Happy birthday, NRCA!

In 1886, Moses Powell, a leading roofing contractor in Chicago, and Samuel Barrett, head of Chicago’s largest roofing manufacturer, founded the Gravel Roofers Protective Association, the forerunner to NRCA. That group morphed into the National Association of Master Gravel and Slag Roofers in 1890, which eventually faced competition when the Associated Roofers in America was founded in 1916. In 1921, the two groups merged and formed the United Roofing Contractors Association of North America; the organization was renamed the National Roofing Contractors Association in 1948.

NRCA spent nine years floundering before it found strong association management and leadership. In 1957, NRCA’s board of directors hired Fred Good to helm the organization. Good built such a strong foundation, NRCA has only had three other CEOs since he retired (William Good, Fred’s son; Reid Ribble; and the current CEO, McKay Daniels).

That strong foundation has been the launchpad for countless successful initiatives throughout the years such as:

• Forming a political action committee (ROOFPAC); opening an office in Washington, D.C.; and hosting Roofing Day in D.C. every spring
• Actively attracting younger people to the industry through SkillsUSA® and career and technical education outreach
• Creating The Roofing Alliance, which funds important research and education projects
• Developing a CERTA Train-the-trainer program, which teaches trainers how to teach students proper roof system configuration design and fire-safe application techniques; the class has helped reduce job-site incidents related to torching

For 140 years, NRCA has been serving the roofing industry by providing these and other safety, legal, education, advocacy and technical offerings, and I am proud to have been a part of that legacy for 30(!) of those years. As the years continue to pass and new technologies inevitably change the way we work and live, a few things will remain constant: People will still need shelter; people will still need roofs; and people will still need roofing professionals. On behalf of NRCA, thank you for your continued trust and support.