LIVE from IRE 2025 with TRA Snow & Sun! - PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Mindy Dahlquist of TRA Snow & Sun. You can read the interview below or watch the recording.

Intro: Hello everyone. Megan Ellsworth here from the Coffee Shop soundstage brought to you by our friends at SRS Distribution. And I'm here with my buddy, my pal Mindy Dahlquist from TRA Snow & Sun. Hello friend.

Mindy Dahlquist: Hello. I won't even steal your microphone this time.

Megan Ellsworth: Oh my gosh, thank you. I appreciate that. Okay, so tell everyone out there who doesn't already know and if you don't already know, what are you doing, who you are and a little bit about TRA.

Mindy Dahlquist: Absolutely. So I am Mindy Dahlquist. I am the business development manager at TRA Snow & Sun. I have been with the company for four years. They've been in business for 30 years, manufacturing snow retention and other rooftop accessories. So we focus mostly on snow retention and some rolled goods, those types of things. But we have just been trucking along through the trade shows and all of the events lately

Megan Ellsworth: You're everywhere.

Mindy Dahlquist: I try to be everywhere.

Megan Ellsworth: You are everywhere. You are at the CRA Show, you were at Montana.

Mindy Dahlquist: Montana.

Megan Ellsworth: Where else, anywhere else?

Mindy Dahlquist: I've been doing a lot of live training events. So I was back in Grand Junction in Colorado. We will be going to NERCA in the northeast region and then also the Canadian Roofing Expo coming up soon. So I am all over the place. If you see me out, definitely say hi. I am not shy, so I'll make it entertaining.

Megan Ellsworth: Mindy is not shy. Incredible. Okay, so a little birdie, aka you, told me that you're doing some more educational events. So when's the next one?

Mindy Dahlquist: Absolutely. So the next one is kind of a different event from what we normally do. It's not so much snow retention focus, it's really just trying to help collaborate with all of the masterminds in the industry. So we are bringing on a financial advisor, some lawyers and also doing a real very short introduction to snow retention while we do a tour.

So we've partnered up with Western States Roofing Contractors Association and also Utah Roofing Contractors Association at TRA Snow & Sun in Utah. So we will be doing that event March 6th. And all of the information's on Western States. And I believe Roofer's Coffee Shop has a link to it as well.

Megan Ellsworth: Correct.

Mindy Dahlquist: And so definitely register to that event if you're interested in any of those items. It's really focused, this one specifically is focused towards owners of roofing companies. So normally it's installers and whoever is willing to listen. And of course they're welcome, we're not going to turn anyone away, but it's really trying to get that information on how to protect your company, how to protect your own financial house and just be able to open the doors of our facility to other people as well.

Megan Ellsworth: That's really cool. So you're showing the facility where you make all the things.
Mindy Dahlquist: Absolutely. So manufacturing, metal manufacturing. We also do everything in-house. The only thing we don't do in-house is zinc plating. And so you are able to see our powder coat line and all of those things in real time.

Megan Ellsworth: Okay, cool. This is a curve ball question, but I'd like to know, what do you think is your best product?

Mindy Dahlquist: My personal favorite product, and this is something that I honestly don't get into very often with many people, no one ever asked me that. We have a Deco Guard and I really just love it. It's a product for standing seam metal panels, but it functions more like a bracket. So it's not going to be the fences that everyone's used to seeing on standing seam. It's more of a pad style, but it still clamps to that seam so you don't have penetrations, you don't have anything like that. And we can make them in all different kinds of shapes, but I really like that bracket ability without having such a meaty system up on the roof. It's still very aesthetically pleasing. Otherwise, the brackets are my go-to.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. That's so cool. Your products, you have such a wide array of different styles and colors and different things for different roof types like standing seam and other metal roofing types. So you just have really great options for the consumer, for the installer, for the roofing contractor. And it's awesome.

Mindy Dahlquist: Our color options is what always blows me away. We have 50 in-house colors. That is unheard of. For such a small manufacturer to have 50 available colors to you is just amazing.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. And do you all color match too, or try?

Mindy Dahlquist: So we can color match. If we're going to a specific color that's outside of our 50 colors, then we do have to buy a whole additional box of color. So there is additional charge if you're color matching something outside of those 50 colors. But otherwise it's no extra charge to just pull one of those colors.

Megan Ellsworth: And I mean, 50 colors, there's got to be one that's at least close to what you're looking for.

Mindy Dahlquist: Usually, honestly, our biggest sellers are fine texture black and fine texture brown, because that's what a majority of the panels that we're seeing are.

Megan Ellsworth: Right. But if they want to do a little pop of color, that'd be kind of fun.

Mindy Dahlquist: Absolutely. If they want a bear, a moose, a maple leaf, there are so many different options. I mean, we have a laser, so we can cut whatever. If we want Megan's face, we can just put Megan's face all over our roof. It'd be perfect.

Megan Ellsworth: On your roof. It's so fun. I love it. Okay, so you guys are not exhibiting.

Mindy Dahlquist: No, not here.

Megan Ellsworth: But you can go online to RoofersCoffeeShop.com and MetalCoffeeShop.com and find the TRA Snow & Sun directory on those websites, find all their links, all their social media, get all this information on the next educational event. So it's basically an online trade show.

Mindy Dahlquist: Yes. And I mean, I am floating around here. I will be here until Friday. So if you see me around, definitely just stop me. That's perfectly okay. This whole floor is my booth.

Megan Ellsworth: Exactly. And stop her and say, "Hey, I want Megan's face on my roof."

Mindy Dahlquist: Exactly. And then we'll get matching tattoos or something. It's fine.

Megan Ellsworth: Perfect. Of my face.

Mindy Dahlquist: Of her face.

Megan Ellsworth: IIncredible. Well, Mindy, anything else that people should know about TRA?

Mindy Dahlquist: I honestly just think it's a great company. I mean, I work for them and so I feel like it sounds cheesy.

Megan Ellsworth: Just a little bias.

Mindy Dahlquist: Yes. But it's family-owned. It's just a really great manufacturing plant, and they're willing to work with you if you ever have any issues. So that to me means the world to me as an employee. I would never want to work with somebody that isn't willing to fix a problem. We're definitely coming up in the market the past five years. We've just been growing and growing and we're not slowing down anytime soon.

Megan Ellsworth: That's great to hear. Ah, Mindy, thank you so much.

Mindy Dahlquist: Of course, thank you.

Outro: Absolutely. Everyone out there, we have Leap up next on the soundstage, so stay tuned.