The Future of Roofing Education with Skills USA - PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Patrick Cochran of Red Dogs Roofing. You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast.

Intro: Welcome to roofing road trips the podcast you Journey across the roofing from fascinating interviews with roofing experts to uncover the stories innovations so 

Megan Ellsworth: Hello everyone welcome back to a roofing road trip my name is Megan Ellsworth here at roofers coffee shop dot com i am so excited cuz we're talking about something really really important today and that is skills usa and training for roof application careers program bringing new people into the industry and young people and getting young people excited about the trades it's something that is really special and i care a lot about so I'm excited to have Patrick Cochran here from red dogs roofing to chat with me about it so hi Patrick how are you 

Patrick Cochran: Great Megan how are you 

Megan Ellsworth: I'm so good I'm excited so let's just start out and have you introduce yourself to everybody 

Patrick Cochran: Yeah so my name's Patrick Cochran owner of red dogs roofing headquarters is in fitchburg Massachusetts we also have an office in Waterford Connecticut and sa Florida predominantly focus on roofing also siding in the Northeast we do Residential and commercial and really excited to talk about skills usa today with 

Megan Ellsworth: Ya that's Awesome okey, so let's kind of level set and just could you explain what exactly es skills usa and why it's important 

Patrick Cochran: Ya ya so skills usa es a national organization that really empowers students give them the skills that they need to be professional within their trade y really help their Career they also have local chapters so each state has their own chapter and for lack of a better way to put it i tell people its like the trade school olympics right all the trade schools get together and they compete right and they see who does the best within their you know trade the great organization they wrap the kids very well you know not only for their trade but also for life skills which is great 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah and thing i learned recently too is it's all sorts of trades so cosmetology Plumbing electric like it's more than just you know what people think of off the bat when you hear trades it's you know i was surprised when i cosmetology was there i was like. Oh, that's so cool 

Patrick Cochran: Yeah so it's really everything i mean you see you know from like you said people getting their Nails done here done it's a wide range of trades right trade schools have definitely come a long way it's not just the traditional trades that you might think of all showcase there which is really cool it's a great event for the students 

Megan Ellsworth: Ya can you share how red dogs roofing got involved with skills usa 

Patrick Cochran: Yeah so i personally volunteered for the continuing technical education committee for the NCA they were working on skills usa so this will be the third year we got involved this year in Massachusetts and the way that we got connected was we reached out to the executive director Karen Ward and she basically invited us out we went out there we did a quick presentation for administrators for the different trade schools that are involved with skills usa in the state of mass and from there they invited us back to the fall leadership program that they have and what that is es really the administrators kind of coming out students coming out but they gave us an opportunity to talk a little bit about roofing and really showcase roofing as the next competition in Massachusetts so we went out there i presented kind of like the opportunity that it was and how the industry was standing together and really trying to make this a positive experience for the student but then i also talked about Beyond the roof right and opportunities outside of installing so it was very well received and then after that we split Sixty four administrators up into eight groups of eight from there they actually did like a little mock up so we created a little PVC mock up they didn't do any hand Welding but we gave them like macgyver baskets so they had like tape and blue and yeah we just made it really fun for them so they went out there and they got hands-on experience of what a student would kind of get in the field you know minus the hand Welding and do poster boards per group and they actually presented the poster boards to us on how they would bring it back to their school it was such a great event that we actually had to cap it off at eight schools such a big interest in it so we have eight schools competing in the state of Massachusetts for their upcoming competition which is which is Awesome was a great turn off for being first year 

Megan Ellsworth: That is really cool the fact that you were turning you know turning schools away you had to cap it that many people were interested that just goes to show the resurgence of trade schools and and people going into the trades right now which is so heartwarming that's really cool 

Patrick Cochran: Its great yeah there's definitely kinda like a renaissance of the trades kind of coming back which is nice to see 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah it es really nice to see so the mas Massachusetts state skills usa. Wow say that five times in a row the Massachusetts state skills usa competition is just around the corner en may and then the national event is in June what are you most excited about leading up to these competitions and what role is red dogs playing in these events. 

Patrick Cochran: Y eso i think i most excited of continue to learn they're doing a lot of their hands on training now which is really cool to see right so our teams going out there getting photos and kind of documenting the process which is Awesome i think like leading up to the event that that's probably what the most exciting part is is that these students are kind of hands on and they're getting involved which is really nice to see. Um, leading up to you know skills usa and and at the event really our job is to kind of just make sure that the kids have the material that they need the training that they need and then we're gonna just make sure that it's a smooth process we wanted skills usa Massachusetts to kind of have like a plug and play with us there and it really took all of our vendors kind of coming together and really just being a part of this whole Initiative right so i think that's really cool and we're gonna be the ones judging the you know the students and then we will have somebody that will you know be ready to go to nationals and will be sponsoring internationals in June so 

Megan Ellsworth: Wow, that's amazing okay, so you're sponsoring the student that wins to go to nationals correct 

Patrick Cochran: Thats 

Megan Ellsworth: Wow. That's Awesome so as we look ahead to that national competition what are some of your goals for the Massachusetts teams en how do you also see the roofing trade evolving in these programs cte programs across the us 

Patrick Cochran: Ya so i think you know i think the number one goal first is to win gold right like any state i think we probably all feel the same way a great program though i mentioned Karen Ward the executive director i mean she's been with skills usa Massachusetts for quite some time and they just do a great job they have a great leadership there and they've really made it kind of seamless for us to be involved you know we did a lot of the heavy lifting as far as coordinating stuff like that but they really welcomed us with open arms and they made it very easy for us to be a part of it so i thinks really important when it comes to gold i think it really is us winning that gold and they've got a great program there to kind of be able to do so bigger picture i think with CT you know i think getting students involved and having them involved early on in their Career on the install side and then really working their way up you know to really be like a crew lead or a project manager eventually maybe right off the roof but understanding that you know when they go Beyond the roof they really have a Skill set that is you know is gonna be able to kind of carry them and make them more valuable in positions either within the roofing industry or construction trade itself so i think like getting cte involved is really gonna help kind of continue to build the professionalism of the industry and really just help kids kind of come out and be a little bit more ready for you know what's gonna happen in the field 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah ya that's so important having that experience de hands-on experience before going into technical school o trying to further already thats huge en having the support of a business owner like you also es so cool and being able to lean on a mentor like that es special 

Patrick Cochran: Yeah appreciate. 

Megan Ellsworth: Okey, so what would you say success looks like for you when it comes to these students participating en skills usa and the roofing industry workforce like what does this look like moving forward 

Patrick Cochran: Yeah so i think skills usa is a great Foundation for them to learn both personal and professional skills you know getting these students well wrapped so theyre ready for that you know step after College i mean after high school if they're not going to College really so i think this is kind of a great opportunity to allow them to kind of grow and be ready for that and i think for me really the successes bringing the industry it to the front and just saying. Hey there's a lot of opportunity here and to see students and also the administrators so excited about the opportunity that we brought to them it was great you know and the students there at skills usa they're just they're very well wrapped they're very respectful you know they can you know have a great Conversation with you and really carry themself in a great way and i think bringing that to the roofing industry and building the workforce with that specifically in the roofing industry is is gonna be very very valuable for the future 

Megan Ellsworth: Ya i couldn't agree more it's so valuable and also as a reminder to everyone listening all these students in skills you say they're high school students right 

Patrick Cochran: Correct so there es College students as well i think all mas schools are high schools. 

Megan Ellsworth: Wow, ok, so they're all like under eighteen ready to go into the workforce that's really cools really really cool. Okay, so can you tell us a little bit more about the track program and how it helps prepare students for careers in our industry the roofing industry 

Patrick Cochran: Absolutely so track is a great program put out the NRC theres computer Portion and there's also hands-on training so theres about Twenty hours i believe it is for computer training so students o even employees we use it in our businesss employees will be learn basic stuff about the roofing industry safety also about the material and then they'll get hands-on training particularly for track for the schools for skills usa we're hosting the training with our vendors so we're supplying the material we supplying the vendor the training handson experience that way they're really gonna kind of see like what it entails to install a roofing system 

Megan Ellsworth: Thats really cool i love that you all use it for employees as well like bringing new people into the industry even if they're you know in the office that's really valuable information to be able to communicate with coworkers and clients in any any job in the industry 

Patrick Cochran: Yeah i agree it Gives them a good Foundation like you said don an Expert in it, pero at least it allows them to be involved with different Conversations that they hear throughout the office and been a great program for us you know internally but also kind giving to the students it allowed us to have a full curriculum for them so there was really no heavy lifting for the schools skills usa 

Megan Ellsworth: Cool what does that hands-on curriculum look like that you said you were putting together for the students 

Patrick Cochran: Yeah so essentially what we're doing is we built a mock up that they working on and we've given them additional material so they can kind of practice upfront to kind learn a little bit about Welding and how they we they work but that actually give the hands on training to install the mock up so the mock up i believe is actually the same mockup they would use for pro certification. Um, so it kind of goes hand in hand with nca's pro certification which is really cool so its it really just allows them an opportunity to get hands on experience of not only just touching and failing the material actually putting a moca proofing system together 

Megan Ellsworth: Ya. Wow, okey, very cool so what has some of the response been from the students you work with especially when they present their ideas when they presented their ideas for bringing commercial roofing to their schools can you share any memorable moments 

Patrick Cochran: Ya so i think for me the whole experience was memorable like we we work directly with the administrators so we didn't have direct contact necessarily with the students about bringing commercial roofing and with the administrators like they were just very excited because they saw how much the industry kind of came together with my presentation to ensure that we would make this as smooth as possible for them right between getting the material and getting the you know the equipment for the students the hand welder and the rollers and know just getting the training together having the curriculum already i mean they were just kind of blown away by it and the response was great right we made the mockups really fun when the administrators had the hands on Portion so they getting a kick out of it we Bubb all these things. Okay, you have to make it water tight we just we wanted to make it fun and they had a lot of great questions they gave a lot of great feedback and they were just like i could see our students doing this i could see i think specific kid that i know that would wanna do this and then when i sat there you know i think the biggest memorable moments when i sat there and eight groups of eight presented to me on what they heard me say and what their experience was and how they would bring commercial roofing back to their schools and then i just sat there thinking how sore it was because you know i always really thought about how can we bring the trades back and really kind of get you know the next generation into it at at a young age it allowed them to progress through i think you know sitting there and that was just surreal i dons to describe it and then to know we had more than eight schools want go and have to cap it off it just really kind you know drove the point home for sure i will say with the skills usa students just in general you know i can't speak on all the states but in Massachusetts and I'm sure it's for all the states but my experience with Massachusetts is those kids were very respectful they were very welcoming very nice you know they asked us great questions great eye contact i mean they were just very very professional and it just made me feel really it just kind of really solidified the fact that this is the partnership that we're taking on and and it was a great you know great Initiative for us to be involved with so you know the students were great but it was a good time we had a lot of fun there was a lot of laughs and we had our mascot there red and he was you know Grading people and it was the whole thing and the students loved it administrators loved it and it was nice to kind of see the turnout that we've had so far 

Megan Ellsworth: Ya that's really cool like you saids cool to see that that next generation of not only our industry but the world really is coming up really well you know they're they're ready and respectful and excited to take take this on so that's fabulous i love it and what a great example you're setting also for those students also other roofing companies not only in your area but nationwide so if you're a roofing contractor listening to this and you're not involved with skills usa you should absolutely get involved in with the track program and NCA all that stuff you should definitely get involved because so the roofing industry obviously offers a wide range of Career opportunities Beyond installing what other Career paths can students pursue in the industry like marketing sales and have you seen any interest in that 

Patrick Cochran: Absolutely ya so we we've actually been we went out to another event called sale for the Massachusetts skills usa and we talked to students there and you know they may not necessarily be interested on the install side but there's a great opportunity within construction and specifically roofing with like you said marketing technology stuff that you know people might not necessarily think of when they think of roofing you know i was explaining to the administrators at the fall leadership that you know i think the slide i had was called Beyond the roof and it was really talking about the fact that it's not just roofing companies that these students can get involved with like they can come in they can come into company they can learn how to install maybe if they really like the install maybe become a lead installer or project manager or maybe they want to get into sales or maybe they wanna pursue something in marketing or something like that i told 'em there's a lot of opportunity within roofing companies now roofing companies look a lot different than they did before en addition to that you have technology companies marketing companies like roofer's coffee shop right where you Guys focus on the roofing industry right necessarily you Guys aren't out there installing roofs every day right 

Patrick Cochran: So you have the manufacturers distribution there's just an array of opportunities Beyond even just a roofing company right so we really highlighted that and spoke about that and i think that was a big piece we seen all the administrators continue to talk about as they presented to us that day at fall leadership i think a lot of them really said to themselves you know what there are a lot of opportunities within the roofing industry so to really kind of showcase that i think something that really kind helped them see. Hey this is a good opportunity for students getting the knowledge on the install side and getting out of that and being able to move forward or become a leader within you know on the install side is is huge but that stuff translates to other departments as well to be a sales rep to really understand and have sold before you know that's prerequisite but it's just not anymore unfortunately 

Megan Ellsworth: Ya no that's so true and what a great example youre leading with dos students showing them all the opportunities you know not just installing i think that's really exciting because there might be you know kids involved with skills usa that like with the installing but they are really creative and want to get into Graphic design or marketing or something like that and there's still opportunity for them within roofing that's cool 

Patrick Cochran: Exact yup exact. 

Megan Ellsworth: Ok, well es there anything else people should know about getting involved with skills usa how to contact el local chapter anything how did you get involved originally 

Patrick Cochran: Yeah so i mean on the committee for continuing technical education for the NCA the NCA has done a great job you know if anybody wants to kind of get more involved or even hear more about my experience I'm more than happy to connect with anybody you know i think they wanna send me an email something like that I'd be more than happy to kind of them in the right direction every state is very different so there's definitely some things to kind of navigate through but it does it takes the whole industry so even if you're not a roofing contractor and you're a vendor know supply side manufacture whatever it might be you know we could use all the help it's a heavy lift for one contractor and we've schools doing it so I've definitely kind of seen that side of it but it takes the whole industry right if we want to kind of move this forward and we want to have a better workforce so we wanna work on all these things and get the next generation involved like it's gonna require all of us to kind of be involved so anybody interested feel free to reach out to be more than happy to share my experiences or help point them in the right direction thank 

Megan Ellsworth: You Patrick and everyone can find his contact info or the red dogs roofing contact info on their Directory on roofer coffee shop dot com cuz you all are our club members so thank you for being in our club member and thank you for chatting with me today and sharing all this great stuff about skills usa 

Patrick Cochran: Absolutely happy 

Outro: Y okay, well everyone please go learn more on the red dogs roofing Directory and also skills usa as the Directory on roofers coffee shop dot com can find more information on how to get involved there and we see you next time on the next roofing road trip thank you Patrick if you've enjoyed the ride don't forget to that subscribe button every roofing adventure shopp com to learn more thanks for tuning in and we will catch on the next roofing road trip.