Walking through WRE 2025

By Emma Peterson. 

Joel Viera and Alec Ward share what to expect from this year’s Western Roofing Expo! 

In a new episode of Roofing Road Trips®, Megan Ellsworth sat down with the leadership team behind the Western States Roofing Contractors Association (WSRCA) to talk about the upcoming Western Roofing Expo (WRE). The team, which included Executive Director Joel Viera and Director of Membership and Trade Show Alec Ward, shared some behind-the-scenes insights on what to expect from the 2025 show! 

This year’s show will be hosted from September 29 to 30, 2025 at the Paris Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada! Joel shared some thoughts on the location, sharing, “Vegas is sort of a one-stop shop where whatever your interest may be, they've got something there for you. At the Paris specifically, it's almost like a full takeover. We kind of take over the hotel as well as all of the convention and meeting space.”  

Those convention and meeting spaces will be full of everything from 30+ education sessions and two keynote luncheons to a trade show floor full of booths and demonstrations! Joel explained, “Whether it's business, legal, technical roofing, safety, we've got something for everybody... We even have a room this year that we’re going to dedicate solely to Spanish education called Western States en Español. There will be four sessions and two lunches, sponsored by CertainTeed, SRS Distribution and Techo Simas. 

As for the trade show floor, this is the perfect opportunity to not only catch up with friends, old and new, but also keep yourself informed on all the new innovations in the industry. Alec shared, “In addition to the booths, there will be live demos and product showcases every hour or so. So you can always make your way all the way down to the end of the trade show floor and hang out there.” If you find your way to the trade show floor, make sure to stop by booth #9 to see The Coffee Shops™ crew! Our amazing President Heidi J. Ellsworth will also be hosting one of those showcases, as Joel explained, “She's going to be taking one of those slots and going to be doing a very fun and relaxing interview with Chris Heitzman, who at that point will be our immediate former president and Stan Robinson, who will be our newly elected president of Western States.” 

And between all the scheduled sessions, there are countless moments to network with others that work in the Western region of the U.S. and have some fun! Joel gave an example, “We end our show with two competitions. We do the Roofers Feud, which is a game show style trivia game that's hosted by Trent Cotney of Adams and Reese. It's kind of a playoff of a family feud where you get two teams head-to-head. And then following that, we do the Roofing Games, where we get nine roofing contractors up on the stage and they try to build a steep-slope deck as fast as possible without making any major errors along the way.” Not only is this a great way to bring the roofing community together for the end of the show, but there’s also more than just bragging rights on the line! Malarkey sponsors the Roofing Games and hands out some pretty fun prizes, and there is an iconic championship belt for the winner. Overall, WRE 2025 is shaping up to be a can’t-miss event for contractors this fall. Alec summed it up best, “Our region is such a large place. This is really the best opportunity to see everything all at once. You can't see every single one of your sales reps or all the latest products just in your own locality. So having this event gets you out there, seeing everything that's out there for the West.” 

Read the transcript or Listen to the episode to learn more about WSRCA and WRE 2025. And if you haven’t already got your tickets, RoofersCoffeeShop is giving away 5 FULL registrations for Western Roofing Expo 2025! Learn more about entering online.