Gearing up for competition

By Emma Peterson. 

With the SkillsUSA roofing competition at the end of June, learn about the history of this event and how the industry has come together to support these students. 

In this episode of Roofing Road Trips®, Heidi J. Ellsworth spoke to John Esbenshade and Rick Damato from the National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA) about the upcoming 2024 SkillsUSA competition! John is NRCA’s director of workforce development and Rick is a recruiter and advocate for the industry initiative around Career Technical Education (CTE). 

SkillsUSA has been around since the 1960s, but it wasn’t until recently that roofing was one of the skills represented. “There was every conceivable skill trade represented at this SkillsUSA annual competition for skills between winners of state competitions, folks who are learning how to cut hair, run CNC machines, welding, mining, machine operating. Every manner of construction except roofing,” Rick shared. This is what kicked off the initiative to get the roofing industry involved, which began with the Roofing Alliance and NRCA teaming up to partner with  SkillsUSA . 

John explained a bit of what is happening with this year’s competition, sharing, “Currently, what is being done at the state level is members of the state technical chair committee along with the CTE and workforce development committee are donating materials to have these state contests. They are sending their personnel in to train and give the hands-on training to the students to get them ready to compete in those regional and state contests.”  

From the donation of time to the monetary investment through materials and supplies, all of this is supported by contractors and industry members out of their pocket. Rick spoke a bit about what this competition means for those already established in the industry, saying, “This is the kind of thing that can be your legacy. You could put on literally millions of squares of product and you can satisfy thousands of customers, but you just do this one thing and you have a real impact on not just this student or that student or this school or that school, but the entire industry.” 

Read the transcript or Listen to the podcast to learn more about SkillsUSA and career technical education in the roofing industry.