By Jesse Sanchez. 

R3NG Roofing and Gutters shares how Terial helped streamline service, proposals and project management into one platform. 

When R3NG Roofing and Gutters first began onboarding Terial, the Denver-based commercial roofing company was looking for more than another software platform. In this Roofing Road Trips® conversation, Aaron Weinstein, co-founder and CEO of Terial, and Lauren Harmon, owner of R3NG Roofing and Gutters, discussed how the company needed a partner that understood commercial roofing, supported its team through change and could help reduce the number of disconnected tools used across the business. 

“I think for us, the ability to have the CRM there and have it be easily integrated with both production and service all in the same place just made it so easy to really have an idea of what our pipeline looks like at all times on both service and production,” Lauren noted. 

Several months later, the difference is now clear. What began as a careful rollout for the field and service departments quickly expanded across the company because the platform was easy to use. R3NG has since moved time clock software, reporting, project management, meetings and proposal work into Terial, with its last outside software scheduled to be canceled. 

For Lauren, one of the biggest advantages has been visibility. The team can now see service tickets, calendars, customer history, payments, booked work and outstanding tasks in one place. That has made day-to-day communication easier and helped employees find answers faster without relying on multiple emails, texts or spreadsheets. 

That visibility also matters to customers. Lauren shared that when one of R3NG’s largest clients asked for data on a specific roof, the company was able to provide a detailed history within minutes. “I think 15 minutes later, I had all the data in its hands,” she said, “It's huge, right? Because it's just so much easier to be able to do stuff quickly and have everyone be able to do it easily.” 

Aaron said the relationship reflects the company’s partnership approach. Rather than expecting contractors to conform to a rigid system, Terial works with teams to build around their standard operating procedures. That collaboration helped shape features such as a Pegnato integration and proposal builder. 

“I think when Lauren and I met a couple of years ago, one of the things that struck me is that she was looking for a consultative partnership,” Aaron said, “She wasn't just looking to buy a piece of technology. She was looking to invest long term in whatever the future of tech was going to be within the industry.” 

Aaron said the proposal builder came out of an earlier pain point Lauren identified before R3NG went live with Terial. Because proposals were such an important part of the company’s workflow, Terial committed to building the tool through direct conversations with R3NG so the finished product would meet the team’s needs. After launch, it was robust enough that R3NG moved away from its previous proposal system faster than expected. 

Listen to the podcast or Watch the conversation to learn more about Terial and R3NG Roofing and Gutters! 

By Jenny Yu.  

Attendees of the 2026 IIBEC Convention gained insights, education and networking opportunities. 

On March 12-15, 2026, the 2026 IIBEC International Convention and Trade Show delivered on its promise to bring together roofing and building enclosure professionals for education, collaboration and innovation. In an episode of Roofing Road Trips®, Heidi J. Ellsworth spoke with Brian Pallasch, EVP and CEO of the International Institute of Building Encloser Consultants (IIBEC), about the key takeaways that continue to shape how contractors, consultants and manufacturers work together. 

For Brian, one central theme for the conference was collaboration. “It really is about the partnership,” Brian stated. “When the contractor, the architect, the building enclosure consultant and the manufacturer work together, it’s to the benefit of the owner and the building. It’s a team.” As building systems grow more complex, this team approach is becoming essential across the industry. 

Brian also emphasized that IIBEC members play a critical role in ensuring quality and performance. “Our members are there to help the owner, the roofing contractor and the manufacturer get the job done — well done and right,” he said. That focus on quality was evident in both the educational sessions and conversations happening on the trade show floor. 

In addition, another key topic present throughout the conference and trade show was the long-term durability of building performance. “The idea of commissioning is, as buildings get more complex, you want to make sure that plans are actually being followed on the job site,” Brian explained, adding that building owners are increasingly focused on results: “They want to make sure that the building that they paid for is the building that they’re getting.” 

The Coffee Shops™ was thrilled to be part of such a successful event, recording live interviews that highlighted the innovation, learning and networking in strong supply. One standout moment included a Coffee Conversations® sponsored by Western Colloid Fluid Applied Roofing and Coating Systems, featuring a panel of industry experts who discussed the factors shaping the future of the roofing and building enclosure industry. 

“We had Lauren Morley, owner and president of R3NG Roofing and Gutters; Greg Hlavaty,  president of Western Colloid; and two amazing consultants, Sean Connolly and Dustin Smoot,” Megan Ellsworth of The Coffee Shops shared. “It was a fabulous conversation.” 

Other highlights included a state-of-the-industry address by RCS Influencer and Adams & Reese LLP Partner Trent Cotney; a live demo showcasing the strength of USG Securock® cover boards; and visits with Johns Manville and Polyglass at their hospitality booths. 

Overall, as the industry continues to evolve, IIBEC remains a hub for innovation, connection and professional growth. 

Listen to the full podcast to hear more insights about the 2026 IIBEC International Convention and Trade Show.

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! 

3 - Upgrade Your Metal Roofing Game With AEP Span's Underlayment HT 

2 - Pacific Coast Building Products Supplies Materials to CIEF Design Build Competition for High School Students 

1 - Florida Immigration Bill Set to Become Law

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.” 

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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.