Roofing Corp of America, a Top 100 roofing contractor, announced the hiring of Rob Ricken as vice president of Premier Accounts.

Ricken joins RCA with nearly 30 years of experience in the roofing industry, having held positions with leading contractors and manufacturers throughout his impressive career. In this newly created role at RCA, Ricken will be responsible for designing and building out the Premier Accounts program at Roofing Corp of America, which will include delivering best-in-class service to multi-market clients and scaling RoofAdvantage 360, RCA’s service, repair, and maintenance programs.

Since 2018, Ricken has been at Nations Roof, where, most recently, he served as vice president of national accounts-service.

In that role, Ricken was tasked with scaling Nations’ footprint of RoofCare Service Centers and developing national accounts. Prior to that, Ricken held progressive sales and marketing positions with Johns Manville.

Based in Atlanta, Roofing Corp of America is one of the nation’s premier roofing contractors, delivering a wide range of roofing services to building owners, property and facility managers, homeowners’ associations, and general contractors.

Photo courtesy of the Iowa Economic Development Corporation

The Department of Labor and Department of Homeland Security announced a temporary file rule that will increase the limit of H-2B nonimmigrant visas by nearly 65,000 for 2024.

According to a joint statement from the departments, the supplemental visas — totaling 64,716 — will be available to U.S. businesses “that are suffering irreparable harm or will suffer impending irreparable harm” without the ability to employ H-2B workers. Last year, the departments made the same move by making 64,716 additional H-2B temporary nonagricultural worker visas available for fiscal year 2023.

"[The] NRCA had urged the federal agencies to issue these additional visas and is pleased with the administration’s action to release them earlier than in previous years, which will help employers meet their peak workforce needs in fiscal year 2024," the National Roofing Contractors Association said on its website.

To assist businesses needing workers but on different start dates, the supplemental visas will be distributed in several allocations, including two separate allocations for the second half of fiscal year 2024.

Of the additional visas, 44,716 are available only for returning workers (workers who received an H-2B visa or were otherwise granted H-2B status in one of the last three fiscal years). The remaining 20,000 visas are set aside for nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, Colombia, Ecuador, and Costa Rica (country-specific allocation) who are exempt from the returning worker requirement.

Eligibility for the additional 64,716 visas requires that petitioners file requests with the Texas Service Center by Sept. 16, 2024.

In order to qualify for an H-2B petition, applicants must meet all existing H-2B eligibility requirements, including obtaining an approved temporary labor certification from the Department of Labor that is valid for the entire employment period stated on the petition. The employment start date on the petition must match the employment start date on the certification, even if that date has passed.

According to the departments, petitioners must “retain evidence and records proving compliance with the rule” and demonstrate their business is suffering irreparable harm or will suffer impending irreparable harm if they are unable to employ all the H-2B workers requested in their petition.

Saint-Gobain’s building products subsidiary, CertainTeed Roofing, held a groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of construction on a state-of-the-art roofing manufacturing and distribution center in Bryan, Texas.

In a Nov. 28 news release, Saint-Gobain said the project reaffirms its position as the leader in “light and sustainable construction,” allowing the company to better serve its customers with roofing products throughout the southern United States.

In addition to marking the plant’s groundbreaking, CertainTeed presented a check for $20,000 to the Bryan Independent School District Education Foundation in support of the Bryan ISD Career and Technical Education Center, which neighbors CertainTeed’s new location.

“It’s critical that we find meaningful ways to invest in the talent of the future for the manufacturing industry, and we’re committed to building a long-term partnership with the Bryan ISD Technical Education Center,” said Mark Rayfield, president and CEO of Saint-Gobain North America and CertainTeed.

The project, which was supported by direct contributions of land, a zero-cost rail easement, locally supported industrial infrastructure, and 10 years of property tax savings from the Chapter 313 program, will allow the company to grow its presence and product offerings in the southern United States.

Saint-Gobain said the dual location of a manufacturing facility and distribution center will reduce the distance the product must travel to market, lowering the company’s carbon footprint and aligning with Saint-Gobain’s global goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.

“We’re excited to expand our service capabilities to our customers in Texas,” said Carmen Bodden, vice president and general manager of CertainTeed Roofing. “With the support of Union Pacific, our new warehouse in Bryan will fully optimize the use of rail transportation, which helps to minimize our carbon footprint for generations to come and live our purpose of ‘Making the World a Better Home.’”

The Bryan facility is CertainTeed’s first new roofing plant since its completion of a facility in Jonesburg, Mo., in 2016 as Saint-Gobain continues to execute its global ‘Grow & Impact’ strategy, which includes expanding its presence in key, fast-growing markets.

Last year, the company broke ground on a $167 million glass mat facility on its Oxford, N.C., campus, the largest-ever investment in a U.S. roofing site. In addition, in 2022, the company announced a $100 million expansion at its Peachtree City, Ga., roofing plant, doubling its production capacity at the location.

Both projects are currently underway.

Additionally, CertainTeed recently acquired the rights to technology from recycling partner Asphaltica, allowing the company to increase its ability to recycle asphalt shingle waste, aligning with its commitment to creating a circular economy in its production.

The Roofing Alliance, the nonprofit arm of the National Roofing Contractors Association, has released its 2022-2023 Annual Report, which highlights the organization’s funding initiatives, membership, communications, awards, student competition and more.

“Last year’s accomplishments were an extraordinary journey for us marked by significant achievements and growth,” said Kelly Van Winkle, president of King of Texas Roofing and 2022-23 Roofing Alliance president. “We continued to innovate and streamline our operations to enhance efficiency and productivity and achieved another year of strong financial performance, including welcoming 11 new members.”

The organization successfully launched several education-oriented programs, including the Roofing Alliance/Clemson University Certificate Program; approved funding for a three-year sustainability and resiliency study; awarded 16 new and renewal scholarships; collaborated with Arizona State University to hire a fellow who will engage and conduct innovative roofing research; and held yet another successful Construction Management Student Competition during the International Roofing Expo, showcasing six extraordinary teams of students.

“Each step forward in our new projects and initiatives is a testament to our vision and mission, and their success is a journey of dedication and collaboration by our members whose commitment is unwavering,” added Roofing Alliance Executive Director Alison L. LaValley, CAE.

Van Winkle summarized her term and extended appreciation to the members and staff for their contributions.

“I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to our esteemed members and staff for their unwavering support," she said. "Your trust and confidence in the Roofing Alliance motivates us to constantly raise the bar and deliver exceptional results, and I know we are well-positioned to achieve even greater milestones in the year ahead.”

The annual report can be viewed or downloaded here on the Roofing Alliance website. For more information about the Roofing Alliance, contact LaValley at alavalley@nrca.net or visit roofingalliance.net.

Beacon announced on Thursday that it has opened new locations in Riverside, Calif., and Houston to serve residential and commercial contractors.

The new Riverside, Calif., branch is in the Inland Empire region of Southern California and continues to expand the company’s footprint in the Golden State.

“This area is one of the fastest-growing population centers in the U.S., and we are pleased to serve contractors from our Riverside, San Bernardino and Norco branches which operate as a Beacon OTC network,” Nevin Holly, Beacon’s regional vice president, Pacific, said.

“Customers have access to our full catalog of products and are assured on-time delivery so that they can grow their businesses,” he added.

The new Houston branch is located along the busy 288 corridor between Interstates 69 and 610, south of the city, the company said in its release.

“This location adds another lever for us to serve our Houston customers,” Beacon’s Regional Vice President, Texas, Peter Lippert, said. “The Houston Beacon OTC network is now seven branches strong, allowing us to differentiate on service and product range to make the customer experience second to none.”

Beacon has opened 21 greenfield locations and completed nine acquisitions to date in 2023. The footprint expansion is part of the company’s Ambition 2025 plan to drive above-market growth.