Thanks to a perfect storm of high interest rates, a slow housing market and an election year, incidents of fraud and customers taking their time making payments are on the rise. To help combat these business-slowing challenges, we speak with Thea Dudley, CEO of Pocket Protectors, for tips on short-circuiting scams and ways to speed up the payment process.

Steve Slepcevic was already on the ground in Jamaica when Hurricane Melissa blasted the Caribbean island in late October. His background in disaster response and roofing proved invaluable. Within days, he established communications for emergency services, installing Starlink systems for the mayor’s office, police, and fire departments.

His crew helped locate a site in Black River where Samaritan’s Purse could set up a field hospital—and even helped shrink-wrap a damaged hospital roof to protect what remained. Many of the island’s doctors, firefighters, and hotel workers are still showing up to serve others, even while sleeping under tarps themselves.

“Now that those comms are up, we can focus on getting roofs back on homes and hospitals,” he told RC in an exclusive videochat from the island. “These people are incredible,” Slepcevic said. “Their roofs have blown off, they’re sleeping on wet mattresses, and they still show up to work with smiles on their faces.”

But “Operation One Roof, One Love” is about more than construction—it’s about compassion.

Now, he’s calling on contractors everywhere to join him. Volunteers can fly directly into Montego Bay, where trusted drivers will transport them (and their tools) to safe lodging at the Ocean Coral Springs Resort.

Listen to the full conversation and to learn how you can help or volunteer with Operation One Roof: One Love, visit srp24.com or email Steve at steve@srp24.com.

Roofing contractors and business owners already dealing with increased immigration enforcement and its impact on the roofing workforce may have more policies to navigate. A recent shake-up at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ordered by the White House could mean even stronger enforcement in some areas.

“Internally, I don’t think they’re happy with some of the (deportation) numbers that have already been achieved,” said RC Legal Insights Expert Trent Cotney. “So, you can anticipate further enforcement and that’s part of the some of these changes we’re seeing.”

Cotney also laid out some legal strategies for roofing contractors caught up in immigration sweeps and some pitfalls to avoid. Listen to the full conversation now.

A key theme throughout the discussion was innovation—particularly in artificial intelligence. SRS has already deployed AI tools to streamline ordering, anticipate customer needs, and improve efficiency. With The Home Depot’s resources, those capabilities are set to expand dramatically, freeing employees from repetitive tasks and enabling faster, more creative service.

Looking ahead, both leaders promised an aggressive approach to growth, from Greenfield expansions and acquisitions to broader product offerings. “We’re not slowing down,” Tinker said. “We want to build the most efficient supply chain for the pros building America.”

For contractors, employees, and partners alike, the message was clear: The Home Depot, SRS, and GMS alliance is built not just to compete—but to transform the industry.

With the price of everything rising, it’s more important than ever for roofing contractors to gain new customers. But winning them over should be more than simply locking in a new project. Art Unlimited CEO Anna Anderson explains how roofing contractors can convert customers into lifelong clients with tips from the book "Never Lose a Customer Again."

Thea Dudley, CEO of Pocket Protectors, and Ryan Ayers, CEO and co-founder of Suppli, join RC to discuss the latest changes to credit card interchange fees. The association fees for Visa business-to-business transactions just went up and there’s speculation that others will, too. That could impact roofing contractors and others that rely on credit card payments to keep companies moving.

“It's hard enough to get people to pay, and then you throw on another level of complexity to the credit card, and you don’t know what to do,” Dudley said.

The key is understanding the data in demand and how to acquire it, according to Ayers.

“You've got to enter in all of this data now that you didn't have to before. I think it warrants a conversation around, ‘does it make sense for us to look for a more integrated solution that's going to connect to our accounting system, and actually pull that data for us.’”

Listen to the full conversation now.

Policymakers and the courts have disagreed for years on the fairness and enforcement of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) use of the multi-employer doctrine when it comes to safety violations found on a jobsite. Now, advocates for the construction and roofing trades are pushing for a series of statutory reforms that allow prime contractors on a site to help subcontractors with safety.

“The kind of thing I'm thinking about is collaborative efforts to ensure safety,” said RC Legal Insights Expert Trent Cotney in a recent conversation with RC about a new white paper he helped draft for the National Construction Policy Institute. “The reason why I wanted to write this white paper is that time and time again, I've been asked by contractors, ‘Hey, I want to help my subs, I want to give them PPE and train them.’”