Advanced Roofing, Inc. Marks Milestone, Hiring 500th Employee

By Advanced Roofing.

Advanced Roofing Celebrates Hiring its 500th Employee this Summer

Advanced Roofing is proud to announce that we recently hired our 500th employee this summer. This exciting milestone marks the largest number of team members in our company’s 36-year history. Using many innovative approaches to training and recruitment, we look to overcome the construction industry’s shortage of skilled labor and fill more than 100 open positions by 2020.

“We’re celebrating this milestone thanks to some outside-the-box strategies for attracting talent,” said Advanced Roofing founder, President and CEO Rob Kornahrens. The company expects to fill more than additional 100 jobs this year, from sales, accounting and HR, to project management, roofing production, service and solar installation.

“We’ve pulled out all the stops to recruit, train and keep good people. A faster, higher-level career path is now possible in the roofing and solar industries, with salaries ranging from about $30,000 to over $100,000.”

With Florida’s strong demand for commercial re-roofing, solar rooftop arrays and solar carports, Advanced Roofing’s team is reaching out to non-traditional talent sources, from  veterans and women, to high school and college career counselors. Kornahrens is also a lead industry voice in advocating for the regulatory and immigration reform supported by the National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA).

Despite statewide outreach in full gear, Kornahrens says demand is so strong that access to skilled foreign workers will remain vital for the industry. He advocates with legislators through the NRCA to achieve regulatory and immigration reform. That includes expanding E-Verify and allowing workers to enter the U.S. legally when the economy needs them, as stipulated in the proposed Workforce for an Expanding Economy Act (H.R. 1740) that’s being debated in the U.S. Congress.

“We simply can’t find enough employees, and the misconception that workers with temporary protected status (TPS) and those with seasonal H2B visas would take jobs of able-bodied U.S. workers, at a lower wage, does not correlate to facts,” Kornahrens said. With 22 current TPS employees from Haiti, Honduras and El Salvador — including three foremen trained by the company, working well and paying taxes — he sees the prospect of arbitrarily ending TPS workers’ stay in the U.S. as folly. “Granting TPS workers permanent resident status makes sense for the U.S. companies, communities and the economy,” Kornahrens added.

Advanced Roofing also employs 24 workers through the H2B visa program, whose visas were approved by the U.S. Department of labor for three years based on the urgent need for more roofing workers after Hurricane Irma.

Kornahrens has grown and diversified the company since 1983 to include HVAC, electrical, service, metal and crane divisions as well as creating sister company Advanced Green Technologies, Florida’s largest solar contractor. As early adopters, the firm uses advanced technology to streamline workflow and do more with their existing team.

A key to Advanced Roofing’s recruitment efforts is the Florida registered apprentice program the firm spearheaded in partnership with Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), beginning in 2014. So far eight employees have graduated from the intensive three-year work/study program and 35 more are enrolled, at no cost to the employees. The State of Florida pays tuition for the registered apprenticeship program, and Advanced Roofing and other participating contractors pay cost of books and fees for their employees. Through Broward State College, apprentices can obtain college credits for the program.

Outreach in partnership with Veterans Florida is adding veterans to Advanced Roofing’s staff, with the company holding two-week “boot camps” for accelerated orientation and training in roofing skills.

Being active in National Women in Roofing’s South Florida Council helps Advanced Roofing recruit, mentor and support advancement of more women in the industry. Currently the firm’s CFO and controller are female, as are several senior and assistant project managers, the IT Manager, the HR manager and talent manager, office managers and much of the administrative staff.

High school and community career fairs and working with the county’s Career Source Broward workforce development agency are proving productive for the talent hunt, with a commitment to educating counselors, students and families about industry opportunities.

Current employees can also benefit from the company’s referral bonus program, which offers cash incentives to an employee who gives a referral and the new hire, after 90 days of employees. Also important are the firm’s inclusive, respectful culture and competitive benefits, from insurance and tuition assistance to vacations and company special events. Parking under solar carports at the headquarters campus reinforces the brand.

Apply Today! For information on careers at Advanced Roofing, please call 800-638-6869 or visit their website.

Original article source: Advanced Roofing