By Jenny Yu.  

This year’s convention offers a full lineup of events designed to connect professionals and their families, on and off the show floor. 

The Florida Roofing and Sheet Metal Contractors Association (FRSA) 104th Convention & Expo is set to return June 10–12, 2026, at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center, bringing together roofing professionals for three days of networking, education and a wide range of exciting social events designed for attendees and their families!  

Eat, drink and network 

The fun begins at the Welcome Reception on Wednesday, sponsored by Adams & Reese LLP, featuring food stations and an open bar in a relaxed setting. The excitement continues the next evening with the Jimmy Buffett Casino Party, an evening of games, dancing and tropical flair, alongside key presentations. Throughout the expo, the Beer Bust, sponsored by Mid-Atlantic Roofing Supply and GAF, and complimentary Expo lunches from PAC-CLAD Petersen and USG Securock offer casual opportunities to connect. 

Give back 

A cornerstone of the convention, the Foundation Auction runs throughout the event, raising funds for the FRSA Educational & Research Foundation. With both in-person and online bidding, attendees can support scholarships and industry advancement from wherever they are! Bidding starts on June 5 at 8:00 a.m. and ends June 12 at 2:00 p.m. 

Spotlighting women and Spanish speakers in the industry 

Professional development meets community at the National Women in Roofing (NWIR) Table Talks Session on Wednesday, June 10, where women in roofing can exchange insights on leadership and relationship building in a round-robin format. Registration is $25 and includes refreshments. 

On Thursday, June 11, SRS Building Products and CertainTeed join forces to host a special session for Spanish speakers to learn, connect and celebrate. This event is free, with limited spots available. 

Family fun for everyone! 

Enjoy time with loved ones, starting with Wednesday's Family Fun Event featuring indoor mini golf and a new “Brick Lab” competition where families can build and race custom Lego cars. The Kids’ Program adds even more excitement throughout the convention, with pizza-making, scavenger hunts, arcade competitions and interactive gaming experiences, ensuring younger roofers-to-be are just as engaged as their parents. 

Sports and creative experiences 

For those seeking active or creative outlets, attendees can participate in golf and clay shooting tournaments or explore artistic options like a textured painting workshop and a chocolate rose culinary experience. 

From networking receptions to family activities and charitable giving, FRSA’s 104th Convention & Expo offers something for everyone.  

Register now to secure your spot and experience it all.

By Emma Peterson. 

Westlake’s portfolio is full of high-performance solutions for every project. 

While at the 2026 International Builders’ Show, The Coffee Shops™ team interviewed a variety of our customers and industry friends from SRS Distribution’s expo floor garage! One such interview was with Mitch Heitsch, who is a regional sales manager with Westlake Royal Roofing Products. Mitch was at the show highlighting the variety of products and solutions Westlake has to offer for all contractors, no matter what part of the building they work on, where they are in the country, what performance/aesthetics requirements they need to meet and more.  

He opened the conversation by explaining how Westlake’s portfolio encompasses a variety of markets, sharing, “Our overall brand is called Westlake Royal Building Products because we have so many different solutions... There’s roofing, which is my division, then there’s tools (Tapco), and on top of that we have stone for outdoor living (such as El Dorado and Cultured Stone) and siding/trim solutions.”  

And within each of these brands, Westlake has developed sub-brands and systems that meet the needs of contractors in the field. Unified Steel, Westlake’s stone-coated metal roofing brand, is a prime example of this. Mitch explained:  

Our products check most of the boxes when it comes to both performance and aesthetics. Take Unified Steel, for example. It has all the ratings Floridians could need when it comes to hurricanes and wind uplifts, while also having the very severe hail (VSH) and snow load ratings needed in the Midwest and the fire ratings needed out West. And from an aesthetics standpoint, we not only have a variety of colors for every need, but also five unique profiles that fit any architectural style out there. 

At the end of the day, if you need a product related to building a home, Westlake’s portfolio is likely to have a high-performance solution perfect for the job. 

Learn more about Westlake’s portfolio by watching the whole interview.

By SRS Distribution.

Technology rarely fails because of the tools. It fails because change is hard.

Real success comes from building better processes around technology. The value is not just in the platform. It is in elevating how work gets done, eliminating busywork and automating the routine tasks that slow teams down.

But change is still hard.

The construction industry sits high on the resistance curve for digital adoption, not because contractors do not care, but because they do not have time to learn something that slows them down. They are running jobs, leading crews, serving customers and chasing growth every day.

At SRS Distribution, we understand that entrepreneurial drive and the responsibility that comes with it. Our role is to support it, not disrupt it. SRS was built on that same spirit, and our focus is helping pros implement smarter processes that empower them to scale.

Beyond software: A true support system

SRS did not just deliver Roof Hub, Powerful Integration Partners and Digital Programs. We built a Digital Success Team to help contractors turn those solutions into real results.

The Digital Success Team works alongside contractors to:

• Bring total visibility into your distributor relationship
• Unify systems through CRM integrations
• Implement repeatable templates
• Leverage digital ordering workflows
• Delete administrative bottlenecks

This partnership-driven approach ensures technology delivers real operational impact, not just another login or another form to fill out. That’s why our focus is simple: we help contractors BUILD smarter workflows.

Real story: Scaling instead of hiring

One contractor told us they were preparing to hire another office manager just to keep up with paperwork. Instead, we helped implement CRM integrations and automated workflows that streamlined their operations. Months later, they redirected that salary into a sales hire, scaling revenue instead of overhead

What this means for contractors

Dan Tinker (SRS CEO) said it best: “There will be two types of roofers in the future: Those who adopt technology and succeed, and those who go out of business.”

Our team mission is simple. Make sure none of our customers fall into the second category.

By Emma Peterson. 

Celebrate your crew and share your story with NRCA this June. 

Roofing is the hidden hero in many people’s lives; roofs protect their homes, families, businesses and possessions from the elements. To raise awareness about the significance of roofing and the important work of professionals across the roofing industry, the National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA) will be hosting their annual National Roofing Week from June 7-13, 2026. 

During the week, NRCA will be sharing stories from professionals around the industry across their social media platforms. NRCA encourages members to “share their stories of charitable giving, crew and staff appreciation and signature roofing projects” by using the #NationalRoofingWeek2026 tag.  

Another great way to show your support for this initiative is by decking your crew out in National Roofing Week swag! These shirts are a great way to show your roofing pride with style. You can find more detailed information about participation and National Roofing Week assets to use in your photos and videos online. 

This year’s event is sponsored by a variety of industry-leading companies, including Georgia-Pacific, SRS Distribution, International Roofing Expo, Hanover Architectural Products, OMG Roofing Products, Roofing Alliance, SOPREMA and TuffWrap. If you need more information on National Roofing Week, contact NRCA Director of Communications Krista Berns (847-493-7531 or kberns@nrca.net) or NRCA Social Media Manager Madison Mahoney (847-493-7548 or mmahoney@nrca.net). 

Join the NRCA in celebrating the essential work your crew does each day and promote the importance of hiring professionals!

By Emma Peterson. 

SRS Distribution is leveling up their digital contractor platform just in time for the busy construction season!  

For today’s contractors, efficient digital workflows are no longer optional — they are essential to staying competitive and operating at scale. That need originally led SRS Distribution to develop Roof Hub — removing friction from how contractors estimate order and keep jobs moving. Now, with a newly released refresh, Roof Hub is taking that experience even further. 

At the center of the update is a redesigned dashboard and streamlined navigation — built to make everyday tasks faster, simpler and more intuitive, while creating the foundation to bring even more powerful features into Roof Hub, such as:  

• Enhanced dashboard and navigation: A cleaner layout helps contractors quickly access the tools they use most.  
• Global product search: Find products instantly from anywhere in Roof Hub. No more jumping between screens. Start a new order, template or estimate from one convenient place now paired with one-page ordering to reduce clicks and speed up the entire process. 

These updates are designed with a clear goal in mind: fewer clicks, less time navigating and more time focused on the job. Enhancements like smart templates, custom measurements and integrated quotes continue to simplify how contractors build, manage and reuse their workflows. 

While the refresh introduces meaningful improvements, it was intentionally designed to feel familiar. Core functionality including pricing, saved templates and order workflow remains unchanged. Instead of disrupting how contractors work, SRS focused on removing friction and accelerating speed so users can move faster without having to relearn the platform. 

Log in today and experience the refresh for yourself. Because at the end of the day, your workflow didn’t change — it just got faster. 

By Emma Peterson. 

How contractors can use technology to deliver better roofs in a more efficient manner.  

While at the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)’s 2026 International Builders’ Show (IBS), we had the opportunity to film a live Coffee Conversations® thanks to our sponsors, SRS Distribution! The episode featured an expert panel of industry leaders, including Eric Fortenberry of JobTread Software, Mitch Heitsch of Westlake Royal Building Products and Chris DePatria of HOVER. One of the main discussion points of the conversation was the trends that this panel is seeing across the industry this year and how contractors should adjust future operations accordingly.  

Mitch opened the conversation by sharing what product trends he’s seen, sharing, “From the product standpoint, we're seeing a heavy push to more resilient products. This is partially from an aesthetic perspective, but mainly about performance. A lot of this is because insurance is driving a lot of conversations, but homeowners are also wanting to upgrade their homes with the next best thing.”  

And this push for better performance extends beyond the manufacturing space. Clients and competitive markets are putting more pressure on contractors to perform at a high level of efficiency. Eric explained, “Contractors are realizing that they need to implement systems and technology to be able to keep up with everything that's going on in the industry. Because it’s the contractors who can create the most streamlined, efficient processes that are able to deliver the service homeowners want and run business that succeed even in tough markets.”  

So, what can contractors do to improve the performance of both the roofs they install and the operations of their business? Integrate technology. Chris shared some examples of what this type of integration might look like:  

In terms of internal operations, programs like what we have at HOVER take what used to be a 30+ minute process of measuring a roof and turn it into a two-minute program. And as for delivering performance to clients, visualizers have become key in helping homeowners understand how materials will actually look and act on their homes...In fact 74% of homeowners want to see a visualization before they purchase or make a commitment.  

Overall, these are just two examples of the countless technological solutions that are on the market helping contractors take performance to the next level. Mitch summed up the conversation neatly, adding, “Contractors need to not be afraid to adapt and to change with what the market is demanding. There's a lot of people that get scared about that, they don’t want to change products or processes, but these types of changes are needed to bring you to where you need to go.” 

Listen to the whole episode or Watch the recording to learn more about the trends shaping the industry.  

By Emma Peterson. 

Why bringing builders, roofers, designers and other construction professionals together at one show matters more than ever. 

One of the most exciting parts of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)’s 2026 International Builders’ Show (IBS) is that it was hosted at the same time and place as the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show (KBIS)! This made the show a uniquely powerful opportunity for contractors that wanted to get a full picture of how all parts of the construction world interact with each other!  

To learn more about the benefits of working together with contractors across markets, we sat down with Kristina Hill, owner of HomeShield Roofing and Exteriors; Diana Barigas, co-owner of Property Master Solutions; and Amanda Gay, director of field training and engagement at Brava Roof Tile for a special Coffee Conversations® live from SRS Distribution’s garage on the expo floor! 

Products  

This year, the IBS expo floor covered 679,000 square feet with over 1,600 booths for attendees to explore. Add in the KBIS show, and those numbers jump to 2,250 exhibitors occupying 1.15 million square feet of indoor and outdoor exhibits. With so many vendors across different markets, this was a great way for contractors to learn how products can be used in multiple ways. For example, Amanda shared what she had been seeing at the Brava booth, saying, “Obviously Brava products are great for roofing, but you can also use our tiles as siding and a lot of contractors are actually finding that these tiles are a great way to offer the aesthetic that homeowners want with more sustainability and lower maintenance.”  

People 

In addition to giving attendees the opportunity to explore products in a new light, this year’s show took networking to the next level. With nearly 117,000 registrants between IBS and KBIS, it was nearly impossible to not meet professionals in different markets than your own. This made it easier than ever to build the relationships needed to diversify offerings. Diana explained, “You’ll hear it everywhere, ‘we need to diversify.’ Diversification has become key to staying competitive these days and in Florida, a roofing license is different than a builder's license. So, this show is a great opportunity for roofers and other builders to meet up, partner up and work together to benefit both of their operations.”  

Community 

At the end of the day, this show created the type of community-focused space that is needed to push the entire industry forward. As Kristina put it, “Community is everything. For example, this winter, we had different vendors present on their products to our team and we opened that up to some other contractors and builders in the community. And yes, they are our competition in some ways, but we believe there's enough business for everybody and that we all do better when we lean into our community and learn from and with each other.” 

Listen to the whole episode or Watch the recording to hear more insights from this expert panel!  

In this Coffee Conversations®, sponsored by SRS Distribution, Megan Ellsworth is joined by industry leaders to break down what artificial intelligence (AI) really means for roofing contractors and suppliers. Patrick Garcia of SRS Distribution, Fred Castonguay of Reworked.AI and Denver Riggleman of Riggleman Information and Intelligence Group (RIIG) explore how AI moves beyond automation into strategy, security and long-term competitiveness. The conversation tackles responsible adoption, team buy-in and how to evaluate tools in a crowded market. Join RoofersCoffeeShop on March 26, 2026, at 10 a.m. ET for a practical look at roofing’s digital future.

Register today!

By Emma Peterson. 

Learn how two men’s roofing business lives on in the next generation.  

In a recent episode of Stories from the Roof, sponsored by TopShield, Megan Ellsworth had the chance to talk to Charlie DiFalco, vice president of Action Roofing Services. With six different locations around Florida, Action Roofing’s team is ready to help with roofs across the state.  

The story of this company stars back in 1986 with a partnership between Charlie’s father and Bruce Patterson. Charlie explained, “My father opened the business in 1986 with Bruce. They were business partners for 40 years before my dad passed away in 2020... And the funny thing was my dad and Bruce were polar opposite people, but it worked well and they grew a very small business into a success over the years.” 

Charlie got involved in Action Roofing after he graduated high school in 2001. He looks back at that time with some humor, “When I first started in 2001, my dad said, ‘Hey, you're starting from the bottom and I'm not your boss. Bruce is your boss. Don't come to me for anything.’ And he didn't think I would last a month.” 

Now, 25 years later, Charlie has definitely exceeded his dad’s original expectations. He credits a lot of his success to having Bruce and his dad to learn from:  

My dad was phenomenal; he was my best friend. We went to lunch every day for 15 years, talked about everything. Obviously, we had our moments like any father and son working together every day, but I wouldn't trade it for the world...And Bruce, he is one of the most hardworking people I know. He would never miss a day and was always ready to show you what needs to be done and how to do it. I really had two amazing people guiding me on my path. 

And everything on that path has truly come full circle as Charlie carries forward his father’s legacy and Bruce’s daughter Brooke continues his (having joined the company in 2015). Oh, and the two are also married! Charlie reflected, “It really was a family business, and we were partners, her and I, and then we got married. It's a really cool company; we’re really family oriented and people love working here.” 

Listen to the whole conversation with Charlie to learn more about his time in the roofing industry.

By Emma Peterson. 

How taking risks—and refusing to quit—launched Ian Davis into industry‑leading success.  

Recently, TopShield sponsored an episode of Stories From the Roof featuring Ian Davis, the founder of Cairn Contacting. Established in 2017, Cairn has quickly raised the bar on ethics, service and quality with recognitions such the BBB Spark Award for Ethics and a business standard of Lifetime Workmanship Warranties. While the path ahead for Ian and his team seems clear now, it wasn’t always that way. 

In fact, roofing wasn’t really on Ian’s radar when he graduated high school. He shared, “My background is architecture. I went to college for architecture and I got a two-year degree in that, and then realized that I had more of an appreciation for the art than a desire to be the artist in architecture. So, I switched gears and went over to business administration.” It wasn’t until he graduated college and moved out to Colorado that Ian got involved in the trades.  

In those first few years out of school, he worked as a project manager for an exterior paint company. It was in this role that he learned more about the trades. He explained, “The company I was at actually expanded their business beyond paint to kind of doing just about everything on the exterior side. And I was the one managing those multi-trade projects.” Soon, Ian was ready for a new challenge and set his sights on new construction project management, which led him to a new company.  

At that company, he worked as a 1099 independent contractor, which made him realize that he could go a step further and just start his own company! From there, the rest was history:  

It was good timing. I was working as a 1099 and then a couple of friends came to me in 2017 and said, ‘Hey, that first company you worked for, they scaled it back. They're only doing paint now. The doors are open.’ That’s where Cairn Roofing came from. Fast forward to today, we’ve renamed to Cairn Contracting as we have grown from just roofing to just about everything on the exterior except for paint. 

Looking back at his journey, Ian’s advice for others finding their paths is to keep going. He explained, “Don't quit. It is absolutely worth it. It doesn't feel like, I've heard it said that an entrepreneur never has two great days in a row, and it's honestly true. But the other truth is that it is going to be so much more worth it and fulfilling if you just don't quit.” 

Listen to the whole Stories From the Roof episode to hear more of Ian’s insights!