06/29/2026
Fantastic post from ORCA this is the Executive Director we hired as a board two years ago! As a member and previous President of Oklahoma Contractors Association. This is the kind of education we want a need for Homeowners and CIB registered roofers. Please do your due diligence and pick a reputable contractor or GC like me to handle all of your home Improvement needs. Happy to help 🙌
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Cqc8DXBHA/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Ok, roofing company owners and managers. ORCA Executive Director, Avery Smith posting here. Let's have a little real talk for a minute.
This past Friday night we experienced a pretty significant storm up in the Guthrie and Cedar Valley areas, which included damaging hail for some. Over the past few days we've had an influx of roofing companies descend upon the local neighborhoods. Some good, some not so good, some...straight nightmare fuel.
The real talk I'm referring to is this -- if you are going to send your sales folks out to create new opportunities and represent your brand, regardless of whether or not they're on your payroll or contract sales, please make sure and provide them with the proper tools and information they need to succeed. I've been having a field day asking questions, quizzing these guys on my front door step, and sending them into a frenzy when they find out I run the state's best roofing contractors association.
The photo I included below is a pretty spot on representation of the latest gentleman who showed up to my door. I will preface this by saying that not all of this was his fault, plus it was an oppressively hot day today, so he gets major props for pounding the pavement. Here were my observations: 1) no company logo or identifier on his clothing, of any kind. 2) no business cards to speak of. 3) no marketing materials to hand out. 4) no clue what an Oklahoma Construction Industries Board registration number was. 5) I had him call his boss while he was standing in front of me to get it from him -- his "boss" had no idea and took at least five minutes to scramble and find "a" registration number, not sure if it was "the" registration number because it was for a different company. 6) absolutely no clue that the law requires roofing contractors to clearly display their registration number on signage, marketing materials, business cards, etc. That's a problem!
Additionally, roughly half the contractors I've encountered in my neighborhood so far are not in compliance at some level - either not registered at all or operating on a Suspended/Not in Good Standing Registration. One contractor has been suspended since...2014, with no effort to get back into good standing! Yes, you read that right. Is he properly insured? Who even knows? When I stopped to talk to him about it he pulled the "I didn't realize I was suspended" card. 12 years later? -- Yeah, not buying it. This is what WE as an organization are working so hard to root out and ultimately eliminate.
We as an industry have got to do better. The governing entities currently over our industry have got to do better. Better training, better oversight, more resources. ORCA is committed to working with contractors to represent and advance their interests, protect policyholders from rogue roofers, and work with our legislative/municipal leaders to raise the bar for our industry. Who isn't tired of the stereotypical persona, and reputation of roofing contractors? Fixing it doesn't happen overnight, but let's work to change this! We provide an extremely valuable service to the communities where we live, work, and play and we should be proud of what we do and the difference we make!
