Rick Damato

I spent a few hours last week visiting with the owner of a third-generation lumberyard in Atlanta. His claim to fame was having outlasted a number of yards that had already succumbed to a residential construction market that evaporated over the last couple of years.

Have you been wondering where all the money is coming from to fund all of these 4LA’s (four-letter acronyms) the government has been cooking up lately? The TARP (Troubled Assets Relief Program) and ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009) will be funded by taxpayers, but especially the guy or gal looking back at you in the mirror every morning as you prepare yourself to go to work in your roofing business.

The late fall and winter mark the season when the roofing and construction worlds are introduced to all manners of new materials, systems, accessories and equipment. The editors of Roofing Contractor like to follow up by sharing some of the items with which we have been most impressed.

The mass media continues the assault our psyche with endless reports of “the worst economy since the Great Depression.” Each new report makes me want to work even harder to point to great opportunities existing for roofing contractors today.

I have long been a proponent of setting goals, measuring results, celebrating successes and changing things around to meet emerging challenges.

The sky is falling! At last, thank God! This morning I woke up to the sound of money hitting the roof. Atlanta remains in the grips of a drought that is in its third year.

On Sunday mornings we wake early, same as any day. We go to church early to have the rest of the day to work around the house, prepare for the week ahead, or simply enjoy.

Planning ahead for a challenging year was the central theme among contractors at the 2009 International Roofing Expo, which was held Feb. 3-5 at Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.

I just spent the last few hours researching statistics about the dangers of falls in roofing. This research took me not only through statistics but reams of rules and regulations on fall protection from state and federal agencies, as well as those of several other countries.

There is a reason this writer does not frequently have a lot to say about politics and politicians in this country. I am about as cynical as they come in regard to this circus, but do not find it particularly right to toss potshots when I refuse to become fully engaged in the process.