3 benefits to joining SPRI

By Emma Peterson. 

Learn about the many benefits of joining SPRI, including personal growth opportunities and the ability to facilitate the industry’s development. 

Recently, Heidi J. Ellsworth hosted Single Ply Roofing Institute (SPRI) President Scott Carpenter for an episode of Roofing Road Trips®. They spoke about the community that is built within and around SPRI and the benefits of joining the association. Founded in 1982, SPRI is full of industry experts in everything from flexible membranes, modified and accessory and raw materials suppliers to consultants, architects and testing facilities. Their expansive breadth of expertise across the industry means they have a variety of benefits for anyone in any part of the industry.  

1 - Mentorship 

One benefit for members is the opportunity to learn from those who came before them. Scott explained, “One of the initiatives that I sponsored last year is the on-boarding members nurturing involvement (OMNI).” This initiative connects new members to existing ones to help them learn and grow in their positions. It stems from Scott’s own experience, he said, “It comes from my walking into this organization 25 years ago and being intimidated by all these wonderful minds. In my case there was an individual that grabbed me, took me under his wing, showed me the way, introduced me to people, pointed me in different directions.” The OMNI initiative works to foster these kinds of mentor and mentee pairings in hopes of encouraging young people to get involved in the industry.  

2 - Education 

Even beyond learning from mentorship and participating in committees, SPRI offers members opportunities for professional development through education. This comes mainly in the form of DORA, which is the Directory of Roof Assemblies. Scott elaborated, “It's a web-based listing service that SPRI has put together as an additional resource to the industry.” DORA contains listings that are not in RoofNav, in addition to monthly blogs and technical research papers from SPRI. There are also opportunities to attend educational events in person as a member of SPRI. Scott explained, “Tomorrow we have an economist, Kermit Baker speaking to our group tomorrow. And we have our president of the NRCA speaking tomorrow, Kyle Thomas." 

3 - Building the industry’s future 

Finally, being a member of SPRI gives individuals the opportunity to participate in shaping the industry. The association is made up of committees that release technical information and advice for others based on their expertise and data that they get from being a part of SPRI. Scott described this data, saying, “One of the wonderful benefits to being part of this organization is the statistical information we get, which comes in quarterly by roof membrane, by roof type, by boards. The power of those statistics and the power of data to really shape strategies for our different organizations is key.” SPRI is a great way for individuals to help support and build the future of their industry. 

Read the transcript, Listen to the podcast or Watch the video to learn more about and how to join SPRI.