https://www.rooferscoffeeshop.com/ Roofing Forum, Classifieds, Galleries and More! en-us https://www.rooferscoffeeshop.com/post/inside-the-exterior-contractor-alliance inside-the-exterior-contractor-alliance Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 PDT

By Emma Peterson. 

How collaboration, mentorship and shared expertise strengthen individual careers and the industry on a whole.  

In a recent episode of Roofing Road Trips®, Keely Roberts, Lee Lipniskis and Jewels DeCorsey stopped by to chat with Megan Ellsworth about the Exterior Contractor Alliance (ECA). Lee and Jewels are both newer members of the advisory board, which Keely is the director of! When they’re not working on the board, Lee is the owner of Levello Construction and Jewels is the general manager at All Craft Exteriors.  

The conversation opened with a closer look at what the ECA is and who they serve. Keely shared, “The ECA started as the fifth division of the FEI Group. It was based on a collective dream of bringing the best of the best together to work as a group to solve the world's problems, rather than just as competitors.” 

Today, it's people like Keely, Lee and Jewels that are making that dream a reality. Jewels shared a bit about how she was drawn into the ECA circle, saying, “I came into the roofing industry about four years ago from the concrete industry. And when I got into roofing, I realized it really wasn't about chasing recognition or anything like that. It was about building operational excellence.” From there, she realized the best way to achieve that goal was surrounding herself with experts and peers she could learn from – and she found her way to ECA.  

As for Lee, ECA and their goal of working with professionals from all parts of the industry was a perfect fit. She explained, “I came into the roofing industry from the insurance side like 19 years ago...I always tell people I can speak insurance, speak contractor and speak homeowner. And I joined ECA in 2024 after talking with Keely and hearing about the collaboration they do across fields.”  

Ultimately, ECA is the perfect place for driven professionals who, like Jewels and Lee, want to improve both their own careers and the industry as a whole. As Keely put it, “This group is really about the drive within each of us to want to grow both personally and professionally...We’re really focused on building a place where we can grow and adapt to the changes in our industry together; to be a school of fish swimming together instead of being alone in the ocean.”  

Listen to or Watch the whole podcast with Keely, Jewels and Lee to learn more about ECA. 

]]> https://www.rooferscoffeeshop.com/post/growth-and-innovation-take-center-stage-at-ire-2026 growth-and-innovation-take-center-stage-at-ire-2026 Wed, 11 Feb 2026 06:00:00 PST

By Emma Peterson. 

Key takeaways from the dynamic Coffee Conversations® panel at IRE.  

In a special Coffee Conversations® sponsored by SRS Distribution and recorded live at the 2026 International Roofing Expo (IRE), Heidi J. Ellsworth sat down with Sarah Sutton Shouse of Raincoat Roofing, Jewels DeCorsey of All Craft Exteriors, Tim Garrison of River City Roofing Company, Inc. and Ashley Moss of MRS Roof Pros for a discussion centered around the growth of the roofing industry.  

The first topic the panel highlighted was the technological growth seen across the roofing industry. Ashley pointed to AI specifically, noting, “As homeowners get younger and/or more adept with technology, they’re wanting faster response times. A lot of contractors are trying to meet that by utilizing AI.” An example of how AI can speed up your response time is by having it field phone calls, collecting valuable lead information even if it is outside your office hours.  

And while AI might be one of the most talked-about forms of technology today, it is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how roofing professionals can leverage software and other technological innovations to succeed. Jewels explained, “Technology is not going anywhere...There's no pulling back or going back, so I think for companies in the roofing industry, if you are not at least looking into speed to lead, online booking and other digital tools, you’re going to fall behind.” 

The conversation also touched on growth in the realm of physical products. Tim highlighted the expanse of product options, specifically for growing markets like roof coatings, sharing, “Thinking back to 10 years ago, there’s just so many more systems out there for retrofits, restorations and recovers.”  

As for the increased access to products in general, Sarah shared, “One of the challenges is always the availability of the product. Because as a contractor, if I have to pay thousands of dollars in freight, I have to offset that somewhere...Recently, we’ve seen a lot of manufacturers getting into supply houses and working hard to make their product available. That growing network for product availability is huge at the moment.”  

To learn more, check out the full Coffee Conversations on demand!

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