Uplifting the industry through community involvement

By Hannah Ford. 

Malco Tools finds creative ways to excite and educate industry contractors across the country.  

In this MetalTalk® webinar session Karen Edwards visits with Jon Olson of Malco Tools. They discuss the outreach programs used by the company to uplift students and contractors across the country.  

Educating contractors and aspiring students is one of Malco Tools’ highest priorities. They want contractors to know how to effectively use their product lines for a better workday experience. “We're actually going to get out to some of our distributors and we're going to be showcasing the products onsite at those distributors. We're calling them food truck events, but really, it's outreach,” said Jon. Their efforts to reach and educate contractors have already been implemented in areas like North Carolina, Tennessee and Pennsylvania. 

These food truck events will help contractors determine the best roofing tools for their customers’ needs and better meet their demands at a faster rate. “We're going to be able to meet with those contractors when they're coming in to get orders for the week and make sure that they understand what some of these tools can do for them so that they can ultimately improve what they're doing for their daily,” shares Jon. “We want them to purchase stuff that's going to produce value for them. So, that might allow them to meet the demands of their job easier, cut out a little early that day and spend time with family.” 

The Head of Class program is another outreach initiative from Malco Tools. The program, designed to recognize the achievements of top performing students in various construction trade courses across the country, has made a major positive impact.  

“Our head of the class program empowers educators to award a student in their classroom as the head of the class. And so, talking with instructors that might have the most improved student, the student that showed exemplary skills, whatever that might be,” says Jon. “We are empowering those educators to go out to our website, click on our educator's page, and submit some information about the head of the class winner as well as the rest of the classroom.” Exemplary and hard-working students can be nominated as the head of class by their instructors.  

After a nomination is sent and the educator fills out the required information, Malco Tools takes the initiative to reward the nominee. "We send out a prize to the winner as well as the rest of the class receives a hat, a driver and some catalog information, so they can really start seeing what tools are used in these trades that they're going into,” adds Jon. “We ultimately want to meet those students where they're starting their career and make sure that they are rewarded for doing a good job.” 

In another effort to promote awareness of their brand and product lines across the industry, Malco Tools often has a presence at various trade shows throughout the year. This gives contractors the opportunity to get a feel for their products in person. “We love to put these tools in people's hands when they stop into the booth so they can feel them, articulate them, make sure they feel like they're the right tools for what they need on the job,” explains Jon.  

Supporting members of the roofing community starts with the teenagers and young adults who have discovered a passion for the job, which is why having a presence at student events is important as well. "One of the events that we love going to is Skills USA, where we're going to meet up with educators and students from the industry. We typically sponsor the sheet metal competition there, as well as the teams event. These high schoolers and collegiate students are working on showcasing their skills and abilities,” remarks Jon.  

An additional program run by Malco Tools is the Trade Pro of the Year Award. They recognize five trade pros per category that showcase the core values of the trade. “What we love about the Trade Pro the Year is it recognizes professionals that are not only showing great work ethic out on the job site, but also enriching their community in ways such as philanthropy,” explains Jon. “We want people to be excited to be in the trades and excited to be a part of that.” 

Read the transcript, Listen to the conversation or Watch the webinar to learn more about the exciting programs used to support members of the roofing community.