With roofing roots that stretch back over a century, American Roofing and Metal is embracing solar 

Josh Steinrock, President of American Roofing and Metal, joins Construction Today to shine a spotlight on the business. He begins by describing the company’s extensive legacy in the industry: “My family has been in the roofing industry in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana for over 110 years. In 1914, my great-grandfather came to the US and eventually started roofing. All three of his sons were roofers as well. My father owned his own roofing company; he was incredibly hardworking and had a great reputation. I grew up working at the company, and in high school I would take the bus to the job site after football practice. We were a small family business at that time. I decided at a very young age I wanted to roof. I was all in, working my way through all the crews in the operation, from hot tar to metal and shingle. 

When I moved into the office, we were bringing in $4.5 million. The business was in a great position for me to add some horsepower. Now we are on track to generate around $80 million. We’ve grown a lot over the last 22 years. Today, we provide all types of roofing from modified and hot tar to single-ply, low slope, industrial, and commercial. We also do residential work with slate, shingle, copper, and tile.” 

Josh then goes on to highlight an exciting project that is currently underway: “We have a contract that is now worth over $13 million with Meta to help construct their new data center in Southern Indiana, across the river from Louisville. It’s a very significant project for us. This comes with a lot of risk, but we are very excited. We’ve grown a lot and feel comfortable we can take on any large project that comes into the market. 

“Thanks to our growth and capabilities, we thrive on difficult, complicated jobs. That’s our best niche. We also do a lot of the simpler projects, but we really love tackling the more challenging undertakings.” 

  Josh moves on to discuss a new development with a lot of potential – a solar division and plans for its expansion: “We believe solar is coming. It’s already in a lot of other markets, but in Kentucky and Ohio, it’s relatively new and just beginning to gain traction. This new division is focused on both residential and commercial and currently has jobs underway in both Ohio and Kentucky. We see a tremendous amount of opportunity opening up with solar. 

“Additionally, we have an office in Ohio, which allows us to reach the three big cities of Dayton, Columbus, and Cincinnati. We plan to expand our footprint in this area in both the commercial and residential sectors. There’s no clear market leader at the moment, and we are building our expertise and experience to take that position. It’s a very exciting time for the business.” 

Inspired by love

The culture at the company is a significant contributor to the success of these ongoing evolutions for the business: “It’s the most important driving force behind everything that we do,” Josh confirms. “Our mission statement begins with ‘inspired by love’. As a fourth-generation business, it is what we have always been about. We love what we do, and we want our people to love what they do as well. We want people to actively want to come to work. By putting our people first and doing meaningful work in providing the community with shelter, we are all deeply committed and motivated to do the best job possible. 

“For most companies in construction, your employees can be one of the biggest challenges, but we are lucky not to be in that position. Because of our commitment to our culture and staff, not only do we have the best people on our team, but we also have the most talented. 

“As we expand in terms of staff, we are also expanding our facilities. We are just breaking ground on a new metal fabrication shop at the rear of our property. This represents an investment of around $5 million. In Lexington, we are expanding our offices and warehouse. 

Josh then looks forward to the company’s goals for the year ahead: “We are going to be streamlining the business. We currently have around ten divisions. Making these operational processes more efficient will help us to continue to grow and meet our targets over the next decade. It will also help us to maintain consistently high standards across all areas of the business. We want to be the best roofing company in the US; we hope to get there through empowering our staff and enhancing our community.” 

Josh concludes: “Our goal is to reach $150 million within the next ten years. This year we will generate approximately $80 million. We are very optimistic about our future and the growth opportunity that we have as the solar market continues to establish and expand in Ohio, Kentucky, and beyond. We are committed to providing shelter to our customers through all facets of roofing. We are inspired by love and we love what we do.”  

www.AmericanRoofingandMetal.com