Details

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What is your position within your company?
I am president of John A. Dalsin & Son Inc., Minneapolis.

Why did you become a part of the roofing industry?
I was born into it. When I was 11 years old, I began working summers in our hardware store where the roofing and sheet metal business started. Upon graduating from college, my dad asked me to work there full time. I had considered becoming a teacher after graduation, but I decided to give roofing a try. My dad put me under the wing of his top salesperson, and I always enjoyed getting up in the morning and going to work so I stayed.

What was your first roofing experience?
During the summer of my junior year in college, I worked with one of the company's roofing crews. The project was on a new hospital, and its roof system was composed of fiberglass insulation mopped to a concrete deck and four plies of felt underlayment mopped and graveled in with coal tar pitch. The temperature was 90 F or higher during most of the project, which lasted more than a month. I found out how difficult roofing work really is and developed tremendous respect for roofing workers.

Do you have any advice for future NRCA presidents?
Enjoy the once-in-a-lifetime experience and all the really great people you are going to get to know.

What was one of the biggest challenges you faced during your time as an NRCA president?
The biggest challenge was getting NRCA's Executive Committee (with one or two exceptions) to drink Rusty Nail cocktails.

What are your favorite items in your office?
My favorite item in my office is a picture of the peer group I was part of for about 20 years. Also in the picture are three past a NRCA presidents—Mike Promen, Mike Beldon and Conrad Kawulok—and we are all dressed up in tuxedoes. My next favorite items are the paintings of golf courses my wife, Barbara, and I have played along with three plaques commemorating the three holes in one that I have been lucky enough to get.

What is your roofing industry involvement?
I serve on NRCA's National Roofing Council. I also am an employer trustee for the National Roofing Industry Pension Plan for union roofing employees. And our company is a member of National Roofing Partners, which is an affiliation of roofing contractors providing nationwide roofing services to national accounts.

What is your favorite part of your job?
My favorite part of my job is sharing the good things that happen with our employees along with the laughter and humor of the daily occurrences at work.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
If I had to pick one place, it would be China to see the Great Wall.

What do you consider your most rewarding experiences?
Marrying Barbara and continuing to share life's experiences together has been the most rewarding thing in my life along with our seven children and 10 grandchildren.

What is your favorite Minnesota sports team?
The Minnesota Twins even though they have been struggling lately

What is your favorite thing to do during the Minnesota winter season?
I love the beautiful scenery and wildlife around our home when we have lots of snow. I like to read, go to a good movie and visit the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Most of all, I like to go somewhere warm with Barbara and play golf.