S2:E38 David Workman - Connecting Contractors With Opportunity

By Colin Sheehan, RCS Reporter. 

Learn about this network of roofing contractors and how it brings national opportunities to local contractors. 

David Workman of RoofConnect joined RoofersCoffeeShop’s® own Heidi J. Ellsworth for another instalment of Roofing Road Trips with Heidi. In this episode, the industry leader talks about RoofConnect’s incredible network of roofing contractors and his introduction to the world of roofing.  

“I'm from a little town here called Sheridan, Arkansas, which is where our corporate office is based,” said David. He was born and raised in Sheridan and worked as a forklift mechanic in high school. “My dad was a really good technician, and kind of kidded me that I wasn't quite as handy as he was, so I thought, ‘I'll show him,’ and I went and became a forklift mechanic.”  

He attests part of his success to the community of family and friends that pushed him at home, “My wife was going to college at night, and [my family] kept saying, ‘What are you doing at night, you just going home and sitting around?’”  

After that initial push, David started to attend night school and finished his degree with AutoCAD accreditation, a skill that would end up giving him his first job in roofing. Soon after, a friend from church who heard he had finished college with AutoCAD knowledge approached David with a job offer. 

“I was a tapered insulation layout person, and I did that for them for a few years and [that] grew into a national account position, working along with Firestone. It opened up a lot of doors into doing a lot of different things in the industry.” 

Eventually, David ended up with RoofConnect. The start-up company was comprised of visionaries who saw the rapid consolidation happening in the industry and wanted to create a way for local companies to maintain their presence without missing out on opportunities they would otherwise receive from being part of a consolidated network. By 2002 RoofConnect was an official incorporation and since then has stuck to its original goal of connecting contractors without compromising their original businesses.  

“It was started, literally, by roofing contractors who had a vision [to] build a network of quality like-minded people to help you grow our own businesses locally and yet not give up the control of your business, but still be able to participate in national opportunity.” 

While David doesn’t think working within a network is for everyone, he strongly advocates for people to push themselves through testing out new or different routes that could lead to success. He believes challenge is opportunity and that RoofConnect has the ability to help contractors enhance their business through connecting it with national opportunities.  

Hear more about RoofConnect from David Workman by listening to the full podcast on RoofersCoffeShop.