Roofed Right Khary Penebaker Runs for Wisconsin’s 5th Congressional District

Roofing Contractor Khary Penebaker Looks to Make a Difference in D.C.

Khary Penebaker is a husband, father and leads a successful roofing business as president of Roofed Right America, part of the National Roofing Partners contractor network.  And now, he is running for the House of Representatives for the 5^th Congressional District.

Penebaker has a rich history in the roofing industry.  He embarked upon a successful, and now nearly twenty-year-long, career.  In his first five years, he was a joint owner and operator of Community Roofing, before starting The Penebaker Enterprises, LLC Roofing and Sheet Metal Company in Milwaukee and serving as its president for the next decade.

Penebaker’s skills and go-getter attitude paid off, as the firm grew to fifty family-supporting jobs and received numerous industry awards for excellence, including the 2004 Supplier of the Year Award from the Wisconsin Supplier Development Council and the 2010 Minority Business Contractor of the Year Award from Wisconsin’s Daily Reporter. Penebaker Enterprises completed high-profile projects, such as the acclaimed $60 million Milwaukee City Hall Restoration Project. Following the turbulent Great Recession years, which dramatically changed the construction industry, Khary moved to Metal-Era, Inc., working in several key management positions. Recently, he returned to an executive role as President of Roofed Right America, LLC.

As Penebaker looks to his run for Congress, it is a personal journey.  “My mother died of suicide by a gun, and I have been active with gun violence prevention groups, we focused exclusively on solutions that were very popular with all voters,” Penebaker stated.  “I did not feel like I was being listened to by politicians so I decided to change things by running to earn a vote in Congress.

“It is life-changing to be able to work on programs and policies that make lives better,” continued Penebaker.  “NRP, Bilingual America and RoofPAC are all supporting me in this run and I want to represent the industry that has been so good to me and my family.”

“Khary has great business experience and is knowledgeable about the roofing industry,” stated Duane Musser, Vice President of Government Relations at the National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA).  “It would be great to have an NRCA member in Congress to share the perspective of roofing contractors with lawmakers.  Washington needs to understand the impacts of legislation and regulations on our industry.”

“I’ve worked with Khary at Metal Era and at Roofed Right America,” said Dale Tyler, president of National Roofing Partners.  “We have a very strong network of commercial roofing contractors across the United States and Roofed Right lead by Khary has made a difference in our network.  We support each other but also consistently work for the betterment of the industry and bringing overall excellence to our customers.”

“I try to always think about the people and what they are dealing with,” Penebaker noted.  “That means all of my employees and their families.  It means the people who can’t always speak for themselves.  Good business is critical, and providing strong career paths is one of the things we are very proud of in the roofing industry.  I want to speak to that in Congress.  I feel it is broken and we need more outsiders with real life experience to step up and bring common sense to our government.”

He quotes John F. Kennedy, “It will be hard but we can do it.  We do these things because it is hard.”  As an African American he notes that it wasn’t that long ago that blacks and women could not vote.  “We have come a long way and we all need to step up and keep it going.  For me to be a part of this is simply amazing.”

“We need roofing professionals in congress,” concluded Tyler.  “Khary can help a lot with regulations and explaining the pain and problems with a lot of the current and new regulations.  We need a business perspective in Congress from actual business men and women.”