Rachel Pinkus, Megan Pope & Joe Shimp - 2025 NFBA Expo: Training, Networking, Innovation - PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Megan Pope, Rachel Pinkus and Joe Shimp of NFBA. You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast.

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Hello, everyone. My name is Megan Ellsworth, and you are listening to a Roofing Road Trip podcast episode from rooferscoffeeshop.com. I'm so excited today because we are talking about the annual National Frame Builders Association Expo that's coming up this year.

And I have Megan Pope, Rachel Pinkus and Joe Shimp here. I'm so excited. Hi, guys. How are you?

Participants: Good. How are you? Good. Fine.

Heidi Ellsworth: Good. I'm honored to be chatting with you. So, let's dive right in and have, Megan, how about you, introduce yourself?

Megan Pope: Hi, I'm Megan Pope. I am the Executive Director of the National Frame Building Association.

Heidi Ellsworth: Incredible, Joe?

Joe Shimp: Yeah, I'm Joe Shimp. I'm the incoming President of the NFBA Board, as well as the President at Conestoga CV Structures, Inc.

Heidi Ellsworth: Awesome. Rachel?

Rachel Pinkus: Rachel Pinkus, and I am the Managing Director of the National Frame Building Association.

Heidi Ellsworth: Amazing. Okay. So, to start, what would you say makes this annual show such an important event for industry professionals? Maybe, Megan, you can hit that one first.

Megan Pope: Yeah, definitely. Well, this April, you're going to see the largest post-frame industry conference and expo that has ever been held.

Heidi Ellsworth: Wow.

Megan Pope: And I say that because we have more exhibitors this year than we have ever had. We're breaking records in that department. And we're going to have a lot of fun. We've got a lot of fun worked into this program. And we give you the four, three, two, one, is what I like to call it. So, it's four of our major networking events will be a part of the conference. We've got three days of trade show with the expo. And we have two days with educational seminars. And then, we have one big awards ceremony. So, a lot packed in in those few days. So, we're excited to bring that to people.

Heidi Ellsworth: That's great. Joe and Rachel, why would you say this is such an important event for the industry?

Joe Shimp: I mean, I would speak to the way we have built up an event that caters to everyone in our industry at every level, where many shows are targeting only owners of a company or only key decision makers. A well-run company needs, and can value and benefit from a crew guy going through a show and coming back to the office with an idea of something they saw that would make them improve their efficiency, work better, whatever or safety.

And I've had firsthand experience within my own company where we invite different levels and different backgrounds into the show, and they all get an education catered to their ability. But in addition to that, they see ideas and can bring them back and share and we can implement new things. So, I love that the show is dynamic and it's just a wholesome experience as a company owner to send your employee and team there.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah. Yeah, that's so great, too, as maybe you're on a crew and you don't always get to go to a lot of these industry events. And I think that's really important and special that this is a show that caters to so many different genres of people in the industry. That's cool.

Okay. So, Rachel, I'll start with you next. What can attendees expect to see on the show floor in terms of vendors, vendor showcases, demonstrations this year?

Rachel Pinkus: Yeah. So, this is the largest trade show floor that NFBA is ever going to have.

Heidi Ellsworth: Wow.

Rachel Pinkus: We have over 170 vendors [inaudible 00:04:05] square feet of new technology for people to check out, materials, processes. It's going to have a lot of new things for everybody.

And also, in our demonstration area, we're going to have Kyle Stumpenhorst back. He's going to be working with Plyco to do some proper installation of doors and windows. We're going to do the fall demonstration drop zone again. I think we've done that the last couple of years.

We have a couple of other special guests. Let's see. Todd Meinhold with Ridgeline Safety Systems and H&D Quality Builders and Dwayne Borkholder of Borkholder Building & Supply are going to be there. And they're going to be demonstrating some new safety equipment that is in the industry.

And lastly, we will have our contests on the demo floor. So everybody always looks forward to those: fastest nail driving and the fastest screw driving contest. We'll have those again, which are always a big thrill for everybody and has a great gathering.

Heidi Ellsworth: I love a contest on the show floor. They're so fun to watch. Yeah, I love it. Megan and Joe, anything else to add that people should be looking forward to on the show floor?

Megan Pope: Just wanted to say real quick that, if you're interested in seeing who is going to be there, who these exhibitors are, if you go to the events section of NFBA.org and click on the exhibitors tab, we do have a show floor layout, an interactive layout. So, you can see exactly who's going to be there. It gives you a description of each exhibitor, shows you exactly where their booth is going to be. So, if you want to pregame a little bit for the expo and map out your route, just hop on over there and you can take a look at that.

Heidi Ellsworth: Okay, great. That's so helpful. Joe, what are some of the key education sessions happening and being offered this year?

Joe Shimp: I'm always drawn to sales.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah.

Joe Shimp: So, I always like to go through and encourage the committee, in a sense, that Rachel focuses on or with quite a bit and make sure that we bring a high value to sales. There's technical, legal, financial. And again, with us appealing to a broad background, I think that it's important that we do have that diversity in what we offer. But yeah, I'm always excited about who's coming in for sales and their sessions. And honestly, the craze of barndominiums and things like that always draws a crowd. So, I don't think that anyone feels left out in our education offerings. And I think Rachel and her team do a great job of reviewing what speakers we've had, and who we can attract and keeping it fresh. So, I'm always stoked about our sessions.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah.

Rachel Pinkus: Yeah.

Heidi Ellsworth: Rachel, any standouts?

Rachel Pinkus: Yeah, we do have a lot of fresh seminars, but we also have some of the speakers coming back that have been very popular in the past. So, everybody loves Marvin Montgomery [inaudible 00:07:06] is talking about sales and leadership within your company. And Marvin's always been a great draw.

Another speaker that I want to draw attention to is with ITR Economics. ITR Economics is going to come in. They're one of the leading national economic companies out there. And with especially the change in administration, and all the different things that are going in the world, they give a really, really in depth economic outlook, not only for the upcoming year but for years into the future.And they're very neutral and statistic, data-driven companies, so they do a wonderful job.
Also, we're going to have back Stacee Lynn and Oliver Bell with Barndominium Company. And they have two sessions, and those have always been big draws.

And then, lots of other little new things. Of course, AI is always in the news and on the horizon and people are wondering how it's going to affect them and their business. So, we have an AI speaker coming in.

So, like Joe said, we said we've got a pretty good variety of speakers at this.

Heidi Ellsworth: Oh, that's great. And I love what you said, Joe, too, that it's very diverse, that everybody can find something that they're interested in. That's really great.

Okay. Megan, how does the NFBA certification training benefit professionals in the construction industry? And what's going on there at the NFBA show?

Megan Pope: Sure. So, the time that you spend at the educational sessions at the conference earns you credit towards our NFBA accredited post-frame builder program. And this is a program that our members can participate in. And we honor them and their integrity and industry knowledge through this program. So, it demonstrates that they ensure quality for their customers, that safety is important to them, professionalism, that they continually train their team on an annual basis.
So, if you participate in that program, it sets you apart from your competition and you can say, "I'm an accredited builder. I'm established. I'm a real company that's going to take extra special care of you." And that gives our program members a competitive edge in their business. So, yep, you get credits for going to the classes.

Heidi Ellsworth: I love it. That's such a great benefit too. While you're also having fun at the show, and seeing all these cool demonstrations and learning and just in having a good time, you're also gathering all of those credits. That's awesome. Okay. So, can you all tell us a little bit more about the awards ceremony that's happening? What makes it so special and how do the awards recognize outstanding achievements in the industry?

Megan Pope: Sure. One of the main things that we include in our awards ceremony is our Building of the Year Awards program. And this is an opportunity for us to highlight what our builder members are doing using cutting edge post-frame construction design and really utilizing the versatility of it. This industry has grown leaps and bounds as far as what is being cranked out with building design and building function. And it really gives us a chance to see what's the best out there. What are these beautiful projects that people have been creatively coming up with? And Joe, I know you've been involved a lot with the Building of the Year Awards and it's kind of near and dear to your heart. So, I just wanted to give you a chance to speak on that.

Joe Shimp: Yeah, I think that the awards, I think the first context or thought is, "Well, it's us celebrating greatness," which it is, absolutely. But what I actually see it as is inspiration for our entire industry and for the people who participate, not only to grow but to challenge the norm of designs. And like Megan said, we've come so far. So, the Building of the Year Awards, it's one of my favorite parts of the show, to be honest with you and promote greatness.

But like I said, when we look outside our industry, in our world we might be focused on certain aspects and structural designs and things like that. But for a lot of the outsiders and the public, they want to see something different. They want to see that we took post-frame and achieved a new goal. So, as we look at post-frame as the solution that we offer as an industry, I'm always excited to see the creative uses. And our judging does reward that.

Of course, we want to award and reward beautiful buildings that are well-thought-out and put together. But anytime that post-frame has added an additional value, it's exciting to see what people have done. So, I can speak a little bit to entries this year. I know that it was, if not the highest, one of the highest counts of entries. And I will give a little preview that I have never seen a group of projects this good. So, I'll just put it in that context.

Heidi Ellsworth: Wow. Oh, my gosh, that bodes well. How do people apply or send in their projects for this for maybe next year's show?

Megan Pope: So, we have that online at nfba.org, there's a section for awards. And you just hop on there and look for Building of the Year Awards, or B-O-Y is what we [inaudible 00:12:40]. And you can submit your entries. We have a large timeframe that ended a month ago. So, you want to look for that really in the fall and early winter. But you go on there and we have an online submittal form. It just takes you through the questions about your project. You fill that in, hit submit and you're good to go.

Rachel Pinkus: I just wanted to say, along with the Building of the Year Awards, we also do allow companies to recognize their foreman in their companies. And we do that all year long. So, also on the website in that same section, you can find a nomination form if you have an outstanding foreman at your company. And we will recognize those in each magazine, so six times a year in the magazine, but we do them for all 12 months. And then, during the awards ceremony, we will recognize a Foreman of the Year. And they'll go home with a cash prize, and some recognition and all that stuff as well. So, that's also great.

And then, we also have our safety awards of being in the construction industry. Of course, safety is at the forefront for our companies. We want to make sure everybody gets sent home safe from the work that they do every day. And so, we do work with our legal counsel, Gary [inaudible 00:13:59]. And there's applications for the safety program. And then, he gives them great feedback about their company safety programs and how they can improve them. And that is also a really great program where our members can get a lot of bang for their buck.

Again, those are ones that you have to apply for ahead of time, just like the Building of the Year Awards. But those people will also be recognized during the awards ceremony.

Heidi Ellsworth: That's awesome. Okay. So, at the awards ceremony, you're recognizing the Building of the Year, Foreman of the Year. Anyone else?

Megan Pope: Quite possibly. We have a very special award called the Bernon G. Perkins Award. And this is to recognize an outstanding member of the industry who's also heavily participated with the association over the years. But really what is considered is their impact to the industry as a whole. This award is not given out every year, and we're still in the process of taking nominations for that. So, good thing we're talking about it.

So, if you have someone in mind that you would like to nominate for the Bernon G. Perkins Award, same thing. Go to our website nfba.org, go to the awards section and find that Bernon G. Perkins Award application. And then, we will review those submittals and choose a winner.

Heidi Ellsworth: That's awesome. I love it. It's just nice to celebrate this great industry we're in and all the people that make it great and make it what it is. So, thanks for what you all are doing in terms of that.
And I know your foundation auction is always a big event. What does that look like this year and how does it impact the industry and the community?

Megan Pope: So, the Foundation Auction is part of our expo social. And the expo social is kind of like the grand finale of the conference program. It's the last networking event. It's the biggest networking event. Everybody's invited. This year we are having a county fair theme.

But yeah, it's going to be pretty fun. We're going to have some county fair games that people can play for prizes. We're bringing back our cornhole tournament this year, which was a hit last year. Yes, so we've got 10 sets of cornhole boards lined up. Joe helps with that. Tim Royer from Timber Tech helps with that as well and organizes the tournament.
And so, it's exciting to see 10 rows of cornhole bags flying through the air. [inaudible 00:16:23] a party. And then, we have food and beverage and musical entertainment. It's just a time for everybody to get together. But yeah, we have the auction as well incorporated into that to raise funds for the foundation.

So, the NFBA Foundation is a [inaudible 00:16:39] and it supports industry-related research, industry-related education and also scholarships for NFBA members and their families. And one of the primary focuses of the foundation this year and next year is to raise funds for the new edition of the NFBA's Post-Frame Building Design Manual.

So, this is a reference manual that is widely used across the country as a basis for post-frame construction. So, it's been a while since the second edition came out. So, this will be the third edition. And we're incorporating new content, but also updating the content that's in there, code standards and revisions that you see with those types of things. So, just getting everything up to date for people.

So, that's a project that we're excited to be working on. And that's what the foundation is focused on. And the event is going to be a great time.

Heidi Ellsworth: That's awesome. Who doesn't love going to the county fair? That's a great theme. I love it. Okay. Also, cornhole tournament sounds so much fun. That's amazing.

Okay, so what are some of the exciting auction items that you're going to be auctioning off?

Megan Pope: So, we usually have a pretty good assortment of different items, like tools. We get the latest technology of things that people are using in their homes or using on the job site. We are trying to incorporate some travel experiences into the auction items, but we are still getting those in. So, just want to plug that real quick.

If you could, if you're able, please feel free to send us an item for the auction. We'll have both a silent and a live auction. So, we are accepting contributions now to that. And you can also find that on our website under the foundation section.

Heidi Ellsworth: Okay. Incredible. Joe, were you going to say something?

Joe Shimp: Yeah, I would add, last year during the live auction, we did have someone donate or provide us with a flamethrower. That was quite the item. So, as Megan said, our goal is to raise money. But the whole night, the whole atmosphere is to have fun while raising money, not just come and have a boring, "Please give us donations to this". We're happy in any form or function, but our goal is to make it engaging and have a good time. And I think the theme this year capitalizes on that.

The cornhole tournament last year, we weren't sure to be completely honest, how many people would engage in it. And we ran out of room pretty quickly. So, it's really quite the event and for a good cause. So, it's an engaging, fun night that has a positive result at the end. So, pretty exciting.

Heidi Ellsworth: That is so awesome. I love it. Okay. So, to go back to the very beginning, when is the show? When is this year and how can people also register to attend?

Rachel Pinkus: Absolutely. So, the show is April 2nd through the 4th. We're going to be at the Knoxville Convention Center. We have four different host hotels that are right within walking distance, if not right across the street, from the convention center. All that information can be found at NFBA.org.

And we have several different ways that people can register. If you're wanting to go to the education, you can go ahead and register online. We've also been sending out paper forms in the magazine and hard copy mailings. And you can even register on site if you don't make the decision to go before you're already there. So, we can take registrations over the phone even, if that's what people need. So, any way that they can get ahold of our staff, we will help them get registered to attend.

Heidi Ellsworth: Okay, perfect. Well, I know I'm really excited. Roofer's Coffee Shop is really excited to be in attendance, and to be supporting the show and the auction and the awards. So, thank you so much for having us.
And I hope everyone goes to the website and registers now. Get your hotel and come on out because it sounds like it's going to be a really good time. And everyone can go to the NFBA directory on rooferscoffeeshop.com to learn more as well.

Any last words on why people should attend?

Joe Shimp: Just say you're missing out if you don't show up.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah.

Joe Shimp: So, that's not a threat. That's an encouragement. But seriously, if you were engaged in this industry and when you look at the value of not only... Just send as many people as you reasonably can to the show. It's such a positive value. It has such great takeaways. And you couldn't possibly get the education and the experience without attending a show like ours. So, that's what I would add.

Heidi Ellsworth: Absolutely.

Megan Pope: The in-person element of the show is something you cannot get anywhere else and it has an impact on everybody that attends. Everybody that's a part of it gets something out of it for sure. Time well spent.

Outro: That's great. Well, thank you all so much for chatting with me, taking time out of your busy days before the show to chat with me and explain all the exciting things you all are up to. So, thank you. And I will see you at the NFBA show on April 2nd.

Thank you so much, everyone out there listening. Please go to rooferscoffeeshop.com to learn more and we'll be seeing you next time on the next Roofing Road Trip.

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