Richard Duncan - Celebrating 50 Years of Working Together - PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Richard “Rick” Duncan from Spray Polyurethane Foam Alliance (SPFA). You can Read the interview below or Listen to the podcast.

Megan Ellsworth: Hello, everyone. My name is Megan Ellsworth here at rooferscoffeeshop.com, and I am back again on Roofing Road Trips and I'm so excited. I'm here with Rick Duncan from Spray Foam and we're going to be talking about the Spray Foam Convention and Expo that is happening this March, March 3rd through the 6th. Hi, Rick. How you doing?

Richard “Rick” Duncan: Hi, Megan. How are you?

Megan Ellsworth: I am doing great. I'm super excited to hear everything that you all have in store for us at the convention. So let's dive right in and have you just introduce yourself and your role.

Richard “Rick” Duncan: Okay. First of all, I'd like to thank you for the opportunity today to be part of RoofersCoffeeShop podcast. My name is Rick Duncan, and I'm the executive director for the Spray Polyurethane Foam Alliance. I've been with the SPFA for 15 years and about the last three years I've been performing as the executive director.

A little bit about the Spray Polyurethane Foam Alliance, we are a 501(c)(6), a nonprofit trade association, and so we are primarily created to represent spray foam contractors.

Megan Ellsworth: Okay.

Richard “Rick” Duncan: This year we are actually celebrating our 50th anniversary, if you will. The SPFA was actually formed out of some prior organizations over the years, but the first organization was the Urethane Foam Contractors Association, which was created in 1973. Due to some different affiliations, and you can read about it on our website under our history, we actually became the Spray Polyurethane Foam Alliance in 2003. So this is a big year for us.

Megan Ellsworth: That is a big year. Wow, that's really exciting. So is this 50 years of the convention as well?

Richard “Rick” Duncan: Not quite. The convention actually started back when we were created in the late 70s and early 80s. We had meetings, and most of our contractors then were roofing contractors because that's how spray foam got started. We had some informal meetings of the Urethane Foam Contractors Association, which then we started to invite different suppliers, equipment and chemical suppliers and kind of gradually grew into a trade show. And by the 1990s it was a full-blown trade show, if you will. And SPFA has been doing it now for over 20 years. We continue that tradition.

Megan Ellsworth: That's amazing. So what do you think, specifically with the convention and expo, what do you think the impact has been from getting all these people together every year?

Richard “Rick” Duncan: Well, the impact has really been about learning. Back when we started, one of the main ideas of creating the SPFA and its predecessor was that our contractors really need to learn more about the new technology. And we've carried that tradition over into what we currently do with our show, and that is to promote education. And whether it's learning about new materials or new equipment or just different application techniques or ways to make your business better, we're providing a forum for that for contractors all over the country and all over the world to get together.

Megan Ellsworth: So important. That's so important. And just getting out of your bubble and seeing other people's experiences and comparing them to your own, that can be so crucial for a business. So going off that, why should people attend and how do they attend?

Richard “Rick” Duncan: Okay. Well, our show is actually a four-day in total.

Megan Ellsworth: Oh, amazing.

Richard “Rick” Duncan: The first two days would be Sunday, March 3rd and Monday, March 4th, we focus on our professional certification programs. So we have a number of different activities that we do during those first two days. Then the second two days, March 5th and 6th, are really when our official show begins. So we have an opening session on Tuesday followed by a couple of sessions of what we call breakout sessions where we have different expert presenters across the industry do presentations, and then we cap off the end of that first day with our trade show. And then we come back the next day and do a similar type of program where we also have about three different educational sessions followed again by a trade show in the afternoon. So it's four days of really getting to intensively learn about our industry.

Megan Ellsworth: Wow. Okay, great. What new products or news in the industry do you expect will be announced at this year's convention?

Richard “Rick” Duncan: Well, I expect there's going to be some new equipment innovations. As our industry has progressed, we went from very simple proportioner machines, the machines used to apply the foam, to now they're computer operated in very sophisticated systems. We continue to see innovation in those areas. We also will be having some new products to show in terms of the spray foam and coatings themselves. There are new chemistries, new ways of making our product improve coverage and improve performance, and we're going to see some new products like those launched in our show.

Megan Ellsworth: That's exciting. It's always exciting to see the new machinery and all the different, I guess, machinery and machines that companies bring to their booths that they haul in and you just walk into this massive trade show. It's just so fun. So that's always so fun to see.

Richard “Rick” Duncan: It's a great bit of excitement.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah.

Richard “Rick” Duncan: Especially the first day.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, first day wide eyes. Since this year marks 50 years for the SPFA, are you all doing anything special at the trade show to celebrate the 50 years?

Richard “Rick” Duncan: We do. We're going to have some very interesting, and I guess I would call it spray foam memorabilia, if you will, at our booth. We will be bringing with us one of the first commercially available spray foam machines. So for people who are new to the industry, they can actually get a feel for what contractors used 40 or 50 years ago.

Megan Ellsworth: Oh, wow.

Richard “Rick” Duncan: So, we'll bring you that. We have some vintage advertising back from the early 1960s, heck, to kind of show where we've come from, and that'll be at our booth. And we also are going to recognize... This year we recognize some new honorary members of the SPFA and these are some of the early pioneers of the industry that are now honorary members of our association.

Megan Ellsworth: Oh, that's exciting. I love, love when conventions kind of have that interactive historical element, and so it's really exciting that you guys are doing that. That's really [inaudible 00:07:50].

Richard “Rick” Duncan: Oh, we also have a couple of binders full of old advertisements, old magazines and articles from over the years too, so it's always great to come and page through that.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. Oh, that's really cool. Oh, man. Everyone that's going to the SPFA convention, make sure to go to their booth. Do you know your booth number, Rick?

Richard “Rick” Duncan: Actually, one of the things we have to report is that as of this weekend all of our booths are sold out. So what that means is that our booth is going to be outside at the entrance of the convention center, so we'll be right there at the entrance.

Megan Ellsworth: That's awesome. Well, that's exciting that you sold out. Congratulations.

Richard “Rick” Duncan: Yes.

Megan Ellsworth: Okay. So what kind of classes, certification courses are going to be offered at the convention this year?

Richard “Rick” Duncan: Okay. As I mentioned earlier, the first two days of our show really focus on certification, on the certification program. And actually beginning as early as Saturday, so Saturday, Sunday and Monday, and that would be March 2nd, 3rd and 4th, we actually have our field exams, which are set up in the back lot right behind the West Gate. And there'll be plenty of signs there on how to get there. But what we do is we offer free field exams for our master-level certification. So in our field exams, we have mock-ups of different areas. We actually spray foam, we spray coatings, and we actually give opportunities for contractors or installers to get their master-level field exam completely passed.

So we have that set up for those three days, but also beginning Sunday morning and, well, Monday morning, we have a number of different exam prep courses. In our certification program, we have seven different levels. We have the assistant level, which is the same for roofing and insulators, and then we have three additional levels in the insulation track and three more in the roofing track, which will take you from installer, master installer and project manager.

Megan Ellsworth: Wow.

Richard “Rick” Duncan: So, we offer those written exams all throughout the day on Sunday and Monday, but we also offer six-hour exam prep courses for each one of those exams. So if you're not sure if you're ready to take the exam, just sit in on the exam prep course and then we give you two hours near the end of the day to complete that exam.

So those are the things we have going on. In addition to that, we also work very closely with the Air Barrier Association of America, and they put on a course for spray foam air barriers at the same time. So there are many opportunities to complete and further your education in those areas.

Megan Ellsworth: That is so nice. And it's so nice to be able to do things in person after so many years of doing everything online. So it's so cool to get to meet other people that are in those prep courses with you, kind of compare notes. So that's cool that you guys are offering so many different options for people.

Richard “Rick” Duncan: Yes.

Megan Ellsworth: So, besides classes, what special events, any dinners or receptions being held during the convention?

Richard “Rick” Duncan: Well, we actually have at the end of our trade show the first day, we have an informal welcoming reception, although it's really in the middle of the show. We have an informal welcoming session. We also work closely with another group called Spray Foam World Wide, which is a Facebook-based organization, and they have their event on Monday, which is also something to consider visiting. And we also have our awards luncheon on Tuesday. And our awards, those are our National Industry Excellence Awards that we give out every year to some exceptional projects.

Megan Ellsworth: Oh, cool. Amazing.

Richard “Rick” Duncan: Oh, and I forgot to mention our golf outing. We also have a golf outing on Monday afternoon starting at noon. And that's more of a networking social event. But we also include in there a fundraiser. It's our Seig Hall fundraiser, which helps to fund our free field exams for that week.

Megan Ellsworth: Oh. Oh, that's great. So everyone out there sign up for golf if it's not sold out already. Who doesn't love a golf outing?

Richard “Rick” Duncan: That's right.

Megan Ellsworth: I know I do. I don't even play golf and I love a golf outing.

Richard “Rick” Duncan: There you go.

Megan Ellsworth: Well, this convention sounds like it's going to be amazing. Congratulations on 50 years. How can people register and sign up to attend?

Richard “Rick” Duncan: Well, it's quite easy. You can go right directly to our website. It's sprayfoam.org. On the main page, you'll see a link to Spray Foam '24. Alternately, you can just type in sprayfoam.org/sprayfoam24, and that takes you right to the main page of our show. On the left side, you'll see all the different activities and events, and there's a link right there where you can register online for the show. You can register for any of the PCP activities as well, and including the golf outing.

Megan Ellsworth: Amazing. And everyone can find that information also on RoofersCoffeeShop under this SBFA directory. So, make sure to go check it out, get registered and get your hotel rooms and have fun. Also, CoatingsCoffeeShop will have a booth there. And that's booth number 915. So Rick, this has been so fun. I'm so excited for you all, and I hope the convention just goes off without a hitch.

Richard “Rick” Duncan: Oh, I certainly hope so. We got six weeks to prepare and we're going to be reading and looking forward to seeing everyone in Las Vegas this year.

Megan Ellsworth: Yay. Well, we'll be seeing you in Las Vegas. And for everyone out there listening, thanks for listening. Make sure to subscribe and ring the little bell so you get notified every time we post a new episode. This has been Roofing Road Trips, and we'll see you on the next one.