Journeys into the roofing world

By Emma Peterson.

Roscoe Green shares how he got involved in the roofing industry and how companies can bring in the next generation.

In a new episode of Roofing Road Trips®, Karen Edwards got the chance to chat with Roscoe Green of Adams and Reese about how companies can bring more young people into the industry. First, Roscoe shared a bit about how he got involved in the industry in his own youth, sharing, “My dad was a general contractor and so I got into construction at an early age. I remember being out in the field, being a laborer during the high school summers.” From those summers, he was able to ascend through the ranks, working as a foreman, then superintendent and project manager.

When it came to picking a path after high school, Roscoe earned a degree in construction engineering. After school, he joined a commercial construction firm in Florida where he did everything from project engineering to estimating. To this day, Roscoe is still a licensed general contractor. And how he ended up working on the legal side of the roofing world came when Roscoe decided to go to law school. He shared, “My grandfather happened to be a Florida Supreme Court Justice, and he was also appointed by President Carter to be the chief justice of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. So, wanting to go to law school, specifically construction law was natural.” Today, Roscoe is certified in construction law and has been recognized by Engineering News-Record as one of the “Southeast’s Top Young Construction Professionals.”

Looking back, Roscoe’s journey felt very natural, but he knows that’s not the case for many young people today who might not even know that a career in the roofing industry is an option. This, in combination with recent immigration and importation policies, has created a highly competitive labor market in the roofing industry. When it comes to attracting and retaining young professionals, Roscoe had a few recommendations for contractors, sharing, “You have to be forward-thinking. Where's the market moving, the technology, etc. And people tend to be in places where they feel welcome and where they enjoy the people they work with. So you have to have good leadership.” Ultimately, the companies that are going to find strong employees and keep them are the ones that aren’t afraid to step forward to lead and inspire others through their actions as a company and individual.  

Roscoe summed it up, “Those companies that are able to make their employees feel comfortable, give them something to look forward to, have opportunities for growth and are forward-thinking as far as what's going on from a macro perspective within the market are going to be those companies that just continue to grow and that employees want to join.”

Read the transcript or Listen to the full episode to learn more about Roscoe and get more insight on bringing in the next generation of roofers.