As CFO of the Palmetto State Roofing and Sheet Metal family company, John Swift knows all too well what most people think when they hear the word “roof”.
“When you talk about a roof, I know a lot of people think of a pickup truck, a nail gun and shingles,” he said. “Well, I usually tell people that we do it a little differently. For example, we built a 31-acre roof in 2020.”
For reference, an acre is the size of a standard football field, meaning that the distribution center where Swift and his team installed the new roof is the size of 31 football fields.
Palmetto State Roofing and Sheet Metal, celebrating its 50th anniversary in the north, has covered thousands of acres in the southeast ranging from large industrial and commercial projects to small residential projects.
The company, founded in 1972 by brothers Jerry and Steve Lister, was acquired by Swift and her family in 2017, much to the surprise of even Swift himself, who had just retired from his banking career.
“My team, these guys are real experts. But I would say that everything I know is dangerous enough,” he laughs.
Swift credits the team, led by his son-in-law Robert Johnson, and their knowledge of the areas the company serves: industrial, commercial, residential and renovation.
For a roof that can span an area of an area, precise detailing is key, ensuring that the industry that hums underneath is protected and safe. Each roof must be specifically designed for what it protects. A variety of materials have been used – thermoplastic polyolefin, polyvinyl chloride, ethylene-propylene-diene monomer, or modified bitumen, just to name a few that are perhaps harder to pronounce than “tiling.”
“Think of it like an interstate highway,” Swift said. “It gets colder in the winter, it gets hotter in the summer, and then cracks appear, bits of asphalt – the same happens with the roof. Maintenance is key because if you don’t get up and seal and support it, little cracks start to form, and in “before you know it” you have a real problem.
Now, looking to the future, the company is expanding its services to include emergency response teams that can travel to disaster areas at short notice to repair the roofs of customers affected by the hurricane.
“You never know when that will happen,” Swift said. “We are all prepared for whatever happens and ready when disaster strikes.”
Post time: Mar-13-2023