MCKINNEY, Texas — SRS Distribution Inc. has reached 500 veterans hired in February 2022. This completes the five-year goal originally set in March of 2018 by SRS Distribution President and CEO Dan Tinker over a year ahead of the target date of March 2023.

At the Army Partnership for Youth Success (PaYS) Ceremony last December, Tinker expanded that goal, announcing that SRS Distribution now aspires to hire 1,000 veterans within the next five years. The company is focusing on reaching it through partnerships with PaYs and the Hiring Our Heroes Foundation. In January, SRS sponsored two active-duty military members and one military spouse with Hiring Our Heroes.

“This pledge is not simply to hire veterans, but to provide them employment with a company where they can excel and grow their careers," said Luis Moyano, veteran program manager and recruiter at SRS Distribution. "We have entered partnerships with the Army PaYS program and the Hiring Our Heroes Foundation in the last few months and have hosted our first active duty service military interns who participated in our management in training program. These partnerships and new veteran-focused programs will help us reach our new goal of 1,000 veteran hires, but even more importantly, help us serve the veteran community as they have served our great nation. As our new Veteran Logo states, we are here to serve, recruit, and develop our nation's military veterans.”

Because of these efforts, SRS Distribution was recently awarded the Military Friendly^® Employer Designation for 2022. Military Friendly is a standard that measures an organization’s commitment, effort, and success in creating sustainable and meaningful benefits for the military community.

Beacon Building Products launched its second annual Female Roofing Professional of the Year contest to recognize distinguished women in roofing. The announcement was made in March to coincide with International Women's Day and Women's History Month.

Like last year, the contest invites people to nominate a female roofing professional who has faced adversity or gone above and beyond for a customer, co-worker, or her community. Eligible nominees must be legal residents from the United States or a province or territory of Canada. They can be anything from a roof installer or office manager to payroll professionals, owners and digital marketers.

Beacon will accept nominations through April 11. To qualify, nominations must include a brief explanation of why you or the person being nominated is deserving of winning the contest.

A committee of judges consisting of Beacon employees and representatives will select five finalists from the submissions between April 12-28. From there, the public will vote online from May 16 to June 6 to determine which woman will be named the grand prize winner, announced on June 15. The winner receives a prize of $10,000 while four runners-up will receive $1,000 each that can be used toward attendance at the 2023 International Roofing Expo to further their careers.

Last year's winner was Stephanie Pouse, co-owner of Brahma Roofing and Construction.

“Stephanie is a perfect example of the roofing professional we sought to highlight in this competition,” said Beacon President and CEO Julian Francis in a written statement. “Combining her passion for building with business ownership will bring innovation to our industry that exceeds expectations.”

For more information and to submit a nominee, visit go.becn.com/femaleroofpro.

CHICAGO — AccuLynx announced the results of a recent study of its user base, which found that contractors using the company’s integrated text messaging features had a 27% shorter average project duration and a 26% shorter average sales cycle than customers not using the features.

The study highlights the impact AccuLynx and its text messaging features can have on a roofing business, accelerating overall job timelines by helping contractors get projects approved faster and reducing production delays.

AccuLynx’s SMS tools, which include two-way and automated messaging capabilities, enable users to connect with team members, customers, insurance adjusters, and other vendors through the AccuLynx application instead of their personal cell phone. This way, all messages are automatically logged and stored in the customer job file, keeping information organized and improving visibility into what’s happening with a job.

“AccuLynx makes it easy for roofing contractors to improve engagement and customer satisfaction through more timely communication," said AccuLynx CEO Mike Stein. "The powerful SMS tools in AccuLynx have been proven to provide significant time savings during the lifecycle of their jobs. Texting through AccuLynx is a simple way for contractors to connect with their customers and team members from the same system they use to run their business.”

MALVERN, Pa. — Saint-Gobain North America, and its building products subsidiary CertainTeed LLC, have joined the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Climate Challenge, a new platform encouraging businesses and other organizations to drive real-world action toward significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions and sharing strategies to reduce carbon and save energy.

The Better Climate Challenge encourages companies and organizations to reduce their portfolio-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 25% or more over the next decade. Saint-Gobain’s new global Grow and Impact strategy, announced just months ago, includes a more ambitious goal of reducing the company’s global carbon emissions by 33% by 2030.

“We will continue to challenge ourselves to look for ways to maximize our company’s positive impact, for our customers and the communities where we do business, while minimizing our environmental footprint,” said Mark Rayfield, CEO of Saint-Gobain North America and CertainTeed. “The construction and building products industries have an especially important role to play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions around the world.

"Today, 40% of global CO₂ emissions come from the construction sector. With this in mind, we are thrilled to partner with the Department of Energy as we work to meet these ambitious goals and encourage other companies, especially in our own industry and value chain, to join us in taking this important pledge.”

With over 120 manufacturing locations in the United States, every current and future member of the company’s team will play a part in meeting its sustainability goals.

“Better Climate Challenge partners like Saint-Gobain North America are committing to decarbonize across their portfolio of buildings, plants, and fleets and share effective strategies to transition our economy to clean energy,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “Their leadership and innovation are crucial in our collective fight against climate change while strengthening the U.S. economy.”

HOMER GLEN, Ill. — Richards Building Supply Co., and SIBCO Building Products announced the agreement to purchase Dayton, Ohio-based SIBCO by Richards Building Supply.

“SIBCO was a natural choice for the addition to our portfolio with their commitment to service and family values,” said Ronald M. Guzior, CEO and president. “We want to thank our customers for trusting us to serve them. It’s because of them we are expanding into the greater Dayton area.”

SIBCO Building Products Inc. President Gary Lytle said Richards Building Supply has a passion for serving customers, solving problems, and doing right by their vendors and employees, which are important facts in the company’s decision to enter into the agreement.

“The addition of the Dayton, Ohio branch allows us to deliver even higher levels of support throughout the greater Dayton area and added convenience for our contractor customers,” said Cory Evans, regional vice president for Richards Building Supply.

Richards Building Supply Area Manager Bill Seech said they are open for business as of Dec. 16, 2021.