Building the next generation of roofers in Southern California

By Dani Sheehan. 

Through workforce development programs, RCASoCal is creating opportunity, elevating the profession and ensuring roofing has a strong future in the region. 

It’s no secret that the roofing industry has increasingly felt the strain of a shrinking workforce. Retirements are accelerating, fewer young people are entering the trades and the traditional legacy path of working for a parent or joining a friend’s weekend roofing crew is no longer enough to sustain the industry. 

Vickie Sharples, founder and co-owner of RoofersCoffeeShop® and now executive director of the Roofing Contractors Association of Southern California (RCASoCal) has always been passionate about staying involved in her local community and fostering excitement around roofing as a career. “I saw something recently that struck me,” she explained. “The NRCA shared a statistic that for every five people that retire, only three people are replacing them.” 

This realization drove RCASoCal to help and provide support for roofing installation training with two important CTE programs: at the high school level through SkillsUSA and at the postsecondary level with the Baldwin Park Adult and Community Education (BPACE) in Baldwin Park, California.  

Baldwin Park’s roofing CTE program 

The roofing program at BPACE is the first state-recognized nonunion CTE roofing course in California, and a blueprint for how roofing education can be scaled across the state. The idea began when Vickie contacted BPACE about renting a classroom for potential roofing workshops. Instead, administrators surprised her: “They said, ‘Well, you’re in roofing, we need to put a roofing program together.’” 

Vickie has always been so passionate about encouraging roofing as a career and teaching young people that she joked about having an entire outline for Vickie’s Roofing School. So, when BPACE started putting conditions together, she laughed, sharing that they gave her three conditions: 

1. The program couldn’t carry her name. 
2. It might take a long time to build. 
3. She had to guarantee jobs for the students who graduated. 

“All easy yeses,” Vickie laughed. “I just wanted it to happen. And I told them, ‘If you educate these kids, employers will hire them. That’s not going to be a problem at all.’” 

Creating the roofing program required: 

• A state-approved curriculum, developed with industry and resources 
• Qualified teachers, with at least five years of roofing experience and a willingness to earn teaching credentials 
• Tools, equipment and supplies for hands-on learning 
• A direct pipeline to roofing contractors for job placement 

With a generous donation from Baldwin Park-based Highland Commercial Roofing and HCI Equity Partners, RCASoCal was able to dedicate a workforce development fund to support this program.  

Finding teachers was the toughest step. To teach adult education CTE in California, candidates must complete an 18-month credentialing program on top of their roofing experience. Vickie helped secure two teachers to begin with, and this fall, the first 400-hour course officially launched. Students have begun with tool basics and classroom readiness, and roofing-specific coursework begins in January 2026. BPACE provides access to financial aid that allows students to purchase their own tools, so they’re ready for employment from day one. 

And this is only the beginning. Once this pilot succeeds, the program can “be a cookie-cut model across Southern California,” Vickie said. Any adult-education center can replicate it, expanding roofing pathways to communities across the state. 

To make this program happen, RCASoCal also raised money at the association’s Clays for a Cause charity shoot, which will now serve as the program’s annual fundraising drive. The association also connects: 

• Contractors ready to hire students 
• Volunteers to mentor, speak at events or help with hands-on demonstrations 
• Donors providing tools, materials and equipment 
• Members ready to support SkillsUSA competitors 

It’s a community-wide effort, something Vickie emphasizes repeatedly. The roofing trade won’t fix its workforce problem with a single class, but “if we meet 100 kids and even two are interested, that’s a win. And if we do that over and over again, we start to fix the shortage,” she shared. 

Changing perception inside and outside the industry 

One of Vickie’s biggest motivators is the pride she has after working nearly 50 years in this industry. Roofing professionals know this trade changes skylines, protects families and builds businesses. But many schools, and even other trades, still overlook roofing as a viable career path. “Why would they not include roofing?” Vickie asked. “It’s a beautiful trade. And you can have a very successful business.” She loves telling students: “Can you drive down the street, point to a roof and say, ‘I did that’? In roofing, you can.” 

This movement is only possible with contractor support. RCASoCal still needs: 

• More teachers 
• Mentors and classroom speakers 
• Donations of tools, safety equipment and materials 
• Help funding teaching credentials and SkillsUSA travel costs 
• Volunteers to join at school events and career days 

“Who wants to listen to how great roofing is from me?” Vickie joked. “I need younger faces, people who look like them, people who love this trade.” 

Southern California is becoming a model for how regional associations, schools, contractors and manufacturers can work together to build long-term workforce pipelines and restore pride in the trade. If the ripple effect continues with the success of this program, they’ll be rewriting the narrative of how roofing careers begin.