The Heart of the Roofing Industry – Roofing Alliance

By Alec Doniger. 

Roofing Alliance gives back to the industry by educating students, long-term industry members, new employees, and many others.  

Giving back is a common theme for those involved with the Roofing Alliance. Kelly Van Winkle, King of Texas Roofing CEO, shares, “It brings together everyone in the industry… contractors, manufacturers, suppliers [and] distributors. What the common denominator is is that everyone in the group is committed to giving back to our industry with their time and their funds.” Greg Bloom, Beacon Building Products’ Vice President of National and Strategic Accounts, echos Kelly, saying, “It truly is about giving back and helping shape the future of our industry.” One of the Alliance’s prime examples of this is their student competition. Every year this competition is held at the International Roofing Expo.  

“This [2023 competition] is going to feature a 268,000-square-foot retractable roof on Globe Life Field,” reports Alison LaValley, NRCA vice president. “The teams look at the chosen project. They have to submit a qualified bid proposal and complete an oral presentation to illustrate their roofing, project management, estimating and safety knowledge.” 

The students are always enthusiastic. Those who host the competition want to express to the younger generation the same openness the industry had shown them in their beginnings. Alison had a student come up to her personally to thank her for the opportunity, as the felt newfound excitement about working in roofing. “‘Opportunity of a lifetime, Alison,’ he said. ‘I would've just never had that opportunity,’ and it really opened his eyes. He loved the roofing industry anyway, [but he said], ‘I just love it more!’" 

Learn more about Roofing Alliance in their RoofersCoffeeShop® Directory or visit roofingalliance.net. 

Listen to the full podcast to learn more about the Roofing Alliance and what else it has to offer. 

About Alec 

Alec is a reporter for RoofersCoffeeShop, MetalCoffeeShop and AskARoofer. When he isn’t investigating the state of the roofing industry, you might find him playing drums with his bands in Denver.