Join NWiR April 20, 2022 at 11:30 a.m. PST for a Women-Led Panel Discussion on "Advocacy in the Roofing Industry."

This educational webinar will be a compilation of stories from local involvement to Roofing Day 2022. They’re hoping to encourage members to tune in and gain knowledge on how they may be able to advocate within their State/Province Roofing Associations as well as planning for Roofing Day 2023.

Register today! 

By Evelyn Witterholt, RCS Reporter. 

The Canadian team from Weatherproofing Technologies Incorporated shares safety initiatives that help building owners. 

Our first Lunch & Learn is here! The new educational series from RoofersCoffeeShop® is designed to bring learning opportunities to those who work on the inside team of roofing companies. Whether you’re talking to customers, giving estimations or buying roofing products for your crew, this series is for you! For our first Lunch & Learn, RCS President Heidi J. Ellsworth hears from David Gardiner and Tiffany Newman from the Canadian team of Weatherproofing Technologies Inc., part of the Tremco Construction Products Group family. 

WTI has successfully made a presence internationally with their division in Canada. David leads the team there with support from Tiffany, and with their combined 36 years of experience, they are already making quite an impact. In this Lunch & Learn, they discuss several topics that are useful for those who want to expand their roofing company and have better safety practices in place. 

The Lunch & Learn covers three main objectives: 

• Part 1 - Handling company expansion 

• Part 2 - Navigating jobsite challenges 

• Part 3 - Adding safety solutions to your business 

David and Tiffany give great advice based on their own experience of expanding WTI in Canada. One of the topics they touch on is how finding the right people to hire makes all the difference. “Communication was one of the biggest things we were looking for,” David says. “Somebody that can do the work, that’s all fine and dandy. But if they’re not properly communicating that it is done...that’s always going to lead to issues.” 

They also go into detail about the line of safety solutions Tremco and WTI offer, including the ways they help building owners inspect their roofs safely. Tiffany discusses how their team does a lot of work educating building owners and operators on how to inspect their roof safely. She states these inspections often get overlooked because “sometimes unfortunately the roof is the last thing people think of because people don’t generally see it too often.” 

Grab your lunch and watch the newest Lunch & Learn. The short, 15-minute video offers a lot of valuable information for those who want to grow their business. We also have a free learning guide to encourage discussion about the topics of the video. 

Check out this informative Lunch & Learn today!

Learn more about Tremco and Tremco WTI in their RoofersCoffeeShop® Directory or visit www.tremcoroofing.com.

By Colin Sheehan, RCS Reporter.  

Hear what Mardee Billingsley has to say about working at Tremco and WTI (Weatherproofing Technologies Incorporated) for over 25 years. 

Mardee Billingsley is the executive vice president of Elevate, a program through Tremco WTI, the service subsidiary of Tremco Roofing and Building Products. Mardee has been with Tremco for 25 years and while she did not grow up wanting to be in roofing and construction, she soon discovered some amazing opportunities working with a sales representative from Tremco, and never looked back.

“[I’ve been] a construction manager, national operations manager and so on. I have managed and been a part of over a billion dollars' worth of construction projects myself and I can safely say that I’ve made friends with some of the best people in the business,” said Mardee in this video documenting employee testimonials. “This organization has provided me the opportunity to travel worldwide, grow personally and professionally and care for my family, which it will for you. I share my story of happens chance, because I’m proud to be in this industry and after 25 years can also say I’m proud to work for this organization.” 

Tremco has over 700 field employees and operates in the U.S., Canada and has recently expanded into the United Kingdom. Tremco manufactures all kinds of products for commercial roofing including hot asphalt roofing, cold process roofing which includes adhesives and felts, coatings and most recently fluid roofing.  

Tremco itself is a subsidiary of RPM International, which is an American, multinational company, with subsidiaries that manufacture and market specialty coatings, sealants and building materials to both industrial and consumer markets. Some of their more common brands include Rust-Oleum and Drivet. 

“You will find Tremco and WTI to be as committed to your success as you are. This organization is the true meaning of family and taking care of one another; you will hear story after story of opportunity, helping hands and even tough love,” said Mardee. “People say construction, and even more so roofing, can be an industry that comes with a stigma of less than desirable. Fortunately, those people aren’t in our organization and don’t see the great things that we are doing to better people and our communities. Tremco’s philosophy is not to simply replace roofs, but extend their useful life.” 

Learn more about Tremco and Tremco WTI in their RoofersCoffeeShop® Directory or visit www.tremcoroofing.com.

By Cass Jacoby, RCS Reporter.  

Tremco WTI wants your new year's resolution to be staying warm and launching the next chapter of your career.  

Is your New Year's resolution to finally find that dream job? Maybe you are thinking that this is the year you will finally transition into the next phase of your career or you are simply looking to be gainfully employed in 2022. Look no further than Weatherproofing Technologies Inc. (WTI)! 

A subsidiary company of Tremco, WTI works with the top commercial property owners across North America. With the new year comes new opportunities, so why not start the new year with the leading general contracting company in roofing and building envelope? 

Answer the call for change and take this chance to not only level up your career, but to get a journeyman certification or even a degree in construction management. WTI invites you to join their team and apply for one of their open positions.  

Benefits include 401K, health insurance, paid time-off, mileage reimbursement and continuing education opportunities. And did we mention that applying now will enter you in a drawing for a custom Carhartt jacket? 

To celebrate the new year and new applicants, each application form is automatically entered into the raffle to win a custom Carhartt jacket. Start your new job in 2022 in style with a warm jacket from a legendary brand.  

Apply today and make it your New Year’s resolution to get a new job and win a new jacket! 

About WTI (Weatherproofing Technologies, Inc.),  

WTI (Weatherproofing Technologies, Inc.), an ISO 9001:2000 certified company, offers a comprehensive inventory of roofing and general contracting (GC) services to building owners and facility managers in the United States. In addition, our General Services team provides a wide range of roofing services to help keep roofs leak-free and facilities dry, extending their useful service life: Weatherproofing Technologies Canada provides these services in Canada.

By Cass Jacoby, RCS Reporter.

We interviewed construction managers to show how life never gets boring in a job with so much day-to-day variety. 

If you’ve been following along over the past year or so, you know that RoofersCoffeeShop® (RCS) has been writing about a day in the life of employees who work at Weatherproofing Technologies, Inc., a Tremco company. This month, we are looking more generally at the perennially interesting job of the construction manager.  

Construction managers plan, coordinate, budget and supervise construction projects from start to finish. It is a broad definition, because in this role you do a little bit of everything. 

Garry Edwards told us that he functions as the project manager and supervisor for all the project superintendents. He says that in this role, his team’s job is to be there for the customer and to make sure that the job is running smoothly. 

Brad Metz says that a construction manager is “the hub, spoke and rim of the project communication wheel.”  

One thing we have learned across the board is that there is no typical day as a construction manager, nearly every day offers something new and a new set of challenges to solve. 

Kevin Horchy chuckled at this question of what a typical day looks like in his job, explaining, “It depends on which day. Depending on the day, I may be wearing one hat or many hats.”  

Brad tells us, “One day, you can spend 12 hours in the office working on administrative tasks. The next, you could be traveling and meeting with customers, Tremco sales reps and subcontractors for any number of reasons.” 

There really isn’t a typical day for Garry either. He starts around 5 a.m. and spends the day fielding phone calls, catching up on computer work, reviewing specifications and providing support and training to his team. He appreciates working from his home office but says he still travels a lot for work. 

Yaroslav Gorban agrees, telling us, “Construction managers are problem solvers, we promote new business, we are students yet teachers and must know minimally a little bit of everything. We could be running meeting, collecting information on a roof/building a new system, working behind a desk, working with owners, contractors, reps and much more. Life never gets boring.” 

Kevin Horchy replied that on a day in the office he might “start out my day as an estimator working with numbers and get a call concerning additional material needed right away,” or, “be reviewing a project specification for a project pre-bid, at the same time answering phone calls/text/emails from colleagues, owners and project superintendents to name a few.”  

He lists that office days could be filled with any of the following tasks:  

• Site specific safety plans 

• Sub-contractor’s proposal forms  

• Confirming material lists 

• Bid tabulation review 

• Sub-contractor interviews 

• Reviewing subcontractors’ invoices 

• Submittals 

• Shop drawings 

• SDS information 

• Request for change orders 

• Schedules 

• Owners’ invoices 

• Weekly project percentage complete updates 

• Writing meeting minutes and distributing them to the meeting participants 

• Pulling permits 

• Checking local codes 

• Scheduling project site visits 

• Conference call 

Kevin also detailed that he goes out into the field often, he could be the chair on pre-bid, pre-construction or in-progress project meetings. He also might be stopping out to review on-going projects and completing safety audits on these projects. “Besides handling the roofing projects and to keep things interesting, I also may be involved with Canam audits, façade, parking garage or heliport surveys,” said Kevin. 

We also learned that there is no set pathway to becoming a construction manager.  

Garry says he started from the bottom, “I was a roof runner, a kettle man and then I started running hot tar commercial crews. Roofing is hard on your body, so I took the opportunity about 13 years ago to take on the challenge of being a project superintendent for WTI.” 

Kevin tells us, “My brother got me the opportunity to work at this alumni’s roofing company. Nepotism may have gotten me the opportunity, but my work ethic guaranteed I kept the job.”

Brad started working construction jobs in the summer when he was a teenage laborer in residential roofing. He stayed in the industry because he says, “Results are still the primary measure of professional success and career advancement.” 

Yaroslav Gorban was a small business owner and was approached several times about joining the industry. He said no each time, until one of those times he was convinced to take the plunge. His first year, he kept the business and took a role as operations manager over national production. After spending some time in that role, he knew he wanted to make it his full-time career. 

One thing that is clear about these jobs is that all of these construction managers love the new challenges brought to them every day and the family they have created within the industry. 

Kevin loves solving problems, his ability to share his experience and interact with his fellow associates, and his ability to grow within this industry. Most of all, he loves the day-to-day variety of what he does. 

Similarly, Brad loves the flexibility in his work schedule and the freedom he has to arrange his time and tasks to achieve a better work/life balance. 

Yaro said what he loves the most is “the freedom to run a territory and the countless opportunities to learn something new every day.”  

Garry tells us, “It’s a liberating profession, you’re working outdoors, and you have a certain amount of freedom. If you like challenges roofing is a good profession for you.” 

Does this sound like a company you’d like to work for? Check out their open positions.

Job offers made during incarceration, conditioned on passing pre-employment requirements

 Tremco Roofing, its service subsidiary WTI (Weatherproofing Technologies, Inc.) and the Missouri Department of Corrections (MODOC) are proud to launch ELEVATE, a new vocational training program piloted in a state prison that prepares Missourians for careers as commercial roofing technicians after release. Besides providing productive employment to program graduates, ELEVATE is designed to address the chronic construction labor shortage.

In early 2020, the Missouri Department of Corrections and Tremco/WTI began a partnership focused on delivering roofing and building maintenance training to incarcerated individuals. The Western Reception, Diagnostic & Correctional Center (WRDCC) in St. Joseph was chosen for the two-phase pilot training program integrating live stream instruction, self–paced learning, and on–site hands–on training. The inmates were interviewed, then officially invited to begin training and offered employment with WTI upon release. The course work began with OSHA 10-hour safety certification training. Once safety training was completed, courses on roofing systems, roof maintenance, and roof restoration and repair were completed.

To complete phases one and two, the inmates participated in an on-site event attended by Missouri's Governor Parson, Tremco/WTI leadership teams, and members of the Missouri Department of Corrections. The inmates were presented with their earned OSHA 10 certificates and safety equipment before heading outside to complete hands-on repairs and material installation. It was a chance for the inmates to show off some of the new skills learned during the training.

"We developed this program because of our commitment to elevating the roofing industry – people, students, professionals, and people who need a hand up, not a handout," said Tremco's Executive Vice President Mardee Billingsley, who attended the on-site event.

While Tremco Roofing/WTI has offered training and support to job seekers involved in the criminal justice system elsewhere, the MODOC partnership marks the first time it has provided training inside a prison, before release. The Missouri program graduates have access to a wide range of support and services, which can include help with everything from work clothes to transportation. "You're now part of our family, and we're going to make sure we take care of you," says Tremco/WTI Quality Resource Coordinator Maleah Evans, a facilitator for the ELEVATE program. "We've always been a second–chance company. We always want to give people the opportunity to change their lives and do better."  

WTI President Tom Cummings strongly reinforces this. "The foundation of the ELEVATE program rests on three pillars.  To restore hope, that can be turned into opportunity.  To restore confidence, through commitment, learning new skills and creating new value for the individual.  And to restore support, by working together as a team to overcome obstacles we may face on the roof or in our lives."

The partnership creates a win–win–win situation.  During today's nationwide skilled–labor shortage, Tremco/WTI gains well–trained employees who are eager to work.  Students gain the opportunity to walk out of a prison and into a job, overcoming one of the most challenging barriers to success that people face after incarceration. Missouri gains because the program can save taxpayer money while increasing post-incarceration employment, which helps reduce recidivism and makes the state safer.

ELEVATE is just one program of Tremco Roofing/WTI's RISE (Roofing Individuals Succeed through Education) initiative, which also offers an online bachelor's degree in Construction Management at no cost to the employee; a collaboration with SkillsUSA, a national organization working with middle school and high school students, to provide curricula for our nation's future skilled work force; and a federally sanctioned, non-union roofing apprenticeship program. 

About the Tremco Construction Products Group
Tremco Roofing & Building Maintenance and WTI are part of the Tremco Construction Products Group, the new master brand representing the combined forces of Tremco Incorporated companies, which also include the Tremco Commercial Sealants & Waterproofing and Tremco Barrier Solutions operating divisions; Dryvit Systems, Inc.; Nudura Inc; Willseal; and Weatherproofing Technologies, Inc. Altogether, Tremco CPG companies operate 14 manufacturing facilities, six distribution sites, and three technology sites and employ more than 2,600 people across North America. For more information, visit us at www.tremcoinc.com.

SOURCE Tremco Roofing and Building Maintenance

By Colin Sheehan, RCS Reporter.

Listen to this podcast for advice on how to meet safety goals and why you should offer fall protection. 

In Season 3, Episode 44 of Roofing Road Trips, Heidi J. Ellsworth visits with Phillip Harris, business development manager and safety expert at Tremco and Weatherproofing Technologies (WTI). Together, they discuss safety plans for rooftop installations and the importance of talking to building owners about incorporating long-term fall protection in every installation.  

Phillip Harris Junior is the business development manager for Tremco WTI, but also works on building strategic partnerships and WTI’s rooftop safety solutions product line.  

"I've been here with the company now for four years. I started off as a product manager for our rooftop safety products as well as our liquid applied roofing systems, and as you know, Heidi, this product line continues to grow,” said Phillip. “We had another record-breaking year with the product line in regard to sales and overall.” 

Tremco is known for its high safety standards and as a roofing manufacturer, they go out of their way to educate building owners on rooftop safety. For low slope roofs, they focus on educating building owners on meeting the OSHA 1910.28B13 safety guidelines. 

"We take [the OSHA standard] and simplify it and basically make it a red, yellow, green approach,” said Phillip. “...Anything that's at least six feet but less than 15 feet from the edge would fall into our yellow area, where obviously it's that stipulation within that OSHA regulation that talks about infrequent or temporary. But we explain that a little bit and let them know that you still need 99.9% of the time some form of fall protection there.” 

Often when a person hears fall protection, they immediately think of adding a guard railing or a fence-like structure to line the edge of the roof. However, WTI works to address holes or openings that may be prevalent on the roof already. 

“Before we even start talking about unprotected edges, [we address] holes and openings,” said Phillip. “We have a lot more large warehouses and manufacturing facilities, knocking down walls, really opening things up and that leads to a lot of people putting in skylights to bring in that natural light and help take down the bills. Well, those skylights are considered holes, so we talk about putting some type of guards over those skylights.” 

Another point of emphasis on safety includes rooftop access points. Ensuring that the access points are safe and easy to maneuver can eliminate a lot of safety hazards. 

"If you have a hatch, that's considered a hole if that hatch is left open, and it's also an access point. So you could address two for one with a solution like a hatch guard going around the hatch,” said Phillip. “So that's how we try to go out and educate the building owner, [so they can] protect themselves.” 

Listen to the entire podcast to hear more from Phillip and Tremco WTI’s fall protection products that are reshaping what safety means in the roofing industry.

By Colin Sheehan, RCS Reporter. 

Hear Rebecca’s experience as a single mom working in the roofing industry and what it means to move beyond female/male, white collar/blue collar paradigms.

In Season 3, Episode 33 of Roofing Road Trips, Megan Ellsworth, RCS podcast producer, sits down with Rebecca Welsh, a regional business manager for Weatherproofing Technologies, Inc. (WTI) in the south Atlantic region of the country. The two discuss why women make up such a small percentage of the field work force in this industry and what roofing companies can do to change that. Rebecca has a mission to recruit other women into roofing and to dismantle harmful stereotypes along the way. 

Rebecca’s stepfather offered her a job working at his roofing company when Rebecca was just a teenager. It wasn’t long before she fell in love with the work and decided to pursue a fulfilling career in the construction industry. 

"It was fun. It was very unique. We were always on some different kind of job,” said Rebecca. “We got to be outside and I was always learning things and I'm like a sponge. I love to learn new things.” 

After that introduction, Rebecca continued to work very hard at her career, constantly proving herself to her male peers and superiors on the job.  

“The construction industry just brought me so many different opportunities that I never knew were out there,” said Rebecca. “Being a female in the construction industry, you have to earn your way. People don't take you seriously, necessarily." 

Rebecca utilizes her experiences and insight in the industry to help open the doors for other women looking to make a career for themselves. She is also passionate about showing her two kids how much opportunity exists around them and that they can succeed even with the odds against them. 

“As a single mom, raising two children, it provided an absolutely wonderful career,” said Rebecca. “It also showed them that there's so many different opportunities out there that maybe they didn't think of and that women can do this.” 

The constant shortage of a construction labor force has been a problem facing the industry for years, and Rebecca says it formed for two reasons: (1) The white collar/blue collar paradigm that places a higher level of respectability on white collar jobs, leading more people to want white collar careers, and (2) the discouraging of women to pursue a career in the trades.   

“This country was separated into two divisions,” explained Rebecca. “People who went to work in a suit every day and people who went to work in their jeans and boots. Now I think the tables have turned...if you come home and your sink breaks, who are you going to call if you don't know how to fix it? You need those people. You need us.” 

Fighting the labor shortage means fighting stereotypes that deem women unable to perform in the trades. It is in the industry’s best interest to actively recruit women into the workforce by cultivating a culture of respect from one tradesperson to another.  

"Fighting that labor shortage begins with knocking off that stereotype of only men can come in the field,” said Rebecca. “[It’s just] not true.” 

Listen to the entire podcast to hear more from Rebecca and how she is sharing her story to encourage more women to take that first step into the industry. 

By Colin Sheehan, RCS Reporter. 

The exclusive collaboration between an esteemed educational institution and a large corporation is bringing new opportunities for workers. 

Roofing Individuals Succeed through Education (RISE) is taking the worry out of college for workers at Weatherproofing Technologies Inc (WTI). A partnership between the University of Akron (UA) and WTI is providing a way for individuals working full-time to complete a degree and continue working. Under the RISE program, WTI employees can enroll in an online associate-to-bachelor’s degree program in construction management from UA’s College of Applied Science and Technology. Better yet – WTI pays for 100% of the tuition for WTI employees and their dependents! Coursework can be completed on a full- or part-time schedule.  

With an ongoing labor shortage, WTI is hoping this program will incentivize employees to accelerate their careers in WTI and the roofing industry at large. Students in the program start by pursuing an associate degree in science in the construction management track and have the option to continue to earn a bachelor of organizational supervision in construction management. The associate program is aligned with the bachelor’s degree, so students can go from one program to the other without any complications. All WTI employees are eligible to apply for the program after 90 days of employment and can start in any semester of their choice.   

“The University of Akron is an expert in providing career-focused and experiential learning that helps students get ahead in the job market,” said WTI Vice President Mardee Billingsley. “WTI and Tremco value our employees and want to give them every opportunity to learn and grow. Our partnership with UA provides that, while allowing our company to expand our business and retain loyal employees. RISE also gives us an extraordinary ability to help alleviate the construction industry’s severe labor shortage by educating a new generation of roofing professionals in both technical and business skills.”  

UA recognizes how important it is for educational institutions to work with corporations, helping to meet the educational needs of today’s manufacturing workforce. UA has been putting forth the effort to connect with employers of all types to develop unique programs that fit with the demands of industries today.  

“Developing programs is what we do. We meet with employers, discuss the skills they want their workforce to have, and then deliver a specialized program that needs their unique needs,” said Elizabeth Kennedy, Ph.D., dean of the College of Applied Science and Technology. “It’s important for people to be educated, and it’s our goal to help them achieve success.” 

For more information, visit www.wtirise.com. 

Learn more about Tremco WTI in their RoofersCoffeeShop Directory or visit www.tremcoroofing.com.

By Michelle Miller, RCS Writer. 

Tremco and WTI are committed to leading with safety, every day. 

Roofing is a profession requiring a conscious commitment to safety. One slip, trip, unstable ladder, improperly secured deck, or miscalculation by any member of the team can quickly put the safety of individuals and entire crews in jeopardy. If you aren’t hearing about safety from every manufacturer, distributor, or company you’re working with, you should be.  

Safety means that at the end of the day, you and your crew get to go home in the same or better shape than you arrived. If you’re not sure if your crews, colleagues and employer are committed to safety, check out how Tremco approaches safety. 

Tremco Roofing and Building Maintenace and WTI fully recognizes how important safety is to roofers.  

• Each site receives its own safety plan. Every project, regardless of size, receives a thorough inspection and analysis to understand the job site’s potential hazards, safe work procedures, product characteristics, equipment operation, conditions and specific customer requirements.  

• Every field advisor and technical personnel receives extensive safety training, and are provided with a comprehensive set of safety resources. Tremco has over 300 and WTI has over 400 technical field personnel and general contracting management, and every individual has a minimum of an OSHA 10-hour safety card.  

• Every member of the team is current on safety procedures and protocols, and has access to 24 Authorized OSHA Outreach Trainers with extensive roofing craft experience. This in-house safety expertise permits consistent and safe installation of our systems focused on customer and site-specific health and safety requirements. A team of safety experts is also available in the field to answer questions or concerns that may arise. 

With a goal of zero incidents, Tremco and WTI Injury rates are consistently lower at when compared to industry averages (for the last 15 years). Tremco and WTI know and understand what is at stake in construction and renovation projects. Tremco will never leave the safety and security of employees, installation teams and other on-site trades to chance. Job site safety grounded in proper training is without question the highest priority. 

Your life depends on it. There’s nothing more important than working for a company that puts the safety of its team members first. Does this sound like an environment you would like to be a part of?  

Learn more about Tremco and WTI in their RoofersCoffeeShop® Directories. 

About Tremco 

Tremco Roofing offers the industry's most comprehensive roofing and weatherproofing solutions for restoration, repair, maintenance, replacement, and new construction. We deliver peace of mind to building owners and facility managers by managing roofing and building life cycles for customers in all industries, including education, healthcare, government, manufacturing and more.