DALLAS – A group of roofing industry thought leaders gathered at the BuiltWorlds corporate offices in Chicago, Ill. to discuss the future of technology in the roofing industry. Visualized by Dale Tyler of National Roofing Partners and Heidi Ellsworth of RoofersCoffeeShop and HJE Consulting, the Roofing Technology Think Tank (RT3) is a group of progressive roofing professionals focused on technology solutions for the roofing industry.
“Roofing Technology Think Tank (RT3), is a consortium of thought leaders exploring emerging technology solutions for the roofing industry, striving to inform contractors by bringing together progressive and disruptive solutions that help build the professionalism and appeal of the roofing industry,” was the mission statement agreed upon by participants.
Matt Abeles of BuiltWorlds (www.builtworlds.com) hosted the group at their corporate offices in Chicago. BuiltWorlds has taken technology leadership within the general contracting and architectural communities. They believe in innovation through collaboration, to push the built industry forward. Abeles shared, “The built world is powered by our oldest industry — one that is slow to move and slow to change. With every connection, we make and every event we hold, we've seen the value of starting conversations and bringing people together, first hand like we did today with the roofing industry.”
Future meetings will be held at innovative locations that will help enlighten the group on progressive technologies that can make a difference in the roofing industry. “It is about education and initiative to understand and then disseminate new technologies into the roofing industry,” stated Heidi J. Ellsworth. “One of the ways to attract the new generation and a diversified labor force is to incorporate the use of technology including robotics, software, cloud solutions and cutting edge technologies that we are not even aware of yet.”
“The next generation of millennials will demand the use of technology,” agreed Dale Tyler. “If we want to compete for talent as an industry, we will need to create an appealing workplace. With our dwindling workforce, we need to be on the front end of new technologies that will automate the rooftop. Labor is just one of the urgent business problems that can be addressed with technology.”
Industry thought-leaders who participated in the first meeting included Manny DeSousa of the Flynn Group of Companies, Alison LaValley of National Roofing Contractors Association, Dale Tyler of National Roofing Partners, Heidi Ellsworth of RoofersCoffeeShop.com / HJE Consulting, Laura Threlkeld of National Roofing Partners, Paul Belair of 10X CEO Coaching, LLC, Paul Feezel of FractionalCIOGroup.com, Steve Little of Kpost Company, Tom Whitaker of Harness, Trent Cotney of Trent Cotney, P.A. Construction Law Group, Karen Inman of Antis Roofing, Geoffrey Stone of Metal Forming, David Prokop of Metal Forming, Nick Serelis of FCS, Rick Damato of Rick Damato Consulting, William Wilkins of Pointivo, Robert Thompson of Metal-ERA, Josh Kelly of OMG Roofing Products, Rob Foote of Roofing Risk Advisors and Josey Parks of Cognitive Contractor. Additional companies and individuals are expected to attend subsequent meetings.
