The recovery effort following hurricanes Milton and Helene in Florida is slowly underway, and roofing contractors on their way in to help need to be prepared, said RC Legal Insights expert Trent Cotney. Gas shortages, downed trees and power lines are commonplace during a state of emergency, and he cautioned regulatory enforcement won’t take a step back.

In particular, roofing contractors need to be aware of:

• Personal Protective Equipment – hard hats and eye protection, in particular.
• Floodwaters with toxins, and gators!
• Widespread power outages
• Blocked roads from trees and downed power lines
• Price Gauging

RC Legal Insights Expert Trent Cotney, partner with Adams & Reese, Cotney said he’s getting a lot of questions recently from roofing contractors concerned about safety, insurance, and legal requirements when it comes to marijuana use. In this exclusive episode, he said important to have language written in your safety document that clearly outlines what this entails.

The other thing he gets asked a lot is how to navigate this issue with my drug-free workplace requirements. Testing for marijuana is not that good right now. There’s an issue now and contractors are still trying to figure this out. It may require some internal re-evaluation of your own policies.

There’s also a role for insurance to play in the process, which can be problematic as insurance companies dictate the policies for a drug-free workplace. For one thing, it’s hard to restrict anything that happens off-site and during non-working hours but can still potentially be in one’s system, Cotney said.

Cotney goes on to discuss best practices for all employees trying to figure out this complicated issue.

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.

After more than two decades of success, Tecta America continues to grow through strategic acquisitions across the country amid an influx of competitive private equity investors with deep pockets. Hear how the company looks for acquisitions and get an insightful glimpse into the motivation and philosophy behind the strategy from CEO Dave Reginelli and Mark Santacrose, Tecta’s executive chairman and former president.

Legal Insights expert Trent Cotney, partner at Adams and Reese, explains how recent court rulings on non-compete clauses have thwarted efforts for a nationwide ban – for now.

With the school season resuming once again, now is a great time to re-learn the ABCs – that is, the ABCs of marketing. In this episode of Dear Anna, Art Unlimited CEO Anna Anderson explains some of the basics of marketing that could open up new opportunities for roofing contractors.

The Midwest Roofing Contractors Association (MRCA) will host their annual expo Oct. 21-23 in St. Paul, Minn., and MRCA President Bob Poutre couldn’t be more proud.

“I consider St. Paul my hometown, and we're 35 minutes from there and 45 minutes from Minneapolis. It's going to be a great venue,” the founder of Roof Tech, Inc. said in this exclusive conversation with RC.

In this brief episode, Poutre breaks down the highlights of the event, hints and what he’s most looking forward to and reflects on what he’s gotten out of active participation with MRCA throughout his career.