GLENVIEW, Ill. — The Midwest Roofing Contractors Association (MRCA) recently presented four prestigious association awards at the MRCA 63rd Annual Conference, Dec. 6, at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, Texas.

Mark Graham, Associate Executive Director of Technical Services, National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA), Rosemont, Ill., was honored with the distinctive James Q. McCawley Award. This award, the most prestigious honor given by MRCA, is presented to an individual in recognition of their devotion to the roofing industry.

This award was first presented in 1969 and is a long standing tradition of the association.
“The McCawley Award is given to individuals like Mark who have a history and longevity of making outstanding contributions to the roofing industry and roofing community,” said MRCA 2012 President Randy Adams.

Graham, a long time member of the roofing industry, has worked tirelessly to keep professional roofing contractors aware of technical issues that directly impact their bottom line. He has contributed to Code and ASTM meetings as well as provided his expertise as a member of the MRCA Technical & Research Committee.

The MRCA IMPACT Award was presented to KPost Company, Dallas, Texas. The IMPACT Award recognizes an MRCA member company for contributions made to improve the lives of others through philanthropy or community service at a local or national level.

KPost Company assisted the Regional Hispanic Contractors Association (RHCA) in rehabbing their new Dallas headquarters. They took a once-abandoned building, and with the coordination of several suppliers, completely resealed and waterproofed the building, removed the existing roof, and installed a new roof system. The project required 24-hour security, took 290 man days, and was completed in May 2012. RHCA now has a building in which they can develop programs and facilitate the resources needed to help the Hispanic Contractor.

MRCA’s Industry Innovation Award honors a supplier or manufacturer for their work towards the advancement of the roofing industry through innovations or product development related to safety, technology, efficiency or environment, and who has significantly improved the well-being of the roofing contractor. MRCA awarded two companies this year - Eagleview Technologies, Bothell, Wash. and Premier Rail Systems, Kansas City, Kan.

Eagleview Technologies was honored for their development of a mobile app which provides roofing contractors with a complete mobile solution for managing their roof measurement requests, tracking the status of orders, and placing new orders based on the GPS location. The app also allows contractors to take photos while on the roof, annotate and edit those photos, and upload images to their reports. The apps are available for smartphones, tablets and ipads.

The second Innovation Award was presented to Premier Rail Systems Inc. for their development of a permanent rail guard system to improve safety and efficiency with a patent-pending technology. The system can be installed prior to roof construction and left in place during future re-roofs. It not only keeps the roofer safe, it also protects every tradesman working on the roof.

“Congratulations to all of this year’s award recipients,” said Adams. “We are proud to have such a wide pool of innovative, dedicated members in our association.”