Last week, the National Roofing Contractors Association held its annual “Roofing Day” confab in Washington, D.C., where the many disparate elements within the industry — contractors, manufacturers, trade organizations and the like — pooled their energy for a single purpose: advocacy.

The event, which lasted slightly more than 24 hours, used the Grand Hyatt Hotel at the corner of 11th and H Streets as its operational headquarters. Roofing Contractor magazine was granted the exclusive privilege to embed throughout, with the understanding that all meetings were off the record.

Roofing Day 2024 commenced on April 16 with a convocation address by McKay Daniels, CEO of the NRCA. Making my way to the opening remarks, I was accompanied by an attendee representing SPRI, the trade group for the single-ply roofing industry, who commented on the diverse range of participants, a fact that Daniels' speech would soon underscore.

“A phrase I say often, on a whole host of things, is ‘If not us, then who?’” Daniels asked rhetorically as the event kicked off. 

He acknowledged the varied interests in the ballroom, which, he noted, was exemplified by nearly 50 sponsors. From the industry’s "Big Three” distributors — ABC Supply, Beacon and SRS Distribution — to regional trade groups like the Chicagoland Roofing Council, Oklahoma Roofing Contractors Association and Kansas Roofing Association, to the National Women in Roofing, the message Daniels emphasized was that there is power in numbers.

Speaking of numbers, this year’s event had 250 attendees registered and concluded in 229 requested meetings, most of which were accommodated — more on that in a minute — and were the highest participation and meeting requests filled going back to at least 2022. 

While the NRCA handles the logistics and organizing, Daniels quickly points out that Roofing Day is not an NRCA event; instead, it is an industry-wide event to press for policies that affect a host of businesses, large and small, as well as the related industries that fall within the roofing umbrella. That umbrella - in this case, the domestic construction industry - is quite large: IBISWorld, a global research firm, pegged the domestic market size of the roofing contractor industry at $50.6 billion in 2023.

Daniels’ remarks were followed by some initial advocacy training for participants, some of whom were first-time attendees but others who had been there previously. A welcome reception sponsored by ABC Supply wrapped up the evening. 

Game Time

Roofing Day participants had a lot to contend with heading into D.C., given the inarguable dysfunction that has engulfed the legislative branch. In fact, that morning, articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his handling of the border were officially transmitted to the Senate.

The timing could not have been worse for delegates scheduled to meet with upper chamber members. Constitutionally, senators must be present once empaneled as a jury to weigh the validity of charges brought against a defendant by the House of Representatives. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was set to swear senators in at 1 p.m. that afternoon. 

After breakfast, another round of advocacy training, and a keynote address by Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Mich.), attendees began boarding chartered buses heading toward Capitol Hill. Sitting across from Daniels and his son, who accompanied the group — it’s never too soon to instill civics lessons in the next generation — I asked the NRCA’s head how he would gauge the success of the day’s event given the rancor and an unexpected Senate trial.

“We continue to get more and more record-breaking attendance,” Daniel said, citing the broad representation of participants from 40 states plus the U.S. Virgin Islands. “So, the breadth of our participation is really strong, and it's a great cross-section of contractor, distribution and manufacturing industries.” 

Daniel cited the various players that collectively compose the roofing industry, speaking about specific issues from the same playbook and addressing detailed issues, which is an achievement that is, by his admission, fairly unique.

“This is the industry fully represented — it's not one specific segment,” he said. “And it's really exciting to see us all, united in a unified purpose, coming together to talk with one voice on behalf of the industry and tell our story.”

The Agenda

The three principal issues attendees were advocating for mirrored those of last year’s agenda and included labor and workforce concerns, taxes and seeking co-sponsorship of the American Innovation and R&D Competitiveness Act.

Labor — had several elements to it, including:

1. Providing a robust increase in funding for the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, known on the Hill as Perkins V, which is a federal law that provides funding for career and technical education programs for students and adults.
2. Supporting bipartisan legislation to reform training programs under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to ensure more job creators and workers can benefit.
3. Seeking co-sponsorship of the Essential Workers for Economic Advancement Act to establish a visa system that meets the demands of an understaffed construction labor force.
4. Resolution for those currently in America under Temporary Protected Status visas (such as immigrants from Venezuela, Haiti and other nations where turmoil has caused mass exodus) and children brought to America as youngsters, known during the Obama Administration as “the Dreamers,” and referred to by its Hill acronym DACA, or the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Taxes

1. With many provisions from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act sunsetting next year, this push has sought co-sponsorship of the Main Street Tax Certainty Act, which would permanently enshrine the Section 199A deduction.
2. Introduced under President Trump’s tax cuts, the 199A deduction offers a significant tax break for small businesses, including those in the roofing industry. It allows non-corporate taxpayers, such as sole proprietors, S corporations, and partnerships to deduct up to 20% of their qualified business income. 
3. Roofing contractors operating as pass-through entities can realize substantial savings through tax relief to small businesses, allowing business owners to retain more of their earnings.

Innovation and R&D Funding

Research and development have long been the lifeblood of American economic resilience, and the roofing industry has been lobbying hard for the permanent restoration of businesses' ability to deduct their R&D expenses in the year the costs were incurred rather than what is currently on the books. This forces domestic-based companies to amortize those costs over five years.

From the Nebula Come the Stars

As each bus arrived at the Capitol, attendees filed out and headed toward the east side of the imposing edifice for the traditional Roofing Day group photo. However, given that the Senate was preparing for the day’s trial, Capitol police politely encouraged the 250-some-odd participants to gather just adjacent to the building. 

Then, just as nebulas are wont to do, clusters formed, and — instead of stars — delegations coalesced to spread out across the Capitol complex to meet with legislators and their staffs. My first two embeds were with the Michigan delegation, led by Greg Bloom, vice president of national sales for Beacon, along with Al Janni from Duro-Last, Frank Morti of the Spray Polyurethane Foam Alliance and Marc Jordan from CEI Group, a commercial roofing contractor based in Whitmore Lake, Mich.

Our first stop was to see Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), the state’s senior senator, who is in the august of her tenure. She has represented Michigan in the Senate since 2001 and is currently the chair of the Agriculture Committee, which falls within the wheelhouse of labor and immigration. Stabenow announced last year that she would not seek another six-year term.

Bloom was tasked with being the point person to speak with Stabenow’s staff and methodically explained the challenges facing not just roofing but the construction industry writ large, citing a worker shortage of nearly 500,000 individuals, 40,000 of those in roofing alone. 

Morti crystalized just how important roofing is to Americans by framing the issue in a simple analogy: “If you have four walls without a roof, what do you have?” he asked before answering his own question: “A fence.”

As a token of appreciation for taking the time to meet with them, Bloom offered the staffers in attendance a parting gift of socks, which I was told was something first started by Charles Antis of Antis Roofing & Waterproofing, based in Orange County, Calif., when Roofing Day first began.

The red and white striped socks invoke those worn by Ronald McDonald, the mascot of the fast food behemoth, in honor of the NRCA’s longstanding ties with Ronald McDonald House Charities, which provides support and resources to families whose children are receiving medical care far from home free of charge. The NRCA's Roofing Alliance works with the charity to provide roofs for their facilities at no cost. 

I asked Jordan, the only contractor among the four, how he felt the meeting went.

“I think things went wonderfully,” he said. “They were very courteous; they seemed supportive of the things that we're looking to do and I think that's all we can hope to actually be successful.”

Two other stops with the Michigan delegates included visiting the offices of Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) and Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.). Neither member was present, and as it turned out, the impeachment imbroglio that was supposed to have ended around 4 p.m. went over, so senators like Peters were not present.

Partisan Divide

Two other delegations I tagged along with included the Texas delegates paying a visit to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who has been a perennial attendee of the meetings. Led by Jason Stanley of IB Roof Systems, the Texas party was large by most yardsticks. While Texas was beaten out this year by Florida in terms of numbers, Texans are not wallflowers. By then, it was 4:30 p.m. Cruz was still in the Senate chamber, so the delegates met with his staff. 

One of the attendees, Paul Coleman of Huntsman International, a manufacturer and marketer of chemical products with operations in more than 30 countries, offered some astute observations about what was achievable through the day’s advocacy and, widening the aperture, a broader view of the day.

“I think it's been spectacular,” Coleman said of Roofing Day. “It's the most well-organized Hill event that I have participated in, and I actually advise others to contact the NRCA to get advice about how to run their events on the Hill.”

In what he foresaw as the most achievable agenda items, Coleman was most bullish on fixing the uncertainty surrounding the tax cuts that may evaporate at the end of this calendar year.

“I suppose it feels like the thing that may happen quicker is the tax interests of the roofing industry,” Coleman said. “I think the labor issues are a little bit more intractable, and they're going to take a little bit more time, but you have to keep coming up here and telling your story; I think eventually we'll get to where we need to, but that's what I heard today.”

The other delegation I embedded with was one of the groups from Florida, this one meeting with Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.), who represents the state’s 7th District, which runs along the Atlantic from Daytona Beach south to the perimeter of Kennedy Space Center and westward, just north of Winter Park. Mills, who was in attendance, citied the relatively low domestic labor participation rate when speaking with attendees about visas.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of April 5, 2024, the U.S. labor force participation rate is 62.7%, lower than the long-term average of 62.84%. The share of working-age people (ages 15-64) in the U.S. has shrunk from a peak of 67.3% in 2007.

The delegates, led by Stephanie Daniels of Atlas Roofing Corp., were virtually all constituents of the congressman. Due deference was paid to the former Army veteran who served in the 82nd Airborne Division.

After spending 40 minutes with his constituents, the congressman thanked each person individually and posed for a group shot. Matt Criswell, one of the Florida delegates, had nothing but praise for Roofing Day and echoed the sentiment of his peers regarding its benefits for the industry.

“[This year] has been great and is put on by a good group of people, the NRCA; we always come up here we've got a good agenda to go through, and in my opinion, and we get, get we need to get done and get out,” Robert Hinojosa, president of the International Institute of Building Enclosure Consultants, or IIBEC, also part of the Florida contingent, summed up the general sentiment of most participants I spoke with throughout the day and at the evening’s closing cocktail event.

“Participating in Roofing Day (for IIBEC) is important because it gives us a chance to meet with our congressmen and senators to advocate for the bills that are desperately needed to assist the issues the roofing industry is facing,” he said.