LIVE From IRE With IKO!

Jack and Carol share exciting new announcements about Class 3 performance level Dynasty shingles and their new TPO line. 

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of an interview with IKO’s Contractor Channel Programs Director Jack Gottesman and Director of Marketing Carol Perkins. You can read the interview below or watch the recorded livestream. 

Karen Edwards: Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the RoofersCoffeeShop Sound Stage, live from the 2022 International Roofing Expo in New Orleans. We are here with our friends from IKO. Welcome, Jack. Carol, welcome. 

Jack Gottesman: This is so exciting. This is a cool sound stage you got. Great location. Yeah. 

Karen Edwards: Isn't it? Yeah. And we are not going to talk about taxes, foreign policy, Bitcoin, any of that stuff. 

Jack Gottesman: Carol's disappointed. 

Karen Edwards: I know. I know. 

Carol Perkins: I'm very disappointed by that. 

Karen Edwards: We're going to talk about what's new with IKO. It's something really exciting. You said it was just announced. 

Jack Gottesman: Yes, just announced today. We're breaking news here at RoofersCoffeeShop, which is what we love to do. Right? 

Karen Edwards: That's it. Yep, we do. 

Jack Gottesman: Yes, absolutely. So we made a couple of announcements today over at the IKO booth, Booth 1909. We encourage everybody who hasn't yet been over to come visit. And if you have been over, come by one more time, because there's probably something exciting that you may have missed. 

One of the many announcements that we made today is that our Dynasty shingles, which is in our performance class of shingles along with Nordic. Our Nordic shingles have always been Class 4 impact resistance rating. Class 4 being the highest. And our Dynasty shingles, which have never before carried an impact resistance rating, are now Class 3 certified. 

So it's very exciting. Because while we have always had the Class 4, not every homeowner in every region is necessarily looking for that. So while performance continues to be at the center of everything that we do, introducing the Class 3 designation for Dynasty is really, really exciting. 

Karen Edwards: That's huge. Yeah. 

Carol Perkins: Yeah. 

Karen Edwards: I mean, especially because we've been having severe weather more every year it seems. 

Carol Perkins: Absolutely. Absolutely. I'm from Chicago, so I can tell you, I know severe weather. But it's events that keep happening and we're prepared for it. That's why we took one of our top performing products and had it rated. Why not? 

Jack Gottesman: Yeah. 

Karen Edwards: That's wonderful. What's the feedback been from the industry? I know you just announced it, but are people excited about this? 

Jack Gottesman: I mean, thrilled. I'll let Carol answer that one, but yeah. 

Carol Perkins: I've been in this industry a long time, as you are aware of. Yeah, they are really excited about this because it's not something that everyone has and it's going to help them in the marketplace. Because again, it's another benefit. So you top a performance shingle and on top of that, beautiful colors and on top of that, now you just gave them another benefit to enhance their homes. And it's a big investment, as we all know. So everyone's excited. 

Jack Gottesman: Exactly. Exactly. Dynasty and Nordic both have the ArmourZone reinforced band behind that wide nailing strip that's on the face of the shingle, the reinforced band you can find on the back. So really when talking about Dynasty, exactly like Carol said, size and high definition colors and wind resistance has really always been the key performance selling features of the shingles in our performance class. Now introduce a impact resistance rating, and it's a big deal. 

Carol Perkins: The beauty of that too, was that because of our capping material is also meeting the Class 3 impact resistant rating. So we don't have to really make this big change. You don't have to get another capping material. 

Karen Edwards: Right. 

Carol Perkins: So you're going to be able to use the same capping that you used before on your Dynasty shingles. 

Karen Edwards: That's fantastic. This is nearing the end of day one of the show. 

Jack Gottesman: Yes. 

Karen Edwards: I feel that it's a pretty big crowd. 

Jack Gottesman: Yes. 

Karen Edwards: It's a pretty engaged crowd. How have things been going at your booth? 

Carol Perkins: Well, apparently it's exciting for us because there's two things going on in our booth. One, we have the residential side, which it's launching this new Class 3. Also on two of our, we call designer products, we just launched Class 4 on those also. So two of our designer products have Class 4. 

On top of that, we have our new IKO commercial, which is our TPO product line. We're doing demos on that too. I know it's pretty- 

Jack Gottesman: Did I tell you we were going to be breaking news today? 

Karen Edwards: No! What? TPO! 

Carol Perkins: Yes, we are. TPO! I know. Yes. 

Jack Gottesman: Yeah! Huge news. Huge news over here at the IKO booth. Yeah. 

Karen Edwards: Oh, my goodness. 

Jack Gottesman: With multiple application demonstrations throughout the day so you can see, because this is brand new. I mean, we've been in commercial roofing for a long time in Canada, but never in the U.S. 

Karen Edwards: No! 

Jack Gottesman: So as we bring it south of the border, we want to educate the roofing community on what this product is, how to install it properly and how it can benefit them. So yeah, IKO commercial roofing in the U.S. 

Carol Perkins: Yes. 

Karen Edwards: What a great opportunity, too, for some of your contractors who have been doing residential and they might want to get into commercial a little bit. They can go with the manufacturer they know and trust and supports them in being successful in their business. 

Carol Perkins: Absolutely. And one of the best things going on too with that is, we also just introduce our CodePlus application, which Jack's the expert at that one. 

Jack Gottesman: Yeah. Back on the residential side, when... Can I be honest with her? 

Carol Perkins: Yeah. 

Jack Gottesman: Our friends in commercial were all like, "Well, we're going to have all these demos." And we said, "We can't let commercial steal the show." So we on the residential side wanted to make sure that we're at least keeping up with the Joneses on the other side of the booth. So we... Carol's laughing. I'm just kidding. 

So we have had three today, three tomorrow, and then one or two on the last day of the show. We're showing off on our residential side, what we call our CodePlus Performance application method. So not everybody can, really everybody has to install the basic code. So we have taken performance shingles and accessories and created a roof system that's going to benefit contractors and homeowners, make people feel more safe underneath their IKO roof. 

Karen Edwards: Nice. Wow, exciting information. 

Jack Gottesman: Yeah. 

Karen Edwards: I am so glad that you guys stopped by to share that information. 

Jack Gottesman: Yeah. It's been a busy pandemic. 

Carol Perkins: Exactly. 

Karen Edwards: Yes, it has. It has. 

Carol Perkins: We've been very, very busy. 

Jack Gottesman: Yeah. 

Karen Edwards: Yeah, so stop by 1909? 

Jack Gottesman:1909. 

Carol Perkins: 1909. 

Jack Gottesman: Sounds like a marching band's coming. 

Karen Edwards: See it. Feel it. Touch it. There is a marching band coming. We are in New Orleans, I guess. So anyway. Well- 

Jack Gottesman: Yes. Can I say one thing before we sign off? 

Karen Edwards: Yes! 

Jack Gottesman: Read, listen, watch, okay, on RoofersCoffeeShop. For people who have not had yet had the opportunity, if you're just learning about RoofersCoffeeShop, because you found a tag on YouTube or you're watching IRE content, you're going to want to logon to their website. The content there is amazing. 

Karen Edwards: Thank you! 

Jack Gottesman: No one even comes close to what RoofersCoffeeShop is doing on their site. So go online. 

Karen Edwards: Oh, thank you. 

Jack Gottesman: Read, listen, and watch, and you can be up to date to have your finger on the pulse of the roofing industry. 

Karen Edwards: And we've got several out there featuring you talking about just anything you need to know, definitely. Thank you for the plug. 

Jack Gottesman: Yeah. Well, yeah. That's the platform to be on, of course. 

Karen Edwards: Thank you. 

Jack Gottesman: Yeah. Thank you for hosting us today. 

Karen Edwards: Yeah. 

Carol Perkins: Thank you so much. 

Jack Gottesman: See you guys later. 

Karen Edwards: We'll be back tomorrow. This our last live video of the day. So be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Ring that bell so you don't miss a thing, and we'll see you tomorrow. 

Learn more about IKO Industries in their RoofersCoffeeShop® Directory or visit www.iko.com.