New year, new opportunity

Happy New Year, everyone! My wish for you and your companies is the best of success and good health.

I have completed my first year as NRCA's CEO, and what a year it has been. I have enjoyed being back from Washington, D.C., and re-engaging with my friends in the roofing industry. It's great being surrounded by hardworking, results-oriented people who make incredible contributions to their communities. Being part of one of the oldest professions, I take a great deal of pride in what you do every day.

A few weeks ago, I was reminiscing with former NRCA President Frank Lawson and his wife, Arlene, in San Francisco. We briefly discussed how, collectively, the roofing industry wants to be recognized as a professional, desirable trade. I can remember my first term on NRCA's Executive Committee in 1995 when we talked about improving the industry's image. NRCA made it a point of emphasis in 2006 when I was president of the association.

And here we are in 2018 still carrying the same concern. How do we get young people to consider entering the trade and, more important, the entire population to view us differently and clearly see us as the professionals we are?

We need to understand and accept our image is the result of past actions. Each of us contributes to how we are viewed. Every time a roofing project goes well, our image improves, and every time a job goes awry, our image takes a step backward. Every television or radio commercial, direct mail piece, YouTube video or online review, whether good or bad, affects us all.

Fires on roofs, injured workers and leaks inside famous buildings draw media attention. Injuries can be especially damaging to reputations and can capture the attention of state and federal regulators. As a result, what most people often see are the rare mistakes rather than the routine successes. This especially is true of legislators who primarily focus on elections rather than getting to know the many varied industries in their districts.

In response to what we are hearing from our members, NRCA is embarking on several strategic moves to bolster the broad view people have of us and what we do. We also are working on uniting the industry to that cause. This will be a long-term project with specific agenda items. The first thing to do is alert policymakers about who we are.

On March 6-7, the roofing industry will come together in Washington, D.C., for Roofing Day in D.C. 2018. We welcome roofing professionals from all industry segments—contractors, manufacturers, distributors, service providers and others—to join us. You do not need to be an NRCA member to participate. We will meet with members of Congress and their staffs to deliver our message about the most important legislative issues affecting the roofing industry and your business. For this to be effective, we would like to see at least 1,000 industry stakeholders participate. Remember, legislators only know what they hear or see of us in the news. But now we need them to hear directly from us. A lot of us!

We want them to recognize we are professionals who want a secure, legal workforce. We want a say in how government regulates our industry because we know what works and, all too often, they don't. We want them to understand our industry's companies are not organized the same way for tax purposes and what that means for tax policy. We also want them to see our diversity, generosity and quality.

We are working with our affiliate partners to help promote the event. The Boston Roofing Contractors Association, Colorado Roofing Association, Florida Roofing and Sheet Metal Contractors Association, Midwest Roofing Contractors Association, North/East Roofing Contractors Association, Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors' National Association, and Western States Roofing Contractors Association have joined us in this effort, and we invite your state and local association to participate, too. When we are unified and speak with one voice, we automatically amplify that voice. Let's show Washington who we are!

You can register for Roofing Day in D.C. 2018 at www.nrca.net/roofingday. If you are interested in being a team captain to help recruit people in your state or region, contact Nathan Pick, NRCA's director of advocacy and political affairs, at npick@nrca.net. You can make a difference. Together, we can improve our image. See you in D.C.!

Reid Ribble is NRCA's CEO.
@NRCA_CEO

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