b'On Deck with Morgan11 t h i ng sa b o u tR FR E DHOR N Eof Advanced Industrial Roofing Massillon, OHThirty years ago Advanced Industrial Roofing first opened its doors. Fred Horner, President & CEO of Advanced Industrial Roofing, along with partner Jeff Rupert, founded their business in Freds home. Their assets included one pink desk, a couple of folding chairs, three trucks, and $9,000 cash. Our MRCA Board of Directors,days were long, remembers Fred, I worked on a roof all day, I would come home to write estimates, Second Vice President then Dawn and I would work until two am typing them up and wed get the kids on the bus and do it Treasurer all again. The start of Advanced Industrial Roofing (AIR) was not how Fred first got into the roofing industry. AftergraduatingfromCantonSouthHighSchoolinCanton,OH,Fredmarriedhishighschool sweetheart Dawn, and began his roofing career as an apprentice with Local Union No. 88 Roofers and Waterproofers. Fred graduated as a Journeyman in 1978.For the next fourteen years Fred worked his way up the ranks to become a Foreman with Reserve Roofing in Akron, OH, and then as a Superintendent for Buxton Roofing in Canton, OH. He and Jeff worked together for Buxton before deciding to go out on their own. In those days, we did anything just contact Us to survive, building decks, painting barns, and roofing, recalls Fred.www.airoofing.com Their business was making money so they purchased the land where Advanced Industrial Roofing Advanced Industrial Roofing currently operates with a stop at a small downtown Massillon storefront in-between. Now Advanced 1330 Erie St S Industrial Roofing has grown to 90+ employees and three divisions, Architectural Metal, Industrial Massillon, OH 44646 Commercial Roofing, and Repair and Maintenance, and is proud to be a Top 5 Roofing Company in the (330) 837-1999 State of Ohio, and amongst the Top 250 Roofing Companies in the United States. In 2006 Freds company was experiencing the all-too-common problem of new employee eligibility and retention. Fred decided to solve his workforce development problem by developing his own workforce. By 2008 Fred had an in-house Roofing Apprenticeship Program accredited through the State of Ohio including accredited curriculum and instructor. Applicants have to work for us for a year before they are eligible to apply to enter the program. We have a Board of six that go through the applications and we usually take about 4-6 per year. When they graduate three years later, they graduate as Journeymen with current Operating Cards in Craning, Signaling, Rigging, Rough Terrain, 30 Hr. OSHA, and 30 college credits. All at no cost to the apprentice, explains Fred, Im proud and humbled that the average duration of service for our office staff is 20 years, and 12 years for field employees. Some have been with us since almost day one.24 www.mrca.orgMidwest Roofer'