Toledo Roofer builds reputation with quality on diverse projects

By Mary-Beth McLaughlin
Blade Business Writer

When a tornado ripped through Oak Harbor last summer, the roof of the Davis-Besse power plant was damaged.

Eager to have it repaired, Toledo Edison officials provided a police escort to get workers to the site, including some from Nordmann Roofing Co., Inc., a 68-year old firm in East Toledo.

“I just think that’s a real honor. It says a lot about our company that a nuclear power plant would call us in case of an emergency and we deliver,” said Neil MacKinnon, Jr., vice president and son of the company’s president and chief executive, Neil MacKinnon, Sr.

Working on such a high-profile project is nothing new for the company, which was started by Herman Nordmann to handle roofs for homes. After returning from World War 2, Neil MacKinnon, father of the current CEO, went to work for the firm as a salesman. He quickly broadened work to include commercial and industrial jobs, and he bought the firm from Nordmann in 1974.

When his father passed away in 1978, Neil Sr., who had worked as a roofer at the company during the breaks from college, bought the stock from the estate and became president, and Steve Saun, secretary.

The company had grown to roughly $5 million in sales by then but it was hit hard by the recession of the early 1980s.

“I’d say we easily lost $1 million in volume,” said Mr. MacKinnon, Sr. “All work [ceased] except dire emergency repairs.”

Today there is so much business that Nordmann will employ up to 125 workers this summer and expects revenues of $8 million this year.

About 80 per cent of its work is re-roofing jobs; the rest is new construction. All except a handful of jobs are commercial, industrial, or institutional. Recent projects include work at the Toledo Museum of Art, the renovations of former Commodore Perry and Hillcrest hotels, and an expansion of the Navy Bistro.

“We do work on everything, from churches to hospitals to commercial buildings,” said the younger Mr. MacKinnon, who joined the company in 1989. “If you drive around the city, chances are we’ve roofed it or in the process of roofing it.”

Several factors have contributed to the success to the firm, including a carefully cultivated reputation for quality that has meant a lot of repeat customers, said the MacKinnons and Mr. Cairns.

Competitors speak highly of the firm.

Mike Jankowski, president of Luttenberger & Co., a long time commercial roofing firm in Toledo said of Nordmann: “They’re a good company and good competition. They’re not working out of their back garage. They pay union wages to their workers, like we do, as well as insurance and everything else, and that’s good for everybody.”

Said the younger Mr. MacKinnon: “Our greatest resource is our employees.”

The company has a strong commitment to training its journeymen roofers, all of whom have completed a four-year apprenticeship program sponsored jointly by the company and the Roofers Union Local 134.

“We’re constantly training. Our guys are always going to seminars,” he says.

Rich Shackelford, business manager for the roofers union said, “They treat their people well. It seems once someone starts at Nordmann, they stay until they retire. Everyone seems to really like working there.”

Staying on top of the different roofing systems is another key to their success, the Nordmann executives say. Where once roof types were limited to asphalt, slate, or shingle, today there are dozens of types, especially rubber, single-ply, and built-up roofs. The company has its own sheet metal shop to customize orders.

“We are diverse and don’t specialize in one application,” said the younger Mr. MacKinnon.

Scott Cruttenden, a regional sales manager for roofing manufacturer Carlisle Syntec, Inc., said Nordmann has had perfect scores at least 100 times when it has inspected the installed roofs. That puts Nordmann in the top 25 per cent of the about 1,300 companies using Carlisle materials.

“They’re very professional, very conscientious contractors,” Mr. Cruttenden said.