out there is working on this, every local association is working on this. They have recruitment. They're working with the trade schools. They can help plug people in. Again, a long term strategy, but ... Some of them have just like RoofersCoffeeShop, and we're going to talk about this in a minute, have classified ads. I know Tracey did. I know RCAW. They just started some classified ads. What a great way to stay local right there in Washington and look for people. I am huge fan. Tracey, I know you're out there. Megan is going to be ...

Wendy Marvin:
Hi, Tracey.

Heidi Ellsworth:
... chatting you right now to see if you want to come on. I know it's 6:00 in Washington too. It's alright if you don't. Okay. Megan, now, of course the one that I get a little ...

Wendy Marvin:
Tracey said, you are so awesome, thanks for the shout out. She's so cute.

Heidi Ellsworth:
She's so cool, I know. National Women in Roofing. This is one, and I think we may have Brenna out there. Brenna is the chair of the recruitment committee on National Women in Roofing. We want to talk about nontraditional ways. Brenna came out. Brenna in the committee, this great recruiting committee, and they said, who spreads the word better than women? I mean, let's be honest about that. We are really good at that, social media, on the phone, right now, whatever we're doing, we can spread the word.

I'm going to say this is another nugget for everyone to take away, they have put together a recruitment program on National Women in Roofing, you go to National Women in Roofing, look for this ad, click it, that's the easiest way to do it. You, as companies, if you can place ads on there, you can ... So everyone knows, then this goes to RoofersCoffeeShop. RoofersCoffeeShop, as part of our donation back to things, we place those ads for National Women in Roofing, and so those ads are out there where people can look for jobs. They can look for people.

Even bigger than that, is this whole social media campaign of saying roofing is cool. I mean, I think everybody's seen it, roofing is. They're just making it cool. I think those kind of things that are out of the box, no one would have thought of that, even five years ago to say to women, roofing is cool, but it is and we know it is. Megan, go ahead and flip that up one more, just so people can see ... I think the ... It's going to come up here in a minute, but the ads. I want to go into that, Wendy, looking for these kinds of things.
I know you're involved with your local council and you've been involved ... We go to all the things together. Here it is. This is the kind of stuff that's a little bit out of the box that people don't even know about. Your ads up there, we got National Women in there. This is right to roofing and that's a new and different thing too, even though we've been doing it for a while, but really focusing in on the roofing part of it. How are you doing that?

Wendy Marvin:
I'm meeting people like you. You don't tell yourself enough and you never will, but it's like you're the connector. Heidi, you're a glue in this industry, and doing things like this for all of us. Because I may not find the right fit for my people in Washington. Now we've got an ad out there that's going to, hopefully, draw people looking for a different kind of a roofing company to work with. Again, you can indeed dotcom till your cows come home and monster and all the other things, and it's expensive. It typically doesn't hit the market that we want.

This is so just bring the target into working with the center and not wasting our time. Again, you're so interested in giving back to the world and the organizations and the groups that we're with that you're doing free ads for NWIR and I know that's a passion project of yours. You would do that even if you hadn't done that, if that wasn't your ... Because you founded this. You were part of that group. We're so proud of that.

Heidi Ellsworth:
We do love that.

Wendy Marvin:
You would do that even if you hadn't. I know that about you. Again, you've been around forever. Out there, how many of you out there have really connected with Heidi and her team, have really looked at what RoofersCoffeeShop has to offer you, have really looked at. It's not just about what they can give you, how do you give back? Because that's the other piece that you and I've spent a lot of 6:00 a.m.s together. It's not about trying to see our faces on Zoom again, because I'm, frankly, sick of that, like my face at least.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Thanks for having me.

Wendy Marvin:
It's about, how do you give back to the organizations and the people and the community, and what can you plug in? Then, again, I'm volunteering on the Habitat team, and I met this event. I meet this woman who knows a bookkeeper. That's how I found my bookkeeper, you know what I mean. That's the kind of stuff that you never know what you're going to connect with. You are just invaluable in our organization and you will never stand up and hold your hand up and say that. You and this RoofersCoffeeShop team and the young professionals that you have brought in and that are bringing this completely fresh mind to things, I love it, love it.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Thank you so much, Wendy. I think that's what we're seeing. We're seeing this groundswell, and just like you said, grassroots out there. On that, I want to bring Brenna on. I'm not sure she's coming on just audio or video. Brenna, are you there?

Megan:
Brenna, you should be able to unmute.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Thank you, Megan.

Wendy Marvin:
I want that coffee cup that says, you're muted.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I love it. Okay, we may not have Brenna yet. Okay, like I said, Brenna Driver is the chair person for the recruiting committee on National Women in Roofing. She was the brains on her committee and a bunch of awesome women behind working on this and working with us to really put that out there.

Brenna Driver:
Good morning. Apparently, I didn't know how to unmute myself. [inaudible 00:32:23] muted my computer, but I couldn't figure out on the thing. Sorry about that.

Wendy Marvin:
Good morning

Brenna Driver:
Good morning. What great content this morning. Thank you for inviting me on to talk just briefly about what ... and WIR is doing, and you did a great recap of some of the successes we've had with our partnership with RoofersCoffeeShop. We're sharing this link socially. Please follow RoofersCoffeeShop, please follow National Women In Roofing, and share this link. That's how we continue to get the word out. That's how we'll spread the word. That's how we'll drive more people within our social networks, back to the value of being within the roofing industry.

There's so much opportunity out there and I think this just showcases just a sliver of what there is to be captured as far as opportunity. We're also doing some really cool partnerships with NCCER. We've just established a partnership with them and they create educational content for the construction industry. They are creating along with NRCA roofers curriculum. We're going to partner with them to empower the councils to be able to go into the NCCER affiliate schools and go and teach these courses and give these courses.
The folks within the school and the students will see women in front of them giving these courses and draw more opportunity for roofing and women within the industry back into the industry. We're also putting together some really cool content on summer internships and how to get involved locally with your VoTech schools and your colleges and how to bring folks in for the summer and just check out our industry. You should be seeing that coming out in the May newsletter, hopefully. Keep an eye out for that as well.

Wendy Marvin:
That is so cool, Brenna. Okay, so NCCER, Megan, just put it on chat, so there we check it out. NRCA is doing great things, but I think you are brilliant connecting all the folks to be able to go in those vocational schools with the roofing courses. I mean, that's awesome.

Brenna Driver:
Yeah, we're pretty excited about it. We're pretty excited about it.

Wendy Marvin:
It's a win-win. That's the other case. They're getting trainers, you're getting the exposure. That's awesome.

Brenna Driver:
Yeah, yeah.

Heidi Ellsworth:
To get involved with the councils, just again ... There's a lot of different ... Like I said, all the state associations, but National Women in Roofing, that's a great place to go to just get involved, find out where your council is, and share ideas. That's one of the things that I've been seeing talking to so many people, is that they start sharing all these ideas. Would you've ever known about NCCER or about Southwest Washington, woo, Workforce. Those kinds of things is coming from this. Brenna, before you go. I'd like to talk real quick about internships.

We are doing a lot of internships right now. We have, I think, four, four of our team, and one of them just started with us. Her dad is a contractor out of on Hood River. I think you know Travis on Nelson and with Brown Roofing out of Hood River, his daughter, Molly, now working for the RoofersCoffeeShop, doing a little bit of internship, but she's looking for a job in roofing. If anybody wants a brilliant young lady who's interested in green roofing and sustainability on the roof, send me an email because this young lady is amazing. She comes from the roofing industry.

I think by offering internships like Christie did with Graham roofing, so many of us are doing these internships. It brings them in. How is that working, Brenna? What are you doing to help people with these internships?

Brenna Driver:
We're coming out with a kind of toolkit and how to get involved with your local schools. How to even start the conversation and where to start, and also really identifying the difference between an internship and a summer job. Both are really, really good things for our industry, both are important. An internship, typically, has a start and end and certain milestones and achievables that you have to communicate to the school that you're going to help that intern achieve to help cultivate their education, where a summer job is like, hey, we're just going to immerse you into the industry and see if you like it, want to come back for more.
Just empowering our members and folks who utilize the toolkit with some of those talking points to help them understand what they're going to schools to ask for. Then also, key things to look for in schools, are they close to public transportation, so it's easily accessible for people? Do they have diversity within their campus? We're making sure that we're able to be inclusive of all students as we expand on our summer internship and summer jobs.

Wendy Marvin:
Heidi, let me jump in really quick, too, just to say that the internships, it's internal. When you start to look at internships, especially under 18, on the external, where you're looking at potentially working in the field or working on the roof, that's a big exclusion from all of our liability contracts and our liability insurance. What's really interesting is when you spin it around and you work with a place like Columbia Tech Academy, that's not a state run organization, but a privately held organization.

They carry their own insurance, which then gives us the ability to bring under 18 kids into the sites and allow them to have an internship in the field. I'm not going to throw up 17-year-old up on the roof, typically. They even have them in the field or in our vehicles. Now we've got a mechanism to be able to do that where before it just is flat out, you can't do it. It's another way to be able to do those things. Internships are just invaluable. Agree with Brenna completely.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Okay, there's a nugget. I hope everybody caught that, what Wendy just said, asked about insurance.

Brenna Driver:
That's a good nugget.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Sure. Wow. The other thing that we saw now, this is more a lot on the college side. You're right, I mean, to be able to get those vocational schools and get them out there summer jobs, however, it works with insurance. On the college front, too, from a construction management viewpoint, it was, all of a sudden, we had these emails flying around and everybody is like, have you heard of Handshake? Have you heard of Handshake? AJ Gehley, who works at the coffee shop, she's the one who said, "Hey, Heidi, are we on Handshake, because RoofersCoffeeShop should be there." I'm like, "Okay, go get us on." Then Brenna came, "We're going to work with Handshake." think you can Google it, right? Wendy, have you done that with the Handshake.

Wendy Marvin:
Yeah. I've got two nuggets here I've never heard of before, NCCER and Handshake now and it's like, we're presenting, hello, I'm bringing some sound, too.

Heidi Ellsworth:
This is a brainstorming, right? This is about sharing. Handshake, if you Google it, this is a ... Well, it's a service, I guess, amongst all colleges. You go on, you put your information and your job, who you are, what you're looking for, and then you can select the colleges across the country that you would like to have top priority looking at. If you're looking for construction management skills, you can go click them. If you're looking for engineering or architecture, or in my case, I was looking for diversity, you can ... Those kinds of things are out there. Brenna, do we have that resource yet in National Women in Roofing? Is that out there yet?

Brenna Driver:
It's not out there. No, we're still digging into how we can partner with them.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Good, there's another one.

Brenna Driver:
It's a great school. I've heard good things from everyone that has instead, and in and out of our industry. Awesome.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I've had a great experience with it so far. Brenna, thank you. Thank you for all you're doing in the industry.

Brenna Driver:
Thank you.

Wendy Marvin:
Bye, Brenna.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Thanks for coming on nice and early. Love it.

Brenna Driver:
Yeah, no problem. Have a good day.

Heidi Ellsworth:
You too. Okay, we have a question, Wendy. I want to make sure we get to some of these, and then Megan is going to let us know if there's anybody else out there ready. Okay, hold on. We have a question here. I'm going to get the question. This is from Megan McFadden. I'm not sure if Megan wanted to come on or not. Megan, if you do, get with the other Megan who's back there. She said, retention has been a huge issue for us.

We have onboarded subcontractors ready to work that we haven't had the jobs ready quick enough before they move on to another company, another within our office positions onboarded, too, a month ago, and they have already left. People still concerned with COVID and the supply chain. How do you keep everyone happy and retained? Wendy, and I know this is a favorite topic of yours.

Wendy Marvin:
Yeah, we've had a lot of conversations about this. First and foremost, I want to let you know that I'm losing people too. This is just a reality. I think there was an aha moment in a conversation you and I had a couple months back where we were talking about, is this the keeper or is this a jumper? I don't remember what the words we use. I was like, "Oh, yes. There will always be people out there chasing the next dollar raise." Those aren't your people. Because they're expensive to invest in.

The big ways that you want to try to get to those is interview well, try to ferret out those tendencies beforehand and try not to hire those people. Again, I could dope too. It happens to everybody. The other thing that we've touched on so much is culture. We talk a lot about benefits. Everybody wants to know, what benefits do I have? There are no golden benefits. There is no if you just give them this, they will stay, period. What do you do? You try to create an environment where work feels like a family. You try to create an environment where people feel heard.

If you want to talk about a number one thing that we have heard from especially younger professionals, I just want to feel valued. That seems like a silly thing to have to point out. Sometimes we're so busy on the treadmill doing, we're not creating an environment of those kinds of things. Make people want to stay with you. Give them a voice. Doesn't mean you have to share everything that you do. Give the people in your organization the opportunity to weigh in on some of the things that you're doing. Ask your people what they want.

I have a particular team of people, they don't really care about health care benefits. Some of my people do. Is health care what really is bringing people to the table? No. The fact that we had an in house, indoor snowball fight one year at Christmas time, with all of my roofers and all of my admin and all of my sales people made more culture benefit for me than most of the other benefits that we've offered. You got to keep your house clean. You've got to create a culture of people that you care about. We supply tools to our guys. Sometimes that that is a helpful way to do it.

We have trucks that our guys use. They don't have to supply their own trucks. It doesn't matter if you do or don't do any of those things, as long as you can normalize it and you can just explain what's going on to people. Because ultimately, they don't know what you're doing. Our employees don't know what we're doing as a company. When you talk to them about it or you share challenges, we spoke so openly about COVID. That was the first thing I had with my team is like, holy crap, I don't know what we're doing here.
Here's what I'm thinking, here's what I know, here's where we're headed for the moment. Thanks for hanging on and stay in the car with me kind of thing. I just feel like that culture thing is just priceless. Along with that is treating people like humans. That sounds like a really silly thing to have to say. Again, be cognizant of how you're interacting with people, be cognizant of how they're being treated by your community. My guys have had ... We've had customers that have been fired, because they made comments about the fact that some of my employees had darker skin than I do.

I just very respectfully said, "I really hope that you find what you need, but we're just not going to be the right company for you to do that." The fact that I stood behind my guys at that point in the world, they rallied for me on a number of occasions. One, when we had our transition in leadership, although my guys stayed with our company. We didn't lose anybody during the COVID initial stuff. We've had a couple come and go since then. I just don't feel like at the end of the day, it's just about wages, or it's just about benefits, or it's just about culture either, but a combination of all that is just priceless. Taking care of your people.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. I think we just had Derman come on, Derman Ruiz, sorry. I hope I didn't say your name too bad. He's talking about he's hiring in Florida, too. He's looking to really find people and he's a little stymie, too, because the dollars are good. I agree with you, I think it's so much more. I mean, just even ... I know it's different from me hiring for publishing in the coffee shop and writers and account managers compared to hiring for the roof and thing. You're still working with the people and finding out what makes them excited to come to work every day and stay.

Wendy Marvin:
It's a lot of choices for people right now. That's the thing. I don't want to ... Statistically, I remember, and I want to say it was NRCA, AND I'm going to probably just blow this out of the water. I want to say one of our meetings, there was a comment about we are 80,000 roofer short nationwide. Think of the market that you're in right now. Think of the fact that your guys can pretty much go anywhere they want and make a little bit more money, probably. Why would they want to stay with you? Let them know. Caring about somebody.

I don't know, you just have to think back to your personal experience. I worked for a major health care organization for a long time. It's like, they didn't care about me. All they cared about was the dollars that I brought in, and the job that I did, that's fine. When you can show your employees that they really matter to you, that their families matter, you want to talk about me rounded my guys out on safety, when we started going south on that, I brought their spouses in. You want to have your wife pissed off at you for not wearing your harness on the job every day? You know what it did? It helped us get community together, it helped us meet the families, I know their kids. Those are just big deal. Those are a big deal.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. I'm just double checking our questions to make sure. I think we've gotten all the questions in here. Feel free. We have a few more minutes to ask questions, but I want to talk real quick about it, because we don't have as much time. I'd like to go for another hour, Wendy. I think it also, and a nontraditional recruiting strategy is to talk more about your company. I think every company is in serious competition to show that there are a great place to work. That is a great industry to work in.

I know through what we're doing right now with the art club, we're building out these directories for all of our contractors who are in the art club and trying to show the culture. There's so many different ways to do it. How are you? How do you share that matrix story out there?

Wendy Marvin:
Community involvement. Again, we're out there at these events. I know that the guys out there listening who are like, all I'm doing is installing roofs. How the hell am I going to have the time to get out there and go to these events? If you do one a month and your present, like we go to the Building Industry Association events, we go to Habitat events, we participate in fundraising locally, and we go to lunch and learn events through, again, building industry and stuff. Network while you're there, and get your name out. Let them know.

I can't tell you how many jobs that's brought to our company just because people know and will give us a try, because they've seen us out there. Just getting yourself out of your truck, throw a polo on, and attend some of these, even if a Christmas tree lighting. I met a customer to Christmas tree lighting. We met an employee at a Christmas tree lighting. It doesn't matter what it is. That's the thing, is there's just no, here's the ABC answer, except to generalize and say, get out of your truck, go meet the people in your community, offer to help as much as you can.

Maybe you're filling bags at the share house of foods for the community donation. You're sitting there on a line full of other business industry associates. We did that with an insurance broker with us. We've done bike builds at Christmas time. We've got local builders that are with us. We've had insurance industry professionals. We've had sales organizations, there's the coffee shop owner, there's the restaurant owner, but all those people know people. You get this culture of like, who is my company? Who is Matrix?
If you look on Facebook and you start to see open recommendations in this Boss Lady PDX group, they'll say, "Hey, I'm looking for a roofing company." 15 people that I don't even know will say, "Oh my gosh, Matrix Roofing, I've heard good things about them." You can't buy that.
You just can't buy that. [inaudible 00:51:28] culture that we've made too.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Recruiting and marketing really go together.

Wendy Marvin:
100%.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I mean, it's all the same thing. We have a couple questions here that I want to get in. One, I think this is a great one. This is also from Megan. She says, any ideas of places to look for commercial sales reps? I am working in networking with our suppliers as we are looking for reps with experience in Chicago land. Any other suggestions are welcome.

Wendy Marvin:
I would go back to the RCAWs of the world, the associations. Great to start with the reps. I would talk to your local reps because they do move around a little bit, but yeah, local associations and then again, what if maybe it's not a roofing guy? That's the thing. What are you looking for? I am looking for personality over roofing experience. I can teach roofing. I can teach estimating. They come on and they have both, great, that's even better. What's the priority of what you're looking for? If it's a good salesman, holy moly, or salesperson, sales is a huge market.

Maybe it's not just a roofing commercial salesman you're looking for. Maybe you have somebody that you can partner them with for the technical knowledge while, excuse me, they're onboarding and learning that side of it. They're incredible with people and they can bring people to the table. Those are outside of the box, I guess.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Megan, I would also say, look at BOMA, building owners, because a lot of times, the commercial roofing contractors are going there to meet with the building owners and to get customers and stuff like that. Guess what? There's a bunch of sales people there at the meetings who may be looking. They already understand the commercial market and all you have to do is teach them roofing to Wendy's point. I would truly recommend looking at some of those kinds of associations too, again, nontraditional. Also, Megan, please send your position in and we'll get it posted on the coffee shop. You never know ...

Wendy Marvin:
There you go.

Heidi Ellsworth:
... who is watching you in that. We have one more guest. We're going to bring on Morgan Greer. Morgan, are you there?

Morgan Greer:
Hi, everyone.

Wendy Marvin:
Hello, Morgan.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Hi, Morgan.

Morgan Greer:
Thank you for taking the time today, and all the great advice. My question was, I know we recently just ... We have our quarterly meeting that we do. We made the decision to increase our employer coverage of benefits for employee only and then a portion of family plans too. Our thinking was really that that would attract more of the demographic we're looking for, the family oriented employees that value health insurance value their health. Beyond that, one thing we do not have, we don't have paid holidays. We do have paid vacation.

I guess I'm wondering, because I also know there's the select few that really don't prioritize health insurance. Maybe if they don't have children, it's not of great value to them. My question is, just what have you found personally with your employees do they value the most, in terms of retaining our current employees and also attracting maybe new employees?

Wendy Marvin:
Again, it's so hard because there's no golden egg out there. My guys, in general, just aren't really interested in health insurance and most of my guys are family. It's a cultural thing for them. They don't really plug into our systems. They use personal chiropractic visits and things. We've looked at ways to do health savings accounts, where they can put not pretax dollars into it, and then be able to use those for purchases where they want, which has been helpful. It's so hard because there just isn't a golden egg, Morgan. I think you're doing a great job talking about it.

I would say, start with your employees and ask them what's important to them. If you've got a good culture of people, especially trying to bring that in, I wish I had just the simple answer to that question, if you just. It's really hard, because it just vary so much. I would look outside the box. I know of a company that offered gym memberships to their people. I know of a company that just started supplying things like t-shirts and sweatshirts and sunscreen to their guys. It doesn't have to be super expensive and it doesn't have to be a traditional benefit.

That's the thing that's like ... We looked at 401(k)s for a while because I had a couple admin people that really wanted that. None of my company wanted that. When I'm looking for a job, when I worked for the big healthcare company, that was what I wanted. I wanted 401(k) matching and I want this and I want that. I think a lot of times, we get really caught up in what we think would be good. We need to start by asking the team that we have and seeing maybe what they value, and if you're trying to bring similar people to the table. I wish I had a better answer.

Morgan Greer:
That's a great answer. We have the 401(k). I know for some people, it may not matter as much. I think that's a great answer that it depends on where the value lies for them. Thank you.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Thank you, Morgan. That is awesome. Thank you for being on here. You're out of Cleveland, right?

Morgan Greer:
Correct, yes. I have a list of bulleted places, thanks to you guys, where to look.

Wendy Marvin:
Awesome.

Morgan Greer:
There's Cleveland Tradeswomen, so many I didn't even know exist.

Wendy Marvin:
Yay!

Morgan Greer:
Very excellent.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Awesome. Thank you, thank you. Say hi to Mandy for us.
Okay, great. Mandy is an influencer just like Wendy right on, and where you can find out a lot about this too, on RoofersCoffeeShop on all the wisdom that these amazing professionals share with us. We are getting to the end of the hour. I want to put a call out to Paul. He wants to know where's the best place to start to get new crew members. I'm going to say go the classified ads, just because we have that much time. Start there and then start ... You can get a hold of us, Paul. We can connect you with Wendy. We can connect you with John Kenney, who is on here too. John just wants to say ...

Wendy Marvin:
Hey, John.

Heidi Ellsworth:
... 40% of current workforce is in roofing and construction held by baby boomers retiring this decade, making the workforce availability even tighter. I'm telling you right now, that is another huge resource, is Cattani Consulting. They are doing consulting across the country, helping contractors with these kind of issues and operations.

Wendy Marvin:
And most of it for free. That's the thing that's crazy ...

Heidi Ellsworth:
I know.

Wendy Marvin:
... is the seminars that they've done and so much giving back to the community.

Heidi Ellsworth:
It's huge.

Wendy Marvin:
That point too, again, is we are in a now mode of we need to make roofing sexy. We joked about that during our panel when I said that. It's like we need to get people interested in our industry. It's not getting easier, it's getting harder, and even according to John, talking about all the people that have owned companies that are retiring. Get to your high schools, meet the people, try to get people to consider this industry, not just construction, I'm open to that. Roofing, in general, how do we make it sexy and how do we make it accessible?

Heidi Ellsworth:
Those community colleges have entrepreneurship classes. To Megan's question earlier, how many of those kids coming out of this entrepreneur classes, may not be ready to start a business, but need to learn a business and maybe a great succession plan for companies out there who don't have one, so much. Wendy, we have one minute left. I can't believe this.

Wendy Marvin:
They always go by so fast, I know.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Wendy, thank you. Thank you for your wisdom. Thank you for everything. Thank you for being here this morning so early. The comments here you've been reading, just this. We're going to have to do it again, because this is pretty popular.

Wendy Marvin:
Sounds like a plan.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Awesome. Two weeks from now, May 13th, I have to tell you, we have ... I'm really excited, we have Jared Ribble and Kelly Van Winkle, who are going to be on the Coffee Conversations talking about NRCA pro certification. When it comes to recruitment, this is another tool by getting your contractors and retention, by getting your crews certified and really giving them those resources huge. They're going to be on there, is sponsored by Johns Manville who is also doing some amazing things with training across the country and helping contractors to get the certifications done in an easier way.

They're just making this really cool. Please, please join us two weeks from now. Register to see. Kelly Van Winkle is amazing. If you don't know her, she owns her own business out of Texas. They have a network of women that are women owners that are doing great things. She also was very instrumental in pro certification work with the NRCA. It will be, and don't miss. Wendy, thank you again.

Wendy Marvin:
Appreciate you, Heidi. Have fun. Thank you, everybody.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Have fun. Have a great day, everybody. Bye-bye.

By Tracey Prociw, RCAW. 

RCAW Executive Director, Tracey Prociw wishes members happy holidays with exciting additions for all memberships. 

The Roofing Contractors Association of Washington (RCAW) has some very exciting news to share with members this holiday season. RCAW has been formally set up on the CustomFin financing platform, through its membeR resourCe advAntage reWards program. This will help all of your customers get financed for your roofing and home improvement work. This will benefit residential contractor members especially due to financing increasing sales and sales ticket size. CustomFin financing is free to use for all of our members.  

CustomFin (Customer Financial Solutions) is a multi-lender platform that has many banks competing to finance roofing and other home improvement projects from $500 to $100,000. The customers get approved on-the-spot while you are at the kitchen table, and you get funded within 24-48 hours, always non-recourse. CustomFin also has features specifically designed for COVID, where you can simply click a button and the customer can apply for financing on their own device, remotely. It is very cool. 

Custom Financing Solutions has over 340 Lenders on their multi-lender platform competing for your customers’ loan in one place. The best thing about it is that it only takes a minute or two, and you can leave the customer’s home with a financed deal. And, with the ability to finance down into the 500s for B and C credit a denial is very infrequent! 

Here is a roofing video link for you all to see: www.customfin.com/homeimprovement 

The next steps for members interested in utilizing CustomFin is to contact Peter Rubenstein. He will provide necessary training and he will issue your username and login credentials. If you wish to set up a meeting with him, you can do so here. 

Thank you for your membership in the RCAW. We have sent out renewal packages, and if we received your paid renewal by December 23 you’ll get a 10% discount.   

Join RCAW today! 

Learn more about RCAW in their RoofersCoffeeShop® Directory. 

Roofing professional, rower and family man, Cliff has passed away after battling esophageal cancer. 

Cliff, aged 70, passed away after a year-long battle with esophageal cancer at his Clinton home on Monday, July 27th, 2020, surrounded by his wife and four children, their spouses and his newborn grandchild.  

Cliff was born in Arlington, Washington on March 29th, 1950, to Ruby Armstrong and Jerry Hurn. He was one of seven siblings and spent most of his childhood in Arlington and Snohomish, graduating from Snohomish High School in 1968. Cliff lettered in cross country, wrestling and track, while also performing in the high school band under the direction of his esteemed band leader, Mr. Peterson. With his tenor saxophone, Cliff had the memorable opportunity to go on a European tour with his bandmates, traveling for the first time on an airplane and experiencing new cultures in foreign countries. This experience sparked a love for traveling the world both for leisure and athletic competition.

Cliff’s dream was to attend the University of Washington and pursue a college degree, which he attained in Accounting from the School of Business. Because of his tall stature and sports experience, he received a recruiting letter inviting him to try out for the UW Rowing Team. At the time, high school rowing had not yet become popular, so Cliff was curious about what this sport entailed. Cliff’s strong work ethic and competitive spirit were traits that served him well as an oarsman. Even though his endurance and strength were legendary, his coaches soon learned that Cliff had great difficulty following his teammates and matching their rhythm. As an experiment, his Freshman coach tried him in the stroke seat so he could set the pace and flow of the boat. From that time on, Cliff competed at stroke for most of his remaining career. He earned the respect of his coaches and teammates who were inspired by his relentless workouts and his intense desire to win and excel at the sport he loved.

Rowing became the major success and joy of his younger life, as Cliff and his teammates helped return the UW Crew Team to national prominence. More importantly, he accumulated many life-long friends along the way. Cliff won two Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) national championships and three National Association of Amateur Oarsmen (NAOO) championships, earning him the privilege to represent the United States in the UW Coxed Four at the 1970 World Rowing Championships in St. Catharines, Ontario, the UW Eight at the Pan American Games in 1971 in Cali, Colombia (Silver medal), and the UW Coxed Pair in 1973 in Moscow, Russia. During his career, he was selected as Inspirational Award winner and co-captain of the UW Varsity team.

In 2004, Cliff and his teammates were inducted into the Husky Hall of Fame for their rowing achievements. His pursuits with his fellow teammates, both in and out of the boat, were fodder for many a tale repeated at gatherings of rowing friends throughout his life. Cliff was also well known for his stories and could entertain anyone who would listen, recounting one escapade after another without interruption for hours at a time. Many who loved Cliff will most likely remember his stories and his amazing memory for recounting details of long-ago events and races.  

In the latter part of his life, Cliff again resumed his passion for rowing when he joined the Ancient Mariners, a Seattle-based group of older men seeking a good physical workout and the camaraderie of rowers. These friendships with both seasoned rowers and those new to the sport brought good-natured ribbing and much enjoyment to Cliff in his senior years.

While at the U of W in early 1971, Cliff met the great love of his life, Janine Fischer, on a blind date arranged by Cliff and Janine's college roommates who thought they might be a good match. It proved to be good advice as Cliff and Janine married in 1973 and came to enjoy almost 50 years together, raising their family of two sons and two daughters. They later experienced the ultimate joy of grandchildren and proudly seeing their children become parents themselves. Cliff and Janine were also fortunate to enjoy many opportunities for travel, both for business and pleasure, to several destinations around the world.  

Cliff spent the majority of his working years in the roofing business, beginning with manufacturing of cedar shakes in the Hurn family business in Beaver. Cliff eventually came to own a residential roofing company, Legacy Roofing, which served the greater Seattle area for over 20 years, while making many valued friends in the roofing community.  

Aside from his rowing and business pursuits, Cliff's primary focus throughout his life was his faith in God and his devotion to his family. His four beloved children and three grandsons were the light of Cliff's life. Cliff is survived by his wife, Janine, their children Hans (Emily), Heidi (Chad), Stefan, and Erika, as well as grandsons Otto, Max and Hendrix, and granddog Bailey. Cliff is also survived by siblings Charli, Jerry, Mary, Judy and Trisha, and multiple nieces, nephews and in-laws who came to treasure Cliff’s unique sense of humor, ever-present smile and zest for life. Cliff is preceded in death by his parents, Ruby and Jerry Hurn, and his sister Jeannette Hurn.  

Cliff’s Celebration of Life will be held at a later date when larger gatherings are permitted. Please refer to this CaringBridge for updates and more details as they develop. 

In lieu of flowers, we ask that you donate in Cliff's name to one of the following organizations that were close to his heart:

Washington Rowing - Please note "In Memory of Cliff Hurn" throughout the checkout process.

UW Medicine Oncology Division, GI Cancer Program Research Fund (under "Make a Gift")

Seattle Cancer Care Alliance

Photo credit: caringbridge.org

By Colin Sheehan, RCS Reporter.

Celebrate your love for roofing at the Roofing Contractors Association of Washington’s annual golf tournament.

Join the Roofing Contractors Association of Washington (RCAW) on August 28th for their annual golf tournament! The tournament is set to take place at the eighteen-hole, 150-acre Auburn Golf Course.

This beautiful course sits along the Green River and features over 20 bunkers, two fountain ponds and a waterfall. These historic greens consist of a fair, but challenging par 71 course founded by World War II veterans in 1948. The Auburn Golf Course is located at 29630 Green River Rd SE Auburn, Washington 98092.

Join RCAW bright and early at 8:00 a.m. until 10:00 a.m. for a putting contest taking place during registration, which will start at 8:30 a.m. and go until 10:00 a.m. Then stretch your limbs and be ready for your assigned Tee-Time at Hole 1 or 10 with the women starting at the red tees and the men starting at the white tees. The play will be scramble-style and every player must use at least two drives. You can also purchase up to two mulligans for five dollars each. The mulligans can be used off a tee shot, fairway shot or a putt.

In addition, each team will have a team captain who is responsible for downloading the GolfStatus app, a free application, and recording the group’s score throughout the game. The winning team will be announced and receive the RCAW trophy as well as a year of bragging rights! And, of course first, second and third place teams will get their medals, some great prizes, and pictures too!

Aside from the game, there will be other golf-related contests to participate in. Show off your golf skills with the closest to the pin contest, longest drive contest, beat the LPGA pro contest and hole-in-one contest in which a spotter will be onsite for verification.

For those less interested in golfing, but still wanting to show their support for the industry, there will be various raffles taking place throughout the tournament. The prizes and the winning ticket numbers will be posted at the tournament table throughout the day. This is also where the winners will collect their prizes. Our dinner will be a bit different this year due to Washington’s current COVID Phase, but that information will be out very soon so everyone will know what small changes to expect.

If you have questions or would like more detailed information on the event’s festivities, check out RCAW’s specialized page for the golf tournament.  

If you’re ready to hit the greens, register a team and join RCAW for a day of fun at the Auburn Golf Course!