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When Bob Morgan, chief operating officer for Upstate Roofing & Painting Inc., Rochester, N.Y., and J.J. Smithey, president of Frost Roofing Inc., Wapakoneta, Ohio, met during NRCA's Future Executives Institute program in October 2008, they immediately formed a friendship. Sharing similar company core values, the two began sharing best practices to maximize production.

During a winter storm in New England in February 2011, Upstate Roofing & Painting received calls for help from customers hit by the storm. Although the company responded with most of its workforce, Morgan knew more help was needed and called Smithey. Within a few hours, Frost Roofing assembled 40 workers, two cranes, and safety and snow removal equipment. Frost Roofing workers drove through the night from western Ohio to New England and joined Upstate Roofing & Painting's team for the massive snow removal efforts the following day.

In November 2014, the two companies again joined forces to remove snow from roofs after the largest snowfall in history during a 48-hour period in western New York. The team of nearly 80 workers worked from dawn to dusk digging out snow piles 7 feet high from roofs being tested to their structural limits.

Each evening, the crew met for dinner and drinks and shared stories about how many tons of snow were shoveled each day and how it took 1 1/2 hours to drive 5 miles through the snow. After a grueling five days, the trucks were loaded up, and the workers said their goodbyes but not without saying: "I'll see you again during the next big snowstorm."

Thanks to Upstate Roofing & Painting's and Frost Roofing's efforts, building owners in western New York received relief only made possible by two companies demonstrating the power of professional relationships in the roofing industry.

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