Global Campaign Aims to Highlight the Importance and Positive Impact of Roofing Professionals

By Anna Lockhart.  

Luke McCormack shares the work his company and campaign participants do to bring attention to young people about the benefits of entering the roofing trade. 

In a recent episode of the Roofing Road Trips podcast, host Heidi J. Ellsworth sat down with the CEO of McCormack Partners, Luke McCormack, to discuss his company and the work they are doing through their campaign #PeopleMakeRoofing to spark an international interest in the roofing trade. The goal of this campaign is to help lessen the skills gaps the roofing industry is facing worldwide.  

McCormack Partners prides itself in being the global leader in sourcing staff for the United States’ commercial roofing industry and is the only recruitment provider among various associations such as the National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA), Institute of Roofing and the NFRC. The company strives to help bring an end to the skills shortage, and through their efforts and the launch of the #PeopleMakeRoofing campaign, Luke hopes to see a change in the workforce gap soon.  

Through this campaign, and providing education to young students and professionals, Luke hopes to change the stereotypical perception some people have of the industry. “The perception that roofing is dirty, unsafe, no career prospects and also that the roofing industry only has roofers in it. The #PeopleMakeRoofing campaign is our way of trying to be part of the solution of professionalizing the industry and bringing new blood into the industry,” Luke explained. 

But the industry is so much more than just people getting up on a roof, as Luke shared. It simply takes a bit of encouragement for these young, eager students to realize how much potential there is to succeed in the roofing industry.  

“If they completed their [roofing] apprenticeship, the world is their oyster. They can become a CEO, a project manager. They can get into sales technical, the associations. What the campaign can do is turn tax absorbers into taxpayers,” he explained. “It can stop that generational poverty going through as the roofer, the person, can bring stability to their family, but also they can work on projects that will last the test of time, that will be here longer than you and I, and they can travel the world.” 

Since 2021, Luke has been visiting schools to share his knowledge of the roofing industry with students in the hopes of inspiring them to take on the challenge and find a career in the industry. Passionate people like Luke and those involved in the #PeopleMakeRoofing campaign are taking it upon themselves to share information with schools about the roofing industry as a viable and major opportunity for students and to bring attention to the cause so that educational mentors begin to showcase roofing and other trades as a positive opportunity. 

Listen to the podcast or read the transcription to learn more about Luke and the #PeopleMakeRoofing campaign.