Flashings

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GAF Materials chairman passes away

Samuel J. Heyman, chairman and principal owner of GAF Materials Corp., Wayne, N.J., has passed away. He was 70.

During his life, Heyman was an attorney, hedge fund owner, art collector and businessman who perhaps is best known for his takeover of GAF Materials for about $5 billion in 1983.

Heyman actively was involved with philanthropic pursuits, founding the Partnership for Public Service in 2001 to inspire more people to join the public sector and help transform the federal government's performance. He received a Presidential Citizens Medal for the organization in December 2008. He also founded the Heyman Fellowship Program; The Samuel and Ronnie Heyman Center on Corporate Governance at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University, New York; and fellowship programs at Yale Law School, New Haven, Conn., and Seton Hall School of Law, South Orange, N.J.

He served on the boards of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law; Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke University, Durham, N.C.; and Dean's Advisory Board at Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Mass. He also was a trustee of the Fifth Avenue Synagogue, New York; associate at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York; and former board member of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.

In Connecticut, he supported United Way, Stamford Downtown Special Services District, Westport's Earthplace, The Nature Discovery Center, March of Dimes, Connecticut Food Bank and St. Luke's LifeWorks.

Heyman is survived by his wife Ronnie; mother Annette; children Lazarus, Eleanor Propp, Jennifer Millstone and Elizabeth Winter; and nine grandchildren.

Owens Corning launches shingle recycling program

Toledo, Ohio-based Owens Corning has launched a program to connect its Preferred Roofing Contractors with recycling facilities through a national strategic alliance.

Owens Corning is working with Indianapolis-based Heritage Environmental Services LLC, the U.S.' largest privately held environmental services company. Heritage Environmental Services will provide drop-off centers that will recycle and process shingle tear-offs.

The program will begin with a pilot program in Indiana; Owens Corning will launch the program nationally beginning in the Midwest. As part of the program, participating Preferred Roofing Contractors pledge to recycle their shingle tear-offs.

"Millions of tons of asphalt roofing shingles are sent to landfills every year, wasting valuable resources such as asphalt and aggregate," says Bill McDaniel, Heritage Environmental Services' president and chief executive officer. "With the combined efforts of Heritage and Owens Corning, material that would have been wasted will now be reused and made into roads."

OSHA offers H1N1 information

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued fact sheets for employers and employees to promote safety during the H1N1 influenza outbreak. The fact sheets provide information about how to reduce the risk of exposure to the H1N1 virus at work.

"Protecting our nation's workers is OSHA's top priority," says Jordan Barab, OSHA's acting assistant secretary. "These fact sheets are tools we have developed to help ensure U.S. workers stay healthy and our businesses remain viable. OSHA's new fact sheets will help all employers identify appropriate actions to protect their workers."

OSHA's Workplace Safety and H1N1 Web site provides information appropriate for all workplaces and more extensive guidance for those involved with high-risk health care activities. Fact sheets will be updated as new information about the H1N1 virus becomes available.

OSHA's H1N1 fact sheets are available at www.osha.gov/h1n1.

Green building to support nearly 8 million U.S. jobs

According to a new study from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and Booz Allen Hamilton, a McLean, Va.-based strategy and technology consulting firm, green building will support 7.9 million U.S. jobs and add $554 billion to the U.S. economy, including $396 billion in wages, during the next four years. The study also states green construction spending currently supports more than 2 million U.S. jobs and generates more than $100 billion in gross domestic product (GDP) and wages.

According to the study, the green construction market contributed $178 billion to U.S. GDP from 2000 to 2008, as well as created or saved 2.4 million direct, indirect and induced jobs and generated $123 billion in wages during the period.

The study also assessed USGBC's more than 19,000 member organizations and found they generate $2.6 trillion in annual revenue, employ about 14 million people, come from 29 industry sectors and include 46 Fortune 100 companies.

"The study demonstrates that investing in green buildings contributes significantly to our nation's wealth while creating jobs in a range of occupations, from carpenters to cost estimators," says Gary Rahl, officer of global government market for Booz Allen Hamilton. "In many ways, green construction is becoming the standard for development. As a result, it is expected to support nearly 8 million jobs over the next five years, a number four times higher than the previous five years."

Details

Molly Kwiatkowski

What is your position within your company?
I am director of residential shingles for Toledo, Ohio-based Owens Corning.

Why did you become involved with the roofing industry?
I had worked with Owens Corning for many years, and I love the company and our people. When an opportunity to work as a regional sales leader in the Great Lakes area arose, I jumped at the chance to work with customers every day. I was drawn to the position because it allowed me to drive value for our customers through the use of our products, services and brand to improve their bottom lines. Now, I am using that experience to create value for all of our customers nationally.

What was your first roofing experience?
When I started at Owens Corning about 15 years ago, one of my first assignments was to work with our roofing business's research and development team to create new and exciting products.

What was your first job?
My first job at 14 was serving ice cream cones and upside down baseball cap sundaes at the Igloo Ice Cream Parlor in Toledo. I still have nightmares about kids wrapped around the corner waiting for the ice cream in the summer. When I drive by the Igloo with my kids now, they just crack up.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Without a doubt, I would love to travel to Italy with my husband. I love to travel abroad to gain new perspectives and meet new people. I believe it makes you a better business leader if you are exposed to other points of view and new things constantly. What better way to make yourself think differently?

What is your biggest pet peeve?
People who complain without seeing what is possible and providing solutions. If you have a problem, roll up your sleeves and help find the solution.

List three words that best describe you.
Focused, caring and loyal

If you could invite any three people (dead or alive) to dinner, whom would you invite and why?
Jesus Christ—what an incredible discussion that would be! My dad's mother because I never had the opportunity to meet her and she raised an incredible family, especially my father. Pocahontas—not only is she an influential female leader in history, I am related to her!

What are the most challenging aspects of your job?
I love my job. Everything about it is challenging but also extremely rewarding. The challenge comes from trying to juggle many balls while keeping the focus on what drives value for our customers on a daily basis.

What is your roofing industry involvement?
I am on the board of trustees for The Roofing Industry Alliance for Progress. The board provides oversight for projects addressing critical roofing industry issues. I am an active member of NRCA. Also, through the work I am involved with on a daily basis, I have an opportunity to make a difference for our customers and the industry.

People would be surprised to know …
I am a reality TV junkie! Some of my favorites include "Top Chef," "The Amazing Race," " Project Runway" and "The Biggest Loser." My family and I enjoy watching these shows together and anticipating who will be the winner.

OSHA reveals top 10 safety violations of 2009

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has released the preliminary top 10 most frequent workplace safety violations for 2009. The number of top 10 safety violations has increased almost 30 percent compared with the same period in 2008.

OSHA's top 10 workplace safety violations are scaffolding incidents with 9,093 violations; fall-protection incidents with 6,771 violations; hazard communication incidents with 6,378 violations; respiratory protection incidents with 3,803 violations; lockout/tagout incidents with 3,321 violations; electrical wiring incidents with 3,079 violations; ladder-related incidents with 3,072 violations; incidents involving powered industrial trucks with 2,993 violations; general electrical incidents with 2,556 violations; and machine guarding incidents with 2,364 violations.

The final report about OSHA's top 10 safety violations of 2009 was published in the December issue of the National Safety Council's Safety+Health magazine.

U.S. manufacturers appear optimistic

According to a recent survey released by New York-based PricewaterhouseCoopers, U.S. manufacturers appear optimistic about the economy but remain concerned about poor demand.

Forty-eight percent of U.S.-based industrial manufacturers surveyed during the third quarter say they are optimistic about the U.S. economy during the next year; 43 percent replied similarly when surveyed during the second quarter. However, 45 percent do not expect their businesses to regain strength until the second half of this year. Twenty-three percent say they expect business to increase during the first half of this year; 17 percent believe their companies are unlikely to recover until 2011.

Fifty-seven percent of those surveyed expect positive revenue growth during the next year, up from the previous quarter's 43 percent. Seventy-five percent say they are concerned about lacking demand, which has decreased from 82 percent during the previous quarter; 42 percent are worried about decreasing profitability.