Empowering the future of the industry

By Emma Peterson. 

Building up the roofing sector, one training at a time. 

Heidi J. Ellsworth got the opportunity to sit down with Lauren Morley from R3NG at the 2024 International Roofing Expo (IRE) to discuss being women in the industry. Lauren is the owner of R3NG, which is a roofing company in Colorado. She explained, “We do multifamily residential and we have an in-house service team. We're a GAF Master Elite, Master Select, Chairman Circle, CMP certified, etc.” But their work doesn’t just stop at their job sites, they dedicate themselves to getting involved in their community and bringing more people into the industry.  

One of the main ways they do this is through the GAF Roofing Academy. Lauren explained, “GAF has a free program that they offer to their contractors where they will recruit people from underserved communities. They'll come into your office and do completely free training on whatever you want.” After that training, the partner contractor, like R3NG, gets the first chance to interview and hire the trainees.  

In partnership with GAF, Lauren and R3NG have put their own spin on these training opportunities, focusing on uplifting the women in the industry. Lauren explained that background, “The first year we did it was really difficult. We had to do a lot of grassroots recruiting versus normally the academy recruits are found through local nonprofits to bring in women because it’s a male dominated industry.” That first year, they had 32 women in the class. Now, the program and specific classes with a focus on women can be found all over the country! 

And R3NG is not stopping there! There's a new initiative in the company’s hometown of Denver to find workforce placements for unhoused folks. Lauren explained, “Through different avenues, the mayor’s getting them placed into housing where they're really focused on mental health and helping them rehab and helping them get ready for the workforce.” R3NG is proud to be hosting one of the first workforce initiatives to get these people involved and training them. 

Watch the full interview to learn more about R3NG and their community involvement.