Recognizing the Impact Hispanic and Latino Culture Has on the Roofing Industry

By Evelyn Witterholt. 

In our latest episode of Coffee Conversations, guests spoke about the history and contributions of the Hispanic and Latino community in the roofing industry. 

In a recent episode of Coffee Conversations, we had the honor of speaking with roofing industry leaders who are in the Hispanic and Latino community. Not only are all the guests in this episode prominent figures in the roofing industry, but they are also all going to be presenters at the 2024 International Roofing Expo. Our guests on this episode were Laura Hernandez, regional manager of Southeast Contracting Services, Sergio Terreros, president and CEO of the National Hispanic Contractors Association (NAHICA), Amparo Sancen, founder of Latinos En Roofing and Jessica Chavez, senior account manager at Labor Central. 

With two guests running associations dedicated to the Hispanic and Latino community in roofing, we spoke with them about their reasons for starting these organizations. Sergio discussed how he created NAHICA after successfully organizing Expo Contratista, the only Hispanic construction event tradeshow. “We said, ‘Okay, let's start getting more involved in the roofing industry. They need help. They need to understand how to move from this size of projects to a better project or bigger project for them to make more money.’ That's how we started,” Sergio shared. 

Similarly to Sergio, Amparo helped create Latinos En Roofing as a way to provide the Latino community with more training and networking resources. “I already know a lot of people in the industry and I think that this is the time, so we can just bring them and do something every month. That way we can learn together and grow together,” she said. 

Laura and Jessica both work for companies that help connect roofing companies with quality employees. We spoke with both of them about the necessity of labor in this industry and how providing the Latino and Hispanic community with resources is beneficial for all parties. 

“We have more training, certifications, protocols, safety protocols and everything in Spanish. That is a very good thing for our people because they have more opportunities for land and do their jobs better,” Laura said.  

Jessica added that her company, Labor Central, has made their platform bilingual to make finding roofing jobs and workers easier for the Latino community. “For the roofing crews, this platform is allowing them to continue to stay busy and find more work,” she said. “We have the website and people like myself to help with Latinos, to help them in Spanish.” 

Read the transcript, Listen to the conversation or Watch the entire episode of Coffee Conversations to learn more about the Hispanic and Latino community in the roofing industry.