Building a better future: A commitment to philanthropy in the roofing industry

By Dani Sheehan. 

After another season of giving, Trent Cotney shared insights on the significance of industry associations and his vision for future advancements. 

Over the last several years, RCS Influencer and partner at Adams and Reese, Trent Cotney, has made it his mission to give back to the roofing industry around the holidays by matching donations to select associations. This year, he set out to match donations made to the following organizations: Roofing Alliance, Florida Roofing and Sheet Metal Contractors Association (FRSA), Chicago Roofing Contractors Association (CRCA) and the Davis Memorial Foundation. For the Roofing Alliance and FRSA, Trent matched his highest promised donation, and he donated $5,500 in total thanks to this generous campaign. 

Trent loves giving back to the industry that has helped him provide for his family throughout his career. He shares, “I feel like it’s an obligation for us to give back to our next generation. A lot of these charities that we’re supporting give out scholarships and the goal is to leave the world a better place than what it was when you were there.”  

The holidays may be over, but there are still ways to give back, and a great way to get involved in the industry is to join an association, whether it’s state, regional or national. As Trent explains, “Associations serve as the mouthpiece of the industry. Roofing has a variety of challenges, everything from regulatory to liability to insurance issues and it’s hard to get a lot of that stuff out to legislators or wherever it needs to go without having some sort of mouthpiece to do that.” 

Additionally, these associations help to promote and conduct research to further advance our industry. The Roofing Alliance has several ongoing projects and the FRSA Education and Research Foundation has done a variety of studies dealing with hurricane impacts and how that affects the Florida roofing industry. 

It’s an exciting time to be in the roofing industry this year. Trent talks about his anticipation for 2024: “I’m always looking at risk mitigation. What does the future look like? There’s some uncertainty there. I look out into the landscape, and I don’t know what’s over the next hill, but with that I think comes opportunity. I think roofing is on that precipice where it can take the next step. Climb that next hill and start looking into technology or sustainability and see a change in how this industry is perceived.” 

Thank you to everyone who donated this year and helped Trent give back to this incredible industry. Whether it’s donating time, money or resources, the little things throughout the year go a long way. Get involved in an association this year and see if you can feel the buzz of all the exciting possibilities in roofing too.