Details

• 

What is your position within your company?
I am general manager, innovative products and services, for Firestone Building Products, Indianapolis.

What is the most unusual roofing project of which you've been a part?
The largest and most unusual construction site was the first one I worked on—Marble Hill Nuclear Power Plant in Jefferson County, Ind. The contractor I was working for had extensive roofing and waterproofing contracts. After working there for 18 months—and the electric utility company investing more than $6 billion—the project was abandoned.

Why did you become involved in the roofing industry?
While finishing my college degree, I was working part-time as an orderly in a hospital emergency room where I met a roofing worker who enticed me to work with him. I worked at that roofing company for nine years before moving to Firestone Building Products.

What is your favorite part of your job?
Creating teams that execute new strategies resulting in business expansion

What are your favorite items on your desk?
Family photos and Starbucks® coffee

What is your fondest childhood memory?
My father took me to my first Indianapolis 500 in 1966. I've been hooked on motorsports ever since.

What quality do you most like in a person?
Competence

What's your favorite TV show of all time?
I'm a stock market junkie, so I'd have to say "Fast Money" on CNBC.

What is your favorite stress reliever?
Golf. Although it induces its own kind of stress, it certainly takes my mind off all other issues.

If you had one free day to do anything you want, what would you do?
Play golf at Augusta National Golf Club (home of the Masters Golf Tournament)

What is your favorite vacation destination?
My wife, Anne, and I had the good fortune to accompany Firestone Building Products' Master Contractor group to Hawaii in 2012. We stayed an extra week to explore and fell in love with the place.

If you had a time machine, which time period would you visit? Why?
The Roaring Twenties was perhaps the greatest period of invention and wealth creation in U.S. history. Our current crop of politicians would do well to study why.

What, in your opinion, is the most exciting or innovative thing happening in the roofing industry right now?
The most exciting thing is "roof enhancements"—systems that offer additional uses for developed commercial roof space, such as rooftop photovoltaic systems, vegetative roof systems and daylighting systems. I'm fortunate to work for a company willing to invest in these new growth opportunities.

What is your roofing industry involvement?
Firestone Building Products has afforded me the opportunity to be involved with many industry groups, including ASTM International, the Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association, SPRI and RCI Inc. I currently am a board member of Roof Integrated Solar Energy.™

People would be surprised to know …
I was a baseball pitching prospect as a teenager before injuring my shoulder.