TRI-STATE ROOFING Aiming for the top

Better sales and marketing efforts have helped one company expand to Akron, New Castle and other areas.
THE VINDICATOR, YOUNGSTOWN
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
MINERAL RIDGE -- Ray Vasel was thinking big when he named his business Tri-State Roofing 20 years ago.
It's taken some time, but his company has grown into its name.
After years of handling small commercial roofing jobs in the Mahoning Valley, Tri-State is branching out into new areas such as Akron and New Castle, with Pittsburgh and northern West Virginia on the horizon.
The size of its projects is increasing as well, which has allowed it to double its sales in each of the past couple of years. Sales are expected to be more than $1 million this year.
The number of employees has grown from four a few years ago to 20.
Northside project: The company's first big project came last year when it landed a roofing contract at Northside Medical Center.
Greg Revak, sales manager for the Mineral Ridge company, said he and Vasel worked hard to convince hospital officials that not only was their price good, but their work would be good, too.
The Union Street company provided 20 references to hospital officials, who checked each one, he said.
Revak said they pushed hard for the job because they knew other potential customers would be impressed if they handled work for such a well-known institution.
"If you get in with them, you're on the map," Revak said.
They followed up that job with their largest job to date -- a new, 150,000-square-foot roof at an industrial plant in Austintown.
That project kept Tri-State's 20-member crew on the job this winter, which normally is time when roof crews are subject to layoffs.
Tri-State's jobs were much smaller until three years ago, when Vasel decided to increase the marketing of the company.
Taking action: Frustrated that he wasn't always able to keep his few employees working, he decided that the company had to grow. He began advertising in Akron and New Castle and hired Revak, an old friend who had been a manager for several chain restaurants, to handle sales and marketing.
Revak makes cold calls to companies trying to find ones that need a new roof. If there is some interest, Vasel goes out to do an estimate.
Vasel said he used to have trouble keeping up with estimates because he was working on jobs. But now that the company has expanded, he can devote himself to finding more business and managing operations.
The two also promoted the company by sending out a brochure to businesses in Akron, Cleveland and western Pennsylvania, as well as the Mahoning Valley.
Getting references: Another important part of the plan was to line up jobs with McDonald's and Taco Bell so the company could provide references from well-known companies. That's important because it's sometimes difficult to persuade companies to use Tri-State instead of a larger roofing company, Revak said.
"That's what were fighting through right now, name recognition," Revak said.
Vasel said the company's growth shows they are winning that battle and he expects them to continue to grow as long as they remain focused on providing quality service and fair prices.
The company already is doing work in Akron, Medina, New Castle and Sharon.
It is planning a push into Pittsburgh and northern West Virginia. Revak plans to open a Pittsburgh office next year, with roofing crews added as business develops.
shilling@vindy.com