From past to future

In 1965, SkillsUSA created the National Leadership & Skills Conference, the highest recognition of excellence in career and technical education. The event brings together thousands of students, industries, instructors and more in an attempt to celebrate the accomplishments of young people preparing for careers in trade, technical and skilled service occupations.

This year, 22 competitors from 18 states participated in the fourth annual commercial roofing competition during SkillsUSA’s National Leadership & Skills Conference hosted in Atlanta in May.

Mason Miller, Larned, Kan., received first place in the high school category. Nathan Luz-Santos, Lebanon, Tenn., received second place, and Austin Gibson, Greenville, S.C., received third place.

In the college/post-secondary category, Sean McWilliams, Wellsville, N.Y., received first place. John Prophete, Ocoee, Fla., received second place, and Adam Thornton, Macon, Ga., received third place.

First-place winners received $1,500; second-place winners received $1,000; and third-place winners received $750. First-place winners also received a champions belt, branded backpack and tools, a tool chest, and a Leister hot-air welder for the student’s school. Second- and third-place winners also received branded backpacks and hand tools.

The commercial roofing contest was not part of SkillsUSA until 2023 when Bob Morgan, president of Upstate Roofing & Painting LLC, Rochester, N.Y., and his colleague, Craig Clark, executive director of Allegany County Industrial Development Agency, Belmont, N.Y., became involved in New York State SkillsUSA (Virginia and Florida were already participating at this time).

Morgan attended Alfred State College—State University of New York, Alfred, N.Y., where Clark was a professor and served as Morgan’s instructor and mentor during the 1990s. Clark was acting as New York State SkillsUSA director and vice president at Alfred State College when NRCA needed help kickstarting the roofing side of the competition in New York.

“When NRCA decided to introduce roofing into the SkillsUSA competition and needed contractors to start a grassroots campaign, I wanted to be part of it,” Morgan says. “I knew Craig and the New York SkillsUSA and Alfred State College teams would jump on board with the idea.”

This year, 22 competitors from 18 states participated in the roofing competition during SkillsUSA

Both Morgan’s and Clark’s efforts to further education outreach for the roofing industry have realized great success. Alfred State College has taken home a medal every year since the roofing competition debuted at SkillsUSA. McWilliams, the first-place winner in the college/post-secondary education category, currently is a student at Alfred State College.

“Our school won the state’s competition with the assistance of training and materials from Bob’s company,” Clark says. “Because of this excellent partnership and support, Alfred State College has medaled all three years in the national competition, taking gold twice.”

Support for the state-level competition and Alfred State College students has continued with current SkillsUSA Director Jeffery Stevens, dean for the School of Applied Technology at Alfred State College, and Aaron Gross, field superintendent at Upstate Roofing & Painting, teaching students the skills needed to medal in the competition.

Morgan continues to support Alfred State College students by providing materials, access to tools and training for the competition, ensuring each participant’s time at SkillsUSA is advantageous and helps catapult him or her to a successful career in roofing or other trade industries.

For more information, visit skillsusa.org and mark your calendar for next year’s National Leadership & Skills Conference June 21-25, 2027.