Welcome to Advanced Roofing Inc.

Summer Newsletter 2018

Jun 18, 2018 | Blog, Latest News

A letter from Advanced Roofing’s founder and CEO, Robert “Rob” Kornahrens

We are having an excellent start to this milestone 35th anniversary year with an increase in demand for roofing, HVAC, and solar projects locally and in the Virgin Islands following the abnormal Hurricane Season we experienced last year. In 2018, we are focusing strongly on our commitment to quality with an increasing emphasis on recruitment and training through the ABC roofing apprenticeship program and partnership with Broward College. These partnerships will benefit us significantly in the coming years as we look to develop the next generation of commercial roofers in South Florida.

 

Company Highlights in the 1st half of 2018

In 2018 we have a number of successes that I am pleased to share with you that include:

  • Advanced Roofing celebrates 35 years in business: I started Advanced Roofing in 1983 after working for Triple M Roofing Company throughout high school and college. Starting with one truck and a $15,000 loan from my father, today we have seven offices in the state of Florida, 430 employees and 62 service vehicles on the road. It’s been a fantastic journey over the years, and I am incredibly thankful to everyone for helping our company achieve this level of success. To commemorate this milestone, we will be hosting a celebration under our new solar carport on Thursday, October 25th 4pm-7pm for customers, employees, vendors, friends, and family. Stay tuned for updates later in the year.
  • Fort Lauderdale Headquarters Becomes Energy Net Zero: Advanced Roofing recently installed a Daikin VRV air conditioning system at our Fort Lauderdale headquarters along with a new 3kW rooftop solar array on the Service departments’ building. Not only do these new additions trim energy costs, but they also showcase the different types of solutions our company can offer. We are now producing 100 percent of our main office’s energy needs, and that’s an achievable goal for many businesses that own their office and industrial locations.
  • Advanced Roofing purchases a new office in Jupiter, Florida. To keep up with the growing demand for commercial roofing service in the Palm-Beach and Jupiter, Florida markets, we recently invested in a new office building. The new office is located at 1601 Park Lane South, Jupiter, Florida 33458 and will open this summer.
  • Carlisle Syntec 2018 Excellence in Single-Ply (ESP) Award: One of the most prestigious awards in the commercial roofing industry, ESP was created 21 years ago to identify and reward Carlisle’s most successful contractors.  ARI has installed and warranted 4,885,815 square-feet of Carlisle’s single-ply roofing systems over the years and has completed 105 “Perfect 10” installations during final inspections.
  • GAF President’s Club Award: This is the highest-level award that a Master Select™ Contractor can earn within the GAF Certified Contractor Program. GAF is North America’s largest roofing manufacturer. To qualify for this award, a contractor must demonstrate an exceptional level of excellence in their business, especially in the areas of Installation Excellence, Consumer Protection, and Installer Training.

Featured Projects

Our team is working hard to complete many re-roofing, HVAC, and solar jobs in the first half of the year. Below are some of our notable projects:

  • Roofing: Mardi Gras Casino Hurricane Irma Roof Blowoff  (Wath Video)
  • Solar: Dairy-Mix Finds a Sweet Deal with New Roof and Solar Array (Wath Video)
  • HVAC: Naples Airport Cools Down this Summer with new Air Conditioning Systems (Read case study)

Mardi Gras Casino

2018 Roofing, HVAC, and Solar Trends

Roofing Trends

The roofing industry will continue its trend away from traditional asphalt roofing system to more single ply PVC membranes and coatings. We see silicone roof coatings increasing in popularity due to the low cost, ability to extend a roof service life and enhance a building’s energy efficiency. To capitalize on this trend, roofing materials manufacturers have been purchasing coating companies, and we anticipate double-digit growth in the market in the next five years. To meet this demand, we have hired Greg Call, a senior technical representative to help us educate, train and sell flat roof coating systems.

Solar Trends

The demand for solar in Florida is healthy in 2018 with the 30 percent federal tax credit available until December 31st, 2019 and new tax policy’s allowing for 100% bonus depreciation in the first year of operation. With these benefits in place, we see an average solar project Return on Investment less than ten years that is proving a strong draw – especially for businesses ready to show their brands’ environmental commitment. While changes to the corporate tax rates benefit corporations, deductions for monthly electric costs are also lower than in previous years, making solar more compelling. We are also cross-selling rooftop solar to existing customers.  This is spurring growth potential in the Solar Division while bringing new services to our existing roofing customers.  Also, solar carports continue to show significant opportunities for new construction projects being built around the state of Florida. Contact us today and learn how your property can benefit from the installation of a solar rooftop or carport.

HVAC Trends

The summer is here in South Florida which means the demand for air conditioning repairs is ramping up. We are experiencing a steady increase in service calls and expect demand to increase as the summer heat makes its way into our area. Our service manager Paul Murphy is doing excellent job signing up customers for our preventive maintenance program, and he strongly recommends that property managers perform preventive maintenance on HVAC equipment now to avoid long wait times and being stuck in the heat later in the summer.

A significant focus for the HVAC division in 2018 is growing our pipeline of chiller replacements, large retrofit and VRV projects throughout South Florida. We are performing many jobs this summer including a 100 Ton Daikin chiller replacement on Las Olas, two 90 ton chiller replacements for YMCA, Broward County School Retrofit, and multiple VRV Retrofits. We continue to see an increase in demand for the Daikin variable refrigerant volume (VRV) system. The VRV technology is a perfect fit for customers looking to have individualized comfort control with significant energy savings. HVAC Sales Manager, Josh Robbins recently signed a contract with Boca Delray to install a new VRV system, and we have signed up two of our service techs for the inaugural Daikin VRV Controls training classes in South Florida this summer.

Looking forward, AAS is working towards becoming an approved applicator for Modine coatings. Modine coatings help protect the air conditioning coils and panels from corrosion. These coatings are especially helpful for clients with properties near the ocean and salt water. We look forward to exceeding our customer’s needs in this area.

Our People

national-roofing-days-washington-dc
Roofing Day Washington D.C.

For 35 years, our “commitment to quality” has set us apart from the competition. To further these efforts, we recently welcomed Glenn Watson to head statewide quality control measures. We already see big dividends in quality in the field, with a focus on a zero-punch list for every job we complete.

Even though our reputation helps us attract quality talent, we continue to be impacted by the nation-wide labor shortage, with 60 positions currently open at Advanced Roofing. Immigration reform is making it even more difficult to fill positions, which is why I took part in the first-ever “Roofing Day in D.C.” on March 6-7. 400 professionals from all segments of the roofing industry came together to deliver our industry message with “one voice” to Congress, bringing to their attention our urgent need for regulatory reform, enhanced career and technical educational programs, and immigration reform that meets our workforce needs.

Sadly this year, we had to say goodbye to several ARI employees. Thomas Michael passed away in May. He worked at ARI for six years and was an essential part of the service department. Robert “Robbie” Hall passed away in April. Robbie joined our team in 2016 when we acquired Roof System Services (RSS). He was a great asset to our service department and the go-to person for all RSS accounts. Lawrence “Larry” Miller passed away in March. Larry worked in the sheet metal department for 13 years and was battling cancer since last May. These men were excellent employees and will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to their families.

Advanced in the Community

We are dedicated to serving the communities in which we work and live. The first half of the year was filled with many notable achievements that I’m excited to share with you:

advanced-roofing-boys-and-girls-club

Boys & Girls Club 2018

  • The “Advanced Roofing Tar Peddlers” team of 20 riders raised $24,425.50 for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society at the annual Bike MS on March 3-4. A big thank you to Jason Carruth, our Central Florida Branch Manager for joining us this year. The 150-mile round-trip bike ride took place over two days, leaving from FIU in Miami to Key Largo and back. To date, Advanced Roofing has raised more than $590,525.00 to help fight MS.
  • For the 11th consecutive year, Advanced Roofing volunteered to teach 300 high school students from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Broward County about the roofing trade (and trying to recruit some future employees!). A special thank you goes out to Advanced Roofing Senior Project Manager Jessica Kornahrens and Construction Manager, David Baytosh for leading our efforts since the program’s inception. To date, the program has led to 15 students currently working in the construction industry.
  • I had the honor of co-chairing the 2018 American Heart Association (AHA) Broward Heart Walk at Nova Southeastern University on April 22. Advanced Roofing, its employees, and the Kornahrens Foundation helped to raise more than $45,000.00 to help fight cardiovascular disease. I want to thank everyone who donated, especially Advanced Roofing Project Manager Susana Macias for leading the way and raising the most money out of our employees. To help raise additional funds, we have partnered with Guy Harvey to create an exclusive T-shirt to raise funds for this vital cause. If you are interested in purchasing a shirt, contact my executive assistant Kim Campanili at kimc@advancedroofing.com.
  • Advanced Roofing and CBRE teamed up for the second year in a row to build a house for a family in need with Habitat for Humanity in Tampa, Florida.
  • We live in one of the most vulnerable areas in the world for sea level rise, which is why ARI and Advanced Green Technologies took part in “Stiles Celebrates Earth Day” on April 19 in Fort Lauderdale to support earth-friendly activities. This is a critical issue for our communities, and I will continue to advocate for this issue as a member of the Broward County Climate Change Task Force.
  • ABC Roofing Apprenticeship Program Now Offering College Credits: Upon the successful completion of the ABC Roofing Apprenticeship program, graduates can now earn an Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree from Broward College. Apprentices that complete the program receive 27 credit hours towards an Associate of Science degree in Industrial Management Technology. In 2017, we had five employee’s graduate from the ABC Roofing Apprenticeship Program. This year, we have 25 students registered for the program through our efforts with Broward Schools. Enrollment for the 2018 program is now for the August 15th start date.
  • With the labor pool for construction workers at an all-time low, we recently hired Staci Garcia-Nagel to lead our recruitment efforts and to help us fill more than 60 open positions within our company. If you know of a roofer looking for work or know of someone interested in joining the Apprenticeship Program, please contact careers@advancedroofing.com. We are offering a referral bonus for qualified candidates.

Looking Forward

With a shortage in the construction labor market and strong demand for roofing work, it can be challenging to maintain the high-quality workmanship our company is known for. However, as we look forward, we will focus strongly on managing the quality of all projects and our brand reputation as the best in the industry while at the same time keeping up with the growth spurred by hurricanes and a healthy economy.

We have a busy year ahead as we prepare for the Hurricane Season that runs from June 1st – November 30th. I want to ensure customers that we have the resources in place necessary to meet your needs should devastation result from a hurricane. In addition to sufficient fuel and supplies, we have the support of RoofConnect, which I am a founding member and sit on the board of directors. RoofConnect is a consortium of 100 emergency roofing contractors and 7,000 employees from around the country that can help our team should we experience a natural disaster.

For the 2018 Hurricane Season, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is predicting an average year, with up to 16 named storms, and four major hurricanes with Category 3 strength or higher. Regardless of how many we see this season; it only takes one to cause significant destruction to our communities. Keeping this in mind, I firmly recommend preparing your building envelopes ahead of time to mitigate damages that can be caused by these storms.

I look forward to celebrating ARI’s 35th anniversary with employees, clients, friends, and family at our Fort Lauderdale headquarters on October 25th. Many people have asked me if I am planning on retiring soon. I am not. I am having too much fun! I love what I do every day and look forward to seeing what the years ahead have in store for our company as we continue to work together to be the best in the industry.

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