Details

Dunlap

What is your position within your company?
I am founder and president of DCG Roofing Solutions Inc., Des Plaines, Ill.

What is the most unusual roofing project of which you have been a part?
My company completed a 300,000-square-foot reroofing project on a U.S. Postal Service distribution center in Chicago. We were tasked with protecting the tons of mail inside the building while ensuring postal workers could access the building at all times. The project had a tight timeframe, but we successfully completed the job on time without disruption to the facility and without a single leak.

Why did you become involved in the roofing industry?
I enjoy working with a variety of people on my team as well as clients. In the roofing contracting business, each job is different, and we always get to help people solve problems. There's a sense of pride in what we do, and it feels good to know we make a difference while completing an honest day's work.

What was your first roofing experience?
During my first day as an apprentice, I had to work in a dumpster rearranging coal-tar pitch tear-off debris. The task wasn't fun, but everyone on the crew had done it when they started and they respected me when I returned to work the following day. I think it's important to start at the bottom and understand the business from the ground up.

What is your roofing industry involvement?
DCG Roofing Solutions is a member of NRCA, the Chicago Roofing Contractors Association, and RCI Inc. I currently am enrolled in Class 8 of NRCA University's Future Executives Institute.

What song are you listening to over and over?
"Like an Animal" by RÜFÜS DU SOL

What was your first job?
I was a grocery store bagger.

People would be surprised to know …
I grow vegetables on my patio at home.

What's the most exciting/adventurous thing you've done?
I skied off a two-story cornice in Jackson Hole, Wyo.

What is your favorite stress reliever?
I listen to audiobooks, mostly about history.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A professional hockey player

My favorite part about working in the roofing industry is …
The sense of pride I feel knowing we accomplished something for someone else that will protect him or her for years to come

What's your favorite roofing material to work with?
I like working with whichever material fits the need of a client and his or her structure—it's always going to be different because every job is different.

What do you consider your most rewarding experience?
I traveled to Thailand with Kids Around the World, a nonprofit organization dedicated to positively affecting the lives of children globally, one year after a devastating tsunami struck the nation in 2004. I helped build a playground near a beach. It was rewarding to see local kids playing in a space where they could enjoy just being kids—they had been through so much.

What is your favorite food?
Fish and chips from Telford, England