I was thinking about a topic for the newest post and I decided to tell the story the way I know it. The owner and president of Slagle Roofing is Mark Slagle who is actually my uncle. He was born and raised on a farm in Minerva, Oh. He went away to college at Liberty University where he met his wife Michelle. They were married and moved to Ohio. Mark was working three jobs and not home a lot to spend time with his new bride and first born son Luke. They decided to go back to Michelle’s hometown of Finleyville, Pa which is just south of Pittsburgh. Mark saw a sign as he pulled the U-Haul off the Rt 79 exit. Roofers Wanted it said and he pulled in. They hired him on the spot and he went to work so he could support his family. He worked hard and learned the trade as it was very demanding especially when he was out of town a lot. It didn’t pay a whole lot but he got by and made the best of it. It was then when he realized he wanted more out of the roofing business. His boss saw that he was an overachiever and gave him more responsibility. He would be the foreman on the job and the guy that would make sure the job got done right the first time in the shortest time possible. Mark knew that if he could do it for someone else he could do it for himself and be able to spend more time with his family. He started his own business in the early 90′s and he did some work. Many other contractors in the area knew Mark was the guy to go to when they needed out of a jam or just needed to get a job done that wasn’t going well. They hired Mark and hired him again and eventually the owner said “Come work for me.” He was made a deal he couldn’t refuse, after all, having your own business has a lot of financial responsibility not only to your family but to everyone that you hire. Mark took the bull by the reigns and went to work. Most days would be spent in the office making sure the new customers were taken care of and finding and bidding on big projects. He ran a group of around 40-60 guys at any given time and took a lot of pressure off the owner. He learned a lot over those years on how to run a business as he was already proficient at the roofing aspect. He was putting in long hours again and knew deep down he always wanted to be doing it for himself so an opportunity arose and in February of 2008 Slagle Roofing and Construction Inc. was formed. That little boy Luke that I mentioned earlier bought in for 10% and is the vice president of the company as well. Luke has worked hard his whole life and continues to be the go to guy out in the field making sure that the quality of work is on par to what his dad would expect. Mark’s prior relationship to those in the roofing industry in Pittsburgh has made it a smooth transition to running on his own. We have around 10 guys that work out in the field and his daughter in law Ruthann is the company administrator making sure all the i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed. Mark brought me on in the summer of 2010 to help in sales and marketing. For one guy being in the office and having to run all around Pittsburgh it was pretty tough for him to get everything done he wanted plus to be able to spend time with his family and take mission trips to foreign fields. Mark puts God and family first then his business. He is great to work for but can be demanding sometimes. He always gets the best out of me and he makes me do things I never thought I could do before. There is a lot of future with this company and I am excited about it. I think I need to stop this post and save some for later. Stay tuned as you hear my thoughts on everyday things as well as some other things that are happening.
