When Anthony Benvenuto came to this country from Naples, Italy, in the early 1900s, he relied on his roofing trade to build a life for himself and his family in the United States. Embracing the American entrepreneurial spirit, he opened D&S Roofing Corp. in 1939 on a dirt road in Deer Park, N.Y., and 74 years later the company still operates from its original location.

Anthony’s son, Angelo Benvenuto, followed in his footsteps. Born and raised in New York, he started as an apprentice with the company at a young age and worked alongside his father. Angelo went on to inherit the business, and his son, Dominick Benvenuto, now carries on the family legacy.

“I pretty much always knew that this was what I wanted to do,” said Dominick, the company’s current president. “I’ve been doing this since I was a little boy picking up nails for my father. I never got to meet my grandfather, but I worked hand in hand with my dad, and it was always a pleasant experience. He was very well-respected and had a great reputation in the industry.”

Today, Dominick and his wife, Susan, own D&S Roofing, and they’re continuing to keep business in the family. Their son, Brian, worked with the company in his younger years; their daughter-in-law, Kate, is the office manager; and several of their nephews are also currently involved. The company now functions with 20 non-union employees, has both residential and commercial divisions, and specializes in residential new-construction work.

Putting People First

Steeped in tradition and old-fashioned hard work, D&S Roofing prides itself on forming lasting relations and treating clients the same way its employees treat each other — like family. According to Dominick, this includes providing only the highest-quality service, workmanship and materials on every job. The company never uses subcontractors, and all of its crew members have had background checks, are factory trained and certified, and follow Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guidelines. D&S Roofing was the first GAF Master Elite certified contractor back in 1997; is a member of the National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA) and the New York State Roofers and Sheet Metal Contractors Association; has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB); is an Angie’s List Super Saver Award winner; and is a Five Star Diamond Award winner.

“We try to separate ourselves as a mom-and-pop shop that provides the quality workmanship of a large company on every job,” Dominick explained. “That’s what we try to bring to the table.”

In addition to the company’s impressive credentials and achievements, what really sets D&S Roofing apart are the personal touches. For each job, a folder is prepared for the homeowner with detailed descriptions of each product being installed on the roof. Dominick works as both the owner and the primary salesperson, and he makes time to personally attend estimates, discuss roofing systems with customers and check in on most projects. The company also offers warranties, financing options and accepts all major credit cards in an effort to accommodate its clients.

“Our standards are so high, and we tend to cater to our customers 100 percent,” Dominick said. “We don’t deal with much negativity. We look at each job like it’s our own, and everything is done in house, which makes things a whole lot easier. Our people have been with us for a long time. We work as a team.”

The company’s unwavering, longtime commitment to quality in all aspects of the business has earned it an honorable reputation in both the industry and the local community. In turn, being held in such high regard has led to several unique and high-profile projects throughout the years. “Back in the heyday, my father and grandfather worked on St. Patrick’s Cathedral doing repair work,” Dominick said. “They had the opportunity to do a lot of the copper work, and they took great pride in that.”

D&S Roofing still does some copper work today, and it continues to have no shortage of interesting and rewarding projects. The company recently did a one-million-square-foot job in New Jersey, where it installed a GAF flat roofing system with a 20-year NDL warranty and received an A+ rating. Dominick shared that this project was particularly challenging, as it was an older dwelling that required asbestos abatement. “A special team of people had to remove it,” he explained. “Whatever we opened up in one day, we had to close it back up at the end of the day.”

As a longtime local, family-owned business, D&S Roofing cares for its fellow neighbors the same way it cares for its customers and enjoys giving back to community that has supported it for so many years. Dominick sits on the board for the Long Island BBB and has been a eucharistic minister at his church for the past 32 years. He and his staff are very involved with Knights of Columbus, fundraising and feeding the poor. The company also has a state roofing license in Florida, where it did roof-replacement work for two years in an area devastated by Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

Whether it’s on or off the job, D&S Roofing prides itself on putting people first, and the company’s reputation speaks for itself. “Fortunately for us, we’re doing things the right way,” Dominick said. “We have to rely on our great reputation that we’ve built up over all of these years.”