Half a century of industry leadership

By Emma Peterson. 

WSRCA is a foundational part of the industry. Learn about their journey to where they are today! 

2024 marks the 50th anniversary of the Western States Roofing Contractors Association (WSRCA)! In this episode of Roofing Road Trips®, Megan Ellsworth sat down with WSRCA’s President, Mike Wakerling; their Executive Director, Joel Viera; and the Director of Membership and Trade Show, Alec Ward to talk about how the organization has grown over the last 50 years. 

WSRCA first began in 1974 with the goal to highlight and focus on issues that are more unique to the Western half of the United States. This includes things like climate concerns and market differences. Since then, they have become a foundational part of the industry. Mike shared some of what they have achieved in that time, saying, “I'm kind of biased, but I think we're number one in putting out technical bulletins, tackling issues head on that might not be comfortable for people in other industries or manufacturing and trying to protect our members from anything and everything out there that we discover.”  

A great way to plot WSRCA’s growth is through their expo, which is celebrating its 49th anniversary. Alec shared about their trade floor, comparing his first show and this one, saying, “When I first started almost 10 years ago now, we were on the same trade floor, but we only used a portion of it and now we're at capacity, we're trying to find space to get as many companies as possible out there in front of the roofers.” Joel added about his experience with the growth of the educational side of the expo, sharing, “When I first started here, when we all first got our feet in the door, we used to do eight seminars during the Expo. Now we have 28 seminars at the Expo!” 

Mike also took a moment to reflect on his first show, which was in 1978 at the Disneyland Hotel. He shared, “You could walk through it in about two or three hours. There were probably 50 or 60 vendors. Then, this year, we were at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas. I don't know how many vendors we, something like 200. We’re one of the biggest shows on the West Coast, definitely one of the most well-attended.” 

Read the transcript or Listen to the episode for to learn about WSRCA and their impact on the industry.