Focus

The pressures of running your own business can cause you to have tunnel vision about your job. When your company is under the gun to get a project completed or a bid submitted, the outside world sometimes can disappear.

But as the men showcased in "Leading by example," page 35, demonstrate, "roofing" encompasses so many things. It includes the education of children, philanthropy, research, innovation, the law and much more.

This month, we honor a few deeply committed industry leaders who use their talents and energy to truly make a difference.

Exciting things are afoot in the industry—from an ambitious new scholarship program to cutting-edge research to the formation of an entirely new organization dedicated to roofing and the environment. But none of these things could have occurred without people like the ones we highlight this month.

The goal of the article—the first in an annual series—is to take you beyond the confines of your day-to-day responsibilities to think about how you, too, can make a difference.

Also in this issue is a feature about crisis management (see "Times of crisis," page 30). Two contractors—Scott Baxter, vice president of CRS of Monroe Inc., Monroe, N.C., and John Gooding, chairman of the board for Gooding, Simpson & Mackes Inc., Ephrata, Pa.—are kind enough to share with you their heartbreaking stories of workplace fatalities.

The death of an employee places an extraordinary amount of stress on a company, and properly addressing the inevitable fallout is absolutely necessary. Our article provides some tips on how to prepare for a crisis and handle one after it has occurred.

Next month, NRCA will be launching a new publication, Professional Roofing Workers, which will mail with your Professional Roofing April issue. The magazine is intended for roofing workers—it will include articles geared toward them about safety, money management, running a business and more. We also will be profiling Professional Roofing's winner of the first Best of the Best Award. Please pass it on to your crews; it also will be available at www.professionalroofing.net in early April. We hope they enjoy the special publication, and I encourage you to let me know how it is received.

Ambika Puniani Bailey is editor of Professional Roofing and NRCA's senior director of communications.