What to Look Forward to at This Year’s FRSA Annual Convention

By Evelyn Witterholt. 

In our latest episode of Roofing Road Trips, we learn what's new at the upcoming FRSA convention. 

The Florida Roofing and Sheet Metal Contractors Association (FRSA) will meet again for their 101st Annual Convention this July 12-14 at the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center. This year, the association expects over 230 companies to exhibit at their show, including the Coffee Shops! In a recent podcast with Lisa Pate, executive director, and Matt Chriswell, president, we got the inside scoop about the upcoming show. 

Lisa has been with FRSA for an impressive 38 years, helping the association with their seminars, magazines and the convention itself. She tells us that with the success of last year’s sold-out show, they are expecting an even bigger turnout this year.  

“We went from 95,000 square feet to 106,000 this year and sold that out immediately,” she said. “We even got to the point where we sold our own booth space that exhibitors could get on the show floor and moved us into the lounge area.”  

Matt tells us that this year’s convention will have speaking sessions and discussions about a variety of industry issues, including employee retention, building codes, workers’ compensation and immigration. One session he says attendees should get excited for is with FRSA’s lobbyist, Chris Dawson, who will lead a discussion about recent updates in Florida’s legislation. He also says that there will be 31 different seminars that will appeal to everyone in the roofing industry.  

“The educational foundation this year selected just a massive slate of seminars for just about every level of participate that attends the convention,” he says. “We have 31 separate seminars from financing to some of the newest affordable building codes that are being enacted. So, there's a little bit of something in there for everybody.” 

Listen to the entire podcast to learn more about the history of FRSA and their upcoming convention.