Diversity in Roofing

By Heidi J. Ellsworth, RoofersCoffeeShop® Partner.

NWIR and NRCA activities continue to spark passion and excitement in the Roofing Industry

I had some amazing trips in 2018 that involved National Women in Roofing (NWIR) and National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA) events. As many of you know, I am very proud to be one of the founders of NWIR. I served as Chair for two years and past chair in 2018. Now, RCS Influencer Jennifer Stone has taken over the 2019 Chair position and is knocking it out of the ballpark. In my role as past NWIR Chair last year, I did get to do a bit more ambassadorship and I loved it.

As you heard before, I was able to meet and visit with the women of Tremco in the spring, followed by a visit to Colorado Roofing Contractor Association (CRCA) where I was able to speak on sales and marketing and also share information about the Coffee Shop and NWIR. In fact, it was so much fun to bring our daughter Megan with Tim and I to the CRCA meeting. We were able to meetup with a number of amazing women including our Council Vice Chair Lee Lipniskis of Core Contractors and Danielle Maya of Cotney Construction Law.

The cool part was that not a month later we were all in Vegas for the Western Roofing Expo where we had our bi-annual NWIR meeting and we were all together again. As I said, we are working on a lot of initiatives but one that is near and dear to my heart is a recruiting plan to have classified ads on www.nationalwomeninroofing.com powered by RoofersCoffeeShop! Yes, it is a full circle in the roofing industry and recruiting more women into the industry while helping them find amazing careers is one of my passions that is held by many.

During the board meeting we also talked about and worked on the 2019 NWIR Day. Now I can say that all the planning and preparation paid off. We had an amazing second annual NWIR Day during the 2019 IRE; 220 women strong, participated in events and education that were all planned during 2018. It is a lot of work but so worth it.

And from the WRE to the FRSA Expo, I was able once again to meet with inspirational women in roofing. Dianna King from Springer Petersen put together an excellent event featuring women of all ages speaking about career, family and roofing. The FRSA is incredibly supportive of NWIR and it was obvious with a sold-out room and a great event that celebrated diversity.

Finally, I rolled into the NRCA summer meetings in Chicago and what did I find. A committee focused on diversity. Led by our own RCS Influencer Rudy Gutierrez of Shell Roofing, the NRCA committee inspired by NRCA CEO, Reid Ribble and NRCA VP, Alison LaValley, is bringing diversity and the future needs of the roofing industry to the forefront. I was very proud to sit in the NRCA board meeting and see how the number of women and minorities involved in this great association has grown. It was even better hearing about plans to grow diversity and inclusiveness throughout the roofing industry.

We are all worried about labor, but as you can see from my travels, we have an industry and many associations that are standing up and making changes. We have great leaders who are committed to showing how professional and inclusive this industry is and can be. It makes me proud.

From the Road,

Heidi

Read all the Roofing Road Trips with Heidi here.