David Karel receives NRCA's John Bradford Volunteer Award

Alongside running a roofing company, David has served on the NRCA;s board of directors, worked on numerous NRCA committees and dedicated years to volunteer service.

The National Roofing Contractors Association has announced David Karel, executive vice president of Garlock-French Roofing, Minneapolis, as the recipient of the John Bradford Volunteer Award. David received the award February 20 during the NRCA 2025 Industry Awards Ceremony as part of the 2025 International Roofing Expo® in San Antonio.

David began his roofing career in 1969 at Garlock-French Roofing, where he worked summers and school breaks while attending the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in business, he began working full-time in sales and managing crews. In 1984, he bought Garlock-French Roofing and has worked there since.

In 1998, David was elected to NRCA’s board of directors and subsequently served three terms. He also worked on numerous NRCA committees and was a significant contributor to NRCA’s manual update committee and technical operations committee. He served on other technical committees including asphalt shingle, performance technology, safety design, PV task force, design essentials task force and the NRCA/ARMA asphalt shingle application quality control guidelines task force.

David also assisted NRCA’s education task force and served three terms on the board of directors for the National Roofing Legal Resource Center.

In between running a roofing company and his volunteer service with NRCA, David has volunteered his time with Ronald McDonald House Charities, Habitat for Humanity, Feed My Starving Children and Source Ministries that assists homeless and at-risk youth. He also served multiple years as a board member and then chairman of Trinity Church in Maplewood, Minnesota, and has worked with the youth group at Trinity Church for more than 20 years.

The John Bradford Volunteer Award is named after John Bradford, who served as NRCA’s president from 1982-83 and was a past president of the Midwest Roofing Contractors Association. He was instrumental in the development of the Montana Roofing Contractors Association, served on many boards throughout his roofing career and enjoyed civic involvements. 

About the NRCA

Since 1886, the National Roofing Contractors Association has been the home for generations of entrepreneurial craftsmen and enterprises who shelter and protect America’s families and businesses and each other. Our vision is the recognition of our members as professionals and to unite the industry to that purpose. NRCA is one of the construction industry’s most respected trade associations and the voice of roofing professionals and leading authority in the roofing industry for information, education, technology and advocacy. It represents all segments of the roofing industry, including contractors; manufacturers; distributors; architects; consultants; engineers; building owners; and city, state and government agencies. For information about NRCA and its services and offerings, visit nrca.net.