I'm Todd Miller of Isaiah Industries, manufacturer of
Todd Miller:specialty residential metal roofing and other building materials.
Todd Miller:Welcome to Construction Disruption, where we like to think of each
Todd Miller:episode as a job site for your brain.
Todd Miller:Hard hats, optional bright ideas guaranteed.
Todd Miller:Today I'm joined by my co-host, our creative director, Ryan Bell.
Todd Miller:What's going on today, Ryan?
Ryan Bell:Well, not much.
Ryan Bell:It's Friday.
Ryan Bell:The weather's beautiful.
Ryan Bell:Do you want to hear a construction joke?
Todd Miller:I would love to hear a concern.
Todd Miller:I've been waiting for this all day.
Ryan Bell:I'm sorry, I'm still working on it.
Todd Miller:There have been all kinds of job site delays.
Todd Miller:Those doggone masonry guys haven't showed up yet.
Ryan Bell:Part of the business.
Todd Miller:I get it.
Todd Miller:I get it.
Todd Miller:Well, I am excited about today's, uh, guest.
Todd Miller:This is someone, uh, been a good friend of mine for quite a number
Todd Miller:of years, more than neither one of us likes to talk about.
Todd Miller:Um, but I'm really excited today to have someone who is very well known in
Todd Miller:both the roofing and the solar worlds.
Todd Miller:Rob Haddock is CEO and founder of S five and owner of the
Todd Miller:Metal Roof Advisory Group.
Todd Miller:With over 50 years of industry experience, Rob is very much a
Todd Miller:sought after speaker and trainer in the metal construction industry.
Todd Miller:Additionally, his innovations at S five have paved the way for metal roofs to be
Todd Miller:the preferred base for solar attachment, as well as just generally further the
Todd Miller:metal roofing industry in so many ways.
Todd Miller:Um, Rob, welcome to Construction Disruption, true honor
Todd Miller:to have you here today.
Rob Haddock:Thanks a lot, Todd.
Rob Haddock:It's good to be with you.
Rob Haddock:We've known each other for a lot of years, so I'm glad to share this screen with you.
Todd Miller:Hey, good time.
Todd Miller:I'm looking forward to it.
Todd Miller:Um, I have to say though, that kind of hit me, uh, when it said over 50
Todd Miller:years of experience you have Rob.
Todd Miller:That's, that's pretty amazing.
Todd Miller:It, so, so I heard, is it true that you were born when the
Todd Miller:Dead Sea wasn't even sick yet?
Rob Haddock:There's, there's your joke.
Todd Miller:And then there's my joke.
Todd Miller:I've been waiting all day for that one, Rob, and I'm, and I'm always
Todd Miller:trying to remember who's older.
Todd Miller:You or Dick Buss.
Todd Miller:You're about the same age.
Rob Haddock:I think we're almost exactly the same age, maybe
Rob Haddock:within six months or something.
Todd Miller:That's cool.
Todd Miller:I need to get Dick on the show sometime.
Todd Miller:I haven't had him yet.
Todd Miller:Um, well again, Rob, it's great to have you.
Todd Miller:Um, your career has taken you.
Todd Miller:So many places, both literally and figuratively.
Todd Miller:Um, and we really wanna jump into the meat of our conversation.
Todd Miller:Looking at, uh, your contributions to the industry and where you
Todd Miller:see the industry right now.
Todd Miller:But can you first give our audience kind of a quick look at how you made this
Todd Miller:journey from professional bull riding, which not everyone probably knows about
Todd Miller:you from professional bull riding to entrepreneur and metal roofing guru.
Todd Miller:What was that journey like for you?
Rob Haddock:Well, life happened, Todd, and there aren't too many bull riders
Rob Haddock:still competing past about the age of 30.
Rob Haddock:So it really isn't a sustainable career path.
Rob Haddock:But back in those days, I also cowboy in general working ranches and feedlot.
Rob Haddock:That isn't exactly a sustainable career path either.
Rob Haddock:Then one day when I was out checking cows, I had, uh, an epiphany about all
Rob Haddock:that, and I came off that ranch where I was working and went to the big city
Rob Haddock:to make my fortune, strike my fortune,
Todd Miller:Fame and fortune.
Todd Miller:There you go.
Rob Haddock:Yeah, I was, I was 19 then.
Rob Haddock:And, um, I kept riding for the next several years, but riding bulls is
Rob Haddock:kinda like any other extreme sport.
Rob Haddock:You really can't do it part-time.
Rob Haddock:Um, it's all in or all out.
Rob Haddock:You've gotta be given it 110% or you'll disappoint yourself.
Rob Haddock:Um, so I had been to welding school and fell into part-time steel
Rob Haddock:construction at age 19, and for the next 18 or so years, I pursued that.
Rob Haddock:Um, I started my own business and over that time built over 500 metal
Rob Haddock:buildings in 36 states before, uh.
Rob Haddock:I sold out and retired from that business.
Rob Haddock:And in tandem with all that, I started a consulting practice pertaining to
Rob Haddock:metal roofing, uh, in about 1984.
Rob Haddock:So in combination with buildings that I had built and forensic consulting work
Rob Haddock:that I, that I did, I'd been on tens of millions of square feet of metal
Rob Haddock:metal roofing and learned about what.
Rob Haddock:Everything that goes wrong.
Rob Haddock:And I started writing about it and, and teaching on the subject, hence
Rob Haddock:the, uh, guru piece of the puzzle.
Rob Haddock:Um, and I've also traveled the world to gain additional perspective on
Rob Haddock:how things are done around the globe.
Rob Haddock:Not everything is done the same way it's done here in the US of a. In 1991,
Rob Haddock:I retired from, uh, from construction, and I started inventing solutions for
Rob Haddock:the many problems I'd encountered on one roof or another, and many roofs.
Todd Miller:That's amazing.
Todd Miller:Quite a story.
Todd Miller:What is it?
Todd Miller:Uh uh, necessity is the mother of invention.
Todd Miller:I guess sometimes you see something, you gotta fix it.
Todd Miller:So I, back to the bull riding, I have to ask you, did you see a movie that
Todd Miller:came out recently called The Last Rodeo?
Todd Miller:Did you see that?
Rob Haddock:I haven't even heard of it.
Rob Haddock:I'll have to write that
Rob Haddock:down.
Todd Miller:Good movie has a lot of, uh, faith component to it.
Todd Miller:Um, I think I, I kept thinking about you the whole time I was watching it actually.
Todd Miller:Uh, it came out a few months ago.
Todd Miller:So I'm curious.
Todd Miller:I mean, again, you know, long storied career in this industry.
Todd Miller:Um.
Todd Miller:What are some of the major developments that you've seen in metal roofing
Todd Miller:over the years and, you know, why has that made you a real believer,
Todd Miller:uh, in metal as a roofing material?
Rob Haddock:Well, there have been lots of improve.
Rob Haddock:in in fabrication and automation and those kinds of things.
Rob Haddock:But I think the biggest milestone in my own lifetime was the invention
Rob Haddock:of galium coated steel, uh, in the late sixties by my old friend.
Rob Haddock:Ow.
Rob Haddock:At that time, you know, G 90 galvanized was the go-to coating for steel, uh,
Rob Haddock:and this new coating would outlast G 90.
Rob Haddock:By a ratio of three to one in most environments.
Rob Haddock:Trouble was, nobody knew that.
Rob Haddock:And, um, for many years it carried an inherent 20 year warranty.
Rob Haddock:And then after, uh, several decades, they raised that, the producers raised
Rob Haddock:that to 25 years, but still no one knew because these roofs weren't wearing out.
Rob Haddock:Um, and no one knew how long to expect them to really last.
Rob Haddock:Um, I know you're familiar, Todd, with a field service life study that I led
Rob Haddock:for the MCA, which began about 2010.
Rob Haddock:And that study proved conclusively that this coating had a service
Rob Haddock:life in the range of 70 years.
Rob Haddock:We went and dissected roofs on 14 different buildings all over
Rob Haddock:the US and we did lab analyses on 'em and so on and so forth.
Rob Haddock:But, um, a, as a result of that, I think an indirect result of that study
Rob Haddock:within the last few years, three major domestic producers of gal. Have raised
Rob Haddock:their warranty to up to 60 years, and that I think is, is a real landmark.
Rob Haddock:Certainly I don't, I don't mean to diminish other things that
Rob Haddock:the industry has been doing, but for me that's the big one.
Todd Miller:Yeah, no, I agree with you and I, and I know there's
Todd Miller:information about that still available on metal construction.org.
Todd Miller:And if I recall correctly, that was also the study where you folks
Todd Miller:dug into some of the sealants that were used on the roofs as well.
Todd Miller:Because the concern was, well, okay, the gloom lasts long, long time.
Todd Miller:What about the sealants?
Todd Miller:And you found similar life expectancies there as well.
Todd Miller:Is that correct?
Rob Haddock:Um, that's a key point.
Rob Haddock:In fact, the, the gal bloom coating in, in most cases, um, would last, I think
Rob Haddock:we have some studies that show on some roofs in some environments, um, that.
Rob Haddock:The, the coating would last over 150 years.
Rob Haddock:Um, but the, the sealant was kind of the wild card.
Rob Haddock:But when we did those surveys, we wanted to determine what could
Rob Haddock:a specifier or building owner.
Rob Haddock:Expect out of the service life of his roof, everything included.
Rob Haddock:And so we inspected and, and, and projected the lives of
Rob Haddock:fasteners and flashings and gutters and so on and so forth.
Rob Haddock:Um, so it really was a, a whole roof service life as, as a package.
Todd Miller:Amazing.
Todd Miller:So I think one of our.
Todd Miller:Early interactions.
Todd Miller:A number of years ago was, um, you had started the Metal Roof advisor group
Todd Miller:out there in Colorado Springs area, and I had sent one of our team members, I
Todd Miller:think Jeff Mesher out for some training or a class with you, and I think that
Todd Miller:was one of our early, uh, interactions.
Todd Miller:But, um, kind of curious, what knowledge and skill gaps are you seeing out there
Todd Miller:for con uh, contractors, um, you know, that might be keeping them from getting
Todd Miller:involved with metal and construction?
Rob Haddock:Um, I would say that the knowledge gaps largely consist of a lack
Rob Haddock:of understanding of why it's important.
Rob Haddock:To do things a certain way.
Rob Haddock:Um, when you don't understand why something is important, you're a whole
Rob Haddock:lot less likely to actually do it.
Rob Haddock:And so in, in the lectures and classes that I do, I strive to, um, emphasize
Rob Haddock:the underlying reasons for everything.
Rob Haddock:Uh, and people really relate to that and their level of comprehension goes way up.
Rob Haddock:They're able to digest infinitely more information.
Todd Miller:Um, yeah, I agree with you a hundred percent.
Todd Miller:I think under.
Todd Miller:Standing the why is such a big thing.
Todd Miller:Well, um, so you talked about how, you know, you developed S five as a way to
Todd Miller:solve problems you are seeing out there.
Todd Miller:Can you give us, um, kind of an overview of S five and your various clamps and
Todd Miller:attachments and product offerings and um, maybe review also what led you
Todd Miller:to see the need for those inventions?
Rob Haddock:Sure.
Rob Haddock:Um, as I said, my exposure to the.
Rob Haddock:Metal roofing industry was considerable.
Rob Haddock:Um, and most of the problems on metal roofs were caused by other trades, not
Rob Haddock:knowing how to affix things to metal roofs and integrate them correctly, um,
Rob Haddock:they didn't know the right way to do it.
Rob Haddock:And that's totally understandable because there really wasn't a right way.
Rob Haddock:To attach things to metal roofs.
Rob Haddock:So it was kind of by hook or crook had been by guess and by golly, and
Rob Haddock:it was almost always done with screws, which created holes and worse pinned
Rob Haddock:the metal panels to the structure, violating its ability to cycle thermally.
Rob Haddock:Um, the metal roofing community at large responded by sticking
Rob Haddock:their heads in the sand.
Rob Haddock:Um, you can't mount things on our roof.
Rob Haddock:It'll cause leaks and you'll avoid the warranty, but people
Rob Haddock:have to mount things to roofs.
Rob Haddock:So it was a catch 22.
Rob Haddock:Um, and every time they did it, it violated the integrity of a roof.
Rob Haddock:So the, the, the roof manufacturing community, um, had a good point.
Rob Haddock:The, the most obvious application that I spotted was the attachment of snow guards.
Rob Haddock:Um, there were lots of snow guards on lots of roofs in northern climates, and
Rob Haddock:they were either screwed on causing holes again or glued on, in which case they fell
Rob Haddock:off after the first couple of winters.
Rob Haddock:Um, so I kind of mused with myself.
Rob Haddock:I gotta come up with a better way to do this, the right way to do this.
Rob Haddock:And as soon as I had that aha moment, I knew I'd come up with much more
Rob Haddock:than a way to attach snow guards.
Rob Haddock:But that was the low hanging fruit at the time.
Rob Haddock:And so I took that invention to four different companies.
Rob Haddock:I had no intention of commercializing it myself.
Rob Haddock:I took it to companies that were far more qualified to commercialize products
Rob Haddock:within that industry space than I was.
Rob Haddock:Um, but they all turned it down.
Rob Haddock:There's no market for it, they said.
Rob Haddock:I didn't want to, but I had to commercialize it myself.
Rob Haddock:It was a kind of a default situation.
Rob Haddock:I knew there was a market for it, and today we've, we have over 200
Rob Haddock:issued patents in our, in our company patent portfolio and S five products
Rob Haddock:are sold in at least 86 countries of the world on over 3 million roofs.
Rob Haddock:Um, they can be found on the headquarters of IBM, apple, Google, nato.
Rob Haddock:Every Costco ever built many FedEx and Walmart distribution centers, not to
Rob Haddock:mention tens of thousands of homes.
Rob Haddock:Um, but remember there wasn't any market for it,
Todd Miller:Wasn't a market for it.
Todd Miller:Yep.
Rob Haddock:and it's really become a disruptive technology, uh, to
Rob Haddock:think that standing seam roofing had been around for about 1200 years.
Rob Haddock:No one ever thought of a good way to attach things to.
Rob Haddock:It is incredible to me.
Rob Haddock:Uh, but S five was the first company to come up with tested, certified,
Rob Haddock:engineered, and manufactured solutions and offer them within that market space.
Todd Miller:You know, we talk a lot in the industry about what
Todd Miller:S five has done in terms of.
Todd Miller:Furthering the use of solar and other attachments on metal.
Todd Miller:But the fact is, I don't think you guys get enough credit for what you did to
Todd Miller:further the use of metal period, because suddenly metal became the preferred base
Todd Miller:for all of those things because we had a way of attaching, uh, things without whole
Todd Miller:bunches of screws and, and holes and so
Rob Haddock:That's why I say it's a disruptive technology because
Rob Haddock:it, it actually changed the way people think about metal roofing.
Rob Haddock:You know, in the one, on the one hand it was no, you can't
Rob Haddock:put anything on a metal roof.
Rob Haddock:You have to put things on metal roofs.
Rob Haddock:It was the least user friendly, I guess you could say.
Rob Haddock:Owner, owner, friend.
Rob Haddock:Friendly building.
Rob Haddock:Owner friendly, um, because there was a prohibition about mounting things on it.
Rob Haddock:And, and that completely switched with, um, with the S five technologies.
Todd Miller:Absolutely.
Todd Miller:Well, I know you folks at S five have developed a real, as you mentioned,
Todd Miller:strong international presence.
Todd Miller:Um, especially with solar attachment, but you know, what are some of the
Todd Miller:big countries right now for solar?
Rob Haddock:Well, almost anywhere outside the us.
Rob Haddock:Um, due to the recent action by the administration in, in rescinding the
Rob Haddock:investment tax credit, um, not every country needs tax incentives because
Rob Haddock:their cost of electricity is so high.
Rob Haddock:It's two or three times what ours is in the US in most parts of the world.
Rob Haddock:Um, so solar pays for itself in less than five years and
Rob Haddock:generates power for over 30.
Rob Haddock:Here at home, it's not that way anymore.
Rob Haddock:And so it, it really did need the incentives, um, to improve the ROI
Rob Haddock:on on, on the huge investment that people make, uh, with respect to solar.
Rob Haddock:Um, so anywhere in the world.
Rob Haddock:And, um, by the way, metal is more popular in more places.
Rob Haddock:Outside the US than it is within the us.
Rob Haddock:Of course, the US is a huge market.
Rob Haddock:Um, but the, the domination of metal roofing in, in the roofing market
Rob Haddock:at large, uh, is are much higher numbers outside the US in, in, in a
Rob Haddock:lot of places, um, than inside the us.
Todd Miller:Yeah, I, I think that's an incredible story also.
Todd Miller:And, um, well, just last night I had a metal roof manufacturer
Todd Miller:in Romania reach out to me and say, Hey Todd, we need to talk.
Todd Miller:I said Absolutely.
Todd Miller:Let's set up a time to talk.
Todd Miller:Well, tell us a little bit about your structure at S five, your various
Todd Miller:locations, you know, how you cover this global, uh, presence that you have.
Rob Haddock:Well, we're a, we're a closely held company, Todd, as I
Rob Haddock:think you know, and family owned.
Rob Haddock:Um, we've been debt-free since our inception.
Rob Haddock:We do almost everything in house.
Rob Haddock:That means prototyping, accounting, video production, certified testing,
Rob Haddock:sales, marketing, it, engineering and design, and certified manufacturing.
Rob Haddock:Um, a lot of people call us a manufacturing company, but we're not,
Rob Haddock:uh, we're an innovation enterprise that does its own manufacturing.
Rob Haddock:We have a 76,000 square foot state-of-the-art production
Rob Haddock:facility in Iowa Park, Texas, and no, that's not in Iowa.
Rob Haddock:When I say Iowa Park, a lot of people think the Iowa we're actually a tribe
Rob Haddock:of Indians that stretched all the way from the panhandle of Texas up into Iowa
Todd Miller:Okay.
Rob Haddock:at, at any rate, so I, I digress, but.
Rob Haddock:Then we have another satellite production facility in Bilbao, Spain to serve the
Rob Haddock:European community and the MENA region.
Rob Haddock:Uh, we're also bringing another one online to serve the Canadian market.
Rob Haddock:And our office campus is right here outside, uh, Colorado
Rob Haddock:Springs in Black Forest, 600 miles from the factory in Texas.
Rob Haddock:Including the lab building here this complex is, is over 12,000 square
Rob Haddock:feet, and then we have teams of S five employees in many regions of the world
Rob Haddock:who all report remotely, of course, to this, to this office here in Colorado.
Todd Miller:That is quite an enterprise to be managing and leading for sure.
Todd Miller:And uh, I know everyone that knows you has a great deal of
Todd Miller:respect for your leadership and the leadership of your family Is.
Todd Miller:As well.
Todd Miller:Well, I, I was talking the other day to a Solar, solar panel producer here
Todd Miller:in the us, actually a solar shingle producer, and they said that they have
Todd Miller:really reigned back their growth plans for this, uh, after this year due
Todd Miller:to the federal tax credit, uh, going away, which you alluded to earlier.
Todd Miller:Um, are you seeing other people kind of scaling back also?
Rob Haddock:Um, yes, plenty of them.
Rob Haddock:Uh, the solar space became kind of the.com or housing bubble of the day.
Rob Haddock:And many companies were very over leveraged with debt.
Rob Haddock:Um, the curtailment of the ITC, um, will stunt the growth
Rob Haddock:of the residential market.
Rob Haddock:So the producer, you're, you're, um, inferring, um, is,
Rob Haddock:is, is, is gonna suffer that.
Rob Haddock:Um, but the commercial market is still alive.
Rob Haddock:But with a lot of additional caveats.
Rob Haddock:And those keep changing almost weekly.
Rob Haddock:Um, but the commercial market is still alive with, as I said, with some caveats.
Todd Miller:Would, would that commercial market include, you know,
Todd Miller:municipalities who are putting in little solar fields and things?
Todd Miller:Would that be included in that?
Rob Haddock:Yes, of course.
Rob Haddock:You know, we stay in the, in the rooftop
Todd Miller:Ab absolutely.
Rob Haddock:so I can't speak to, uh, all the whys and where force and what
Rob Haddock:have you with respect to solar fields.
Rob Haddock:Um, but it's my understanding that, um, they are not going to be killed as well.
Rob Haddock:Again, I think they'll be, they'll.
Rob Haddock:Plenty of caveats about how, how you define domestic content
Rob Haddock:and how you, how you do all these, all these various things.
Rob Haddock:It's still, it's an, it's an ongoing thing.
Todd Miller:It's interesting, our little city, we're here in Pickwell, Ohio, uh,
Todd Miller:has put into solar fields and, uh, we were one of the first municipalities back,
Todd Miller:uh, I think in the fifties or sixties to start playing with nuclear energy as well.
Todd Miller:So for some reason, Pickwell, Ohio has always tried to lead
Todd Miller:the way in terms of, of energy.
Rob Haddock:I think you'll, I think you'll also see.
Rob Haddock:Um, certain states that are very solar proactive, that because the, the,
Rob Haddock:the federal investment tax credit.
Rob Haddock:Is is now more or less disappearing?
Rob Haddock:Um, I think you'll see some of the states and utilities pick up the slack, so it,
Rob Haddock:it's not a total bust, I don't think.
Rob Haddock:A lot remains to be seen.
Rob Haddock:Um.
Rob Haddock:But if, if states subsidize solar, it replaces the federal money to some extent.
Rob Haddock:Um, same thing is true with utilities.
Rob Haddock:I mean, a lot of times public policy puts the onus on the, on the
Rob Haddock:local utility to subsidize solar.
Rob Haddock:It's, it remains to be seen.
Rob Haddock:And my crystal ball is not totally shattered, but it's mostly broken.
Todd Miller:Yeah.
Todd Miller:Yeah.
Todd Miller:We'll see how it all plays out.
Todd Miller:That's for.
Todd Miller:Sure.
Todd Miller:Well, you know, you have created such a remarkable global brand with S five.
Todd Miller:Um, okay, well I have to ask you this.
Todd Miller:Tell us a little bit about the origination of the name.
Todd Miller:S five.
Rob Haddock:Well, if, if I told you that Todd, I'd have to have you knocked off
Todd Miller:well, okay.
Todd Miller:Well, I don't have to know then
Rob Haddock:it, it, it's, it's a trade secret and it's closely held.
Rob Haddock:My kids don't even know.
Todd Miller:Oh, that's awesome.
Todd Miller:Well, this is like Colonel Sanders and his recipe almost here.
Todd Miller:Well, tell me a little bit about though, what it's like to, you know, lead an
Todd Miller:organization of that magnitude as we talked about, you know, how you're
Todd Miller:doing all this international stuff.
Rob Haddock:Yeah, I, I never, when I, um, when I invented S five, uh, attachment
Rob Haddock:technology out in the workshop in my barn, um, I never imagined the magnitude that
Rob Haddock:it would, that would, it would achieve.
Rob Haddock:I sure stayed busy and fly about a quarter million miles a year.
Rob Haddock:But of course with stages of growth, you know, it didn't all happen overnight.
Rob Haddock:Um, we went through growth stages and there are then also growth pains.
Rob Haddock:Uh, I figure at this juncture my job as the CEO is to look down the
Rob Haddock:road and avoid making a wrong turn.
Rob Haddock:Um, it's also to remove obstacles that others on staff may not see.
Rob Haddock:It's also to lower the hurdles and eliminate dysfunctions both inside and
Rob Haddock:outside the organization and to be sure we keep doing things the right way.
Rob Haddock:That's our ethos, and I've never paid much attention to
Rob Haddock:conventional wisdom, so to speak.
Todd Miller:Love it.
Todd Miller:Well reflect a little bit.
Todd Miller:On residential and, and I know we've talked a little bit about how the
Todd Miller:tax credit going away is hurting residential solar, but, um, talk
Todd Miller:a little bit about your thoughts on residential metal roofing.
Todd Miller:Uh, you know, that that's where my heart has been for a lot of years.
Todd Miller:Um, do you see that as continuing to be a growth market or what
Todd Miller:are your thoughts on that?
Rob Haddock:I do, I think it goes, um.
Rob Haddock:I think it goes deeper than solar viability.
Rob Haddock:Certainly the metal roof is the perfect mounting platform for solar.
Rob Haddock:Uh, but there are many other attributes of metal as that
Rob Haddock:you're very much aware of them.
Rob Haddock:I think it's, uh, and I think an aging population is coming
Rob Haddock:to appreciate that things.
Rob Haddock:Don't last forever.
Rob Haddock:So when it comes to roof replacement, uh, they're turning to metal because of
Rob Haddock:its life expectancy, its service life.
Rob Haddock:It doesn't last forever either, but almost.
Rob Haddock:We just need to continue to get that word out.
Todd Miller:You know, it's been interesting.
Todd Miller:I've seen a number of.
Todd Miller:Where remodeling contractors have tried to get involved in solar and even
Todd Miller:guys who are involved in metal have tried to get involved in residential
Todd Miller:solar seems like it's, you know, they always run into challenges.
Todd Miller:Well, I don't, I don't wanna have to deal with electricians, I
Todd Miller:don't wanna have to deal with the permitting, all that type of stuff.
Todd Miller:Um, I'm just kind of curious though.
Todd Miller:Do, do you think that we will see.
Todd Miller:Solar move more into the residential contractor or will always kind of
Todd Miller:stay its own solar contractor thing.
Rob Haddock:It, it's really been as, as far as the trades people that
Rob Haddock:do solar, um, it, it's always been.
Rob Haddock:A little here and a little there kind of, kind of thing.
Rob Haddock:You have electricians who have adopted the, the solar buzz, the
Rob Haddock:solar craze, and are tending into it.
Rob Haddock:You have a few roofing contractors who, who are doing the same thing, and then
Rob Haddock:you have a, the, the typical solar EPC.
Rob Haddock:You know, which is kind of its own subset.
Rob Haddock:Um, and, and so you have a real hodgepodge.
Rob Haddock:Um, I think that well organized contractors, um, who don't, who don't
Rob Haddock:have a mindset of this is a get rich quick thing, um, attacked the right way.
Rob Haddock:I think it can be a really good crossover.
Rob Haddock:Um, and, and definitely within the commercial scene, we don't
Rob Haddock:know what's gonna happen in over the, over the next three years
Rob Haddock:in the, in the residential scene.
Rob Haddock:Um, if there's a change in administration, you know, it may
Rob Haddock:reinstate the investment tax credit.
Rob Haddock:It, it's really hard to say, but as far as the commercial marketplace,
Rob Haddock:you know, a large commercial roofing contractor, if he hires a really.
Rob Haddock:A really good designer, solar one who understands solar and
Rob Haddock:is a bonafide solar designer.
Rob Haddock:Um, he could make it work and you can sub out the electrical.
Rob Haddock:Um.
Rob Haddock:Again, to some, to an electrical company who understands solar and, and the
Rob Haddock:rest of it is just placing modules.
Rob Haddock:It's just, it's just mechanical operation.
Rob Haddock:It's, it's plugging in two wires together and laying modules down and attaching
Rob Haddock:'em hopefully with as five goods.
Todd Miller:There you go.
Todd Miller:Well, switching gears a little bit, I know that.
Todd Miller:You have long been a proponent and supporter of trade associations,
Todd Miller:uh, groups like Metal Construction Association and others.
Todd Miller:Why do you feel that that's important and how has it benefited you and your
Todd Miller:career and building your business?
Rob Haddock:Well, it's, it's not automatic.
Rob Haddock:It, it's, it's not like all, all it takes is to join an organization
Rob Haddock:and good things are gonna happen.
Rob Haddock:I think it's, it's certain.
Rob Haddock:Really true that you get out of it what you put into it.
Rob Haddock:Um, and, and like trade show participation, it's a soft payback.
Rob Haddock:CFOs hate soft paybacks.
Rob Haddock:They, they wanna be able to measure everything.
Rob Haddock:Um, but I've always been a joiner Todd, and so I belong to numerous organizations.
Rob Haddock:I do not devote time to them all equally.
Rob Haddock:I don't have that much time.
Rob Haddock:I belong to probably a dozen or more, but, but I direct my time and talents
Rob Haddock:to the ones that I consider to afford lasting value to friendships as well
Rob Haddock:as build business relationships.
Rob Haddock:Um, my longest standing distributors, you mentioned Dick Buss earlier, and
Rob Haddock:the other one is, um, is Peterson.
Rob Haddock:Um, I, I met those guys through MCA and in some cases MBMA.
Rob Haddock:Of course, there are many, many more, but um, and those guys have
Rob Haddock:been with S five for more than 30 years now and bridge generations.
Rob Haddock:So how do you measure the value of something like that?
Todd Miller:Yeah.
Todd Miller:Yeah.
Rob Haddock:I mean, I learned most of what I know about metal roofing.
Rob Haddock:Um, through trade associations and, and mentoring with people
Rob Haddock:that were way smarter than I was.
Rob Haddock:Um, that's how I learned.
Rob Haddock:I didn't learn that stuff in school, in college, or anything like that.
Todd Miller:Well, and you certainly have been passing it along as well.
Todd Miller:So, uh, I'm curious, you know, what has been the most rewarding part,
Todd Miller:uh, of your journey in this and.
Rob Haddock:I love to learn, but the most rewarding part of my journey is fulfilling
Rob Haddock:my giftings and callings of and for God.
Rob Haddock:Um, 12 years ago I started a family foundation and the
Rob Haddock:enterprise funds the foundation.
Rob Haddock:And it's set up in perpetuity so that it survives me, and that's the
Rob Haddock:most rewarding part of my journey in, in enterprise and in life.
Todd Miller:That's cool stuff.
Todd Miller:We should all be so blessed to be able to say that.
Todd Miller:Well, um, been a real pleasure, privilege to to chat with you here today.
Todd Miller:Rob, is there anything we haven't covered, uh, that you wanted to be
Todd Miller:sure to share with our audience?
Rob Haddock:There's a whole mountain of stuff we haven't covered.
Rob Haddock:Todd.
Rob Haddock:We had a limited amount of time, but.
Rob Haddock:I'm writing a book about it and, and maybe I'll even write two, you know,
Rob Haddock:one about personal anecdotal stories and family history and stuff like that, and
Rob Haddock:another one about business enterprise and missteps and all the mistakes I've made.
Rob Haddock:Anyway, stay tuned for that.
Todd Miller:I'll be your first customer.
Todd Miller:I, I wanna sign copy though though, so I gotta make sure I get that.
Todd Miller:But
Rob Haddock:No problem.
Todd Miller:well Rob, this has been a great time together.
Todd Miller:Um, before we close out, I have to ask you one more thing, and that is,
Todd Miller:if you're willing to participate in something we call rapid fire questions.
Todd Miller:These are five questions, just random questions.
Todd Miller:All you have to do is give a quick response.
Todd Miller:Are you up to the challenge of rapid fire?
Rob Haddock:Yeah, in fact, I brought my own tool,
Todd Miller:Good deal.
Todd Miller:You are well prepared for this,
Rob Haddock:so have at it Todd.
Rob Haddock:Fire away.
Todd Miller:Ryan.
Todd Miller:I'll let you ask the first one.
Ryan Bell:All right.
Ryan Bell:Question number one.
Ryan Bell:What's a product or service you've acquired recently that's kind
Ryan Bell:of been a game changer for you?
Rob Haddock:Oh Mercy.
Rob Haddock:You know, we're, we're moving all the time and we're always
Rob Haddock:inventing new stuff and, um, and.
Rob Haddock:I've, I've invented some stuff that flopped in the marketplace, but
Rob Haddock:thankfully, most of it doesn't.
Rob Haddock:And we have, um, we have 10 or 12 patent applications into the patent
Rob Haddock:office all the time, every, every, every, every day of every year.
Rob Haddock:Um, we just keep inventing things and we, we never know for certain
Rob Haddock:which one is, which ones are gonna really sore and which ones are gonna,
Rob Haddock:eh, kind of a dud sort of thing.
Todd Miller:So you always got things going on.
Todd Miller:That's great.
Todd Miller:Um, I'm curious, uh, question number two, tell us about one of the most
Todd Miller:impressive metal roofs you've ever seen or been on or worked on or whatever.
Rob Haddock:I mentioned to you earlier that, um, we have a satellite
Rob Haddock:production facility in Bilbao, Spain, um, because of the information
Rob Haddock:exchange and, and the training that is taking place between the US.
Rob Haddock:In Spain, um, I've, we, we rented an apartment, a three bedroom apartment so
Rob Haddock:that we have some place to house people when we, when we send technicians and
Rob Haddock:engineers and so on, uh, over to Spain.
Rob Haddock:And, um, so, so in answer to your question, I don't know if you've, if
Rob Haddock:you're familiar with the Guggenheim, that was done by Fran o Gary.
Todd Miller:Sure.
Rob Haddock:It's hard to differentiate what's a roof and what's a
Todd Miller:Well, yeah.
Todd Miller:Or structure.
Todd Miller:Yes.
Rob Haddock:but it is quite a structure.
Rob Haddock:You, your audience can Google it, the Guggenheim and Bilbo Spain.
Rob Haddock:It's that that material is titanium.
Rob Haddock:Um, and it's only 0.4 millimeter in, in gauge.
Rob Haddock:Um, and, and it's, it's, it's quite a striking thing.
Rob Haddock:Another one done by the same architect as one of my favorite wineries,
Rob Haddock:uh, uh, in, in central Spain.
Rob Haddock:Um, and it's near, um, oh shoot, LaGuardia.
Rob Haddock:It's near to LaGuardia.
Rob Haddock:And that's the, um, marque al. Winery and the same architect did that.
Rob Haddock:They built a hotel there.
Rob Haddock:It's a Marriott chain hotel and um, the same architect did that one.
Rob Haddock:It's very similar.
Todd Miller:I'm gonna check that out as well.
Todd Miller:Okay.
Todd Miller:Is the next one?
Todd Miller:No, it's your, it's back to you, Ryan.
Ryan Bell:Back to me.
Ryan Bell:Question number three, what is your favorite meal?
Rob Haddock:I would have to say lamb shanks.
Rob Haddock:I know you expected me to say beef.
Ryan Bell:I was kind of thinking it was gonna be steak.
Todd Miller:Good answer.
Todd Miller:Next question.
Todd Miller:Um, I might know the answer to this, but what did the 8-year-old
Todd Miller:Rob dream of being when he grew up?
Rob Haddock:Oh, oh, man.
Rob Haddock:I don't, I, I, well, I dreamt of being a cowboy.
Todd Miller:That's what I figured.
Todd Miller:That's what
Rob Haddock:Yeah, I did.
Rob Haddock:I did, for sure.
Rob Haddock:I did.
Todd Miller:Cool stuff.
Todd Miller:Living out your dreams.
Rob Haddock:I was, uh, I, I have photographs of me
Rob Haddock:on, uh, on my dad's horse.
Rob Haddock:You know, my folks were divorced when I was about four, but I have,
Rob Haddock:I have photographs of me on my dad's horse, and I'm, and my older
Rob Haddock:brother is, is sitting in front.
Rob Haddock:And, um, I'm sitting in back and I got a real sour puss on, um, because the,
Rob Haddock:and you could see my dad is pointing, instructing me to look at the camera.
Rob Haddock:'cause grandpa was taking a picture, right.
Rob Haddock:And I had a sour puss on me because I always rode in back, which was fine.
Rob Haddock:But I preferred to stand up that way I could see where we're going, you know?
Rob Haddock:I could see over my brother's shoulders and, and, um, yeah, so I had a sour
Rob Haddock:puss on because they made me sit down, sit down and look at the camera.
Todd Miller:I, I think that photo needs to make the S
Todd Miller:five website somehow, someday.
Ryan Bell:I think so too.
Ryan Bell:I agree.
Ryan Bell:All right.
Ryan Bell:Final question here.
Ryan Bell:We'll kind of end on a serious note.
Ryan Bell:At the end of your days, what would you, uh, like to be remembered for?
Rob Haddock:A lot of things, but, um, improving the lives of other people, um,
Rob Haddock:leaving a legacy involving certain values.
Rob Haddock:My children and work ethic and that sort of thing.
Rob Haddock:Um, but I'm all about doing for others and improving the lives of others.
Rob Haddock:And the found the mission statement of our family foundation, um, is
Rob Haddock:to do what Jesus did, which was to improve the lives of others.
Rob Haddock:And, and he preached about.
Rob Haddock:Um, about the father, the widow, and the fatherless, and, and doing things.
Rob Haddock:So, so the charities that the foundation supports are all aimed at in making
Rob Haddock:permanent changes in people's lives, and that, you know, goes from, um, sexual
Rob Haddock:slavery to, uh, rehabbing, um, uh.
Rob Haddock:Vets and those sorts of charities, there are about 20 of them.
Todd Miller:Cool stuff, great answer, and uh, you are, you are doing it.
Todd Miller:Um, well, Rob.
Todd Miller:Thank you very much for the role that you play in the industry
Todd Miller:and in the lives of so many.
Todd Miller:Um, for those who want to learn about S five or the Metal Roof
Todd Miller:Advisory group, uh, what are the best ways for them to do that?
Rob Haddock:Uh, well, there are two websites because one is a consultancy
Rob Haddock:and the other is a product company.
Rob Haddock:But S Five's website is just www dot sen sen five, the number five.com.
Rob Haddock:And, um, the consultancy, the Metal Roof advisory group is
Rob Haddock:RM Haddock, like my name, Rob.
Rob Haddock:RM Raymond Mary Haddock, HA double DOC k.com respectively.
Todd Miller:Very good.
Todd Miller:Well, we will put those in the show notes as well.
Todd Miller:Rob, thank you again.
Todd Miller:What a pleasure.
Todd Miller:Always a joy to talk with.
Todd Miller:You.
Todd Miller:Thank you.
Rob Haddock:Enjoyed visiting with you, Todd, and I guess I'll
Rob Haddock:see you in Oh, I'll see you in,
Todd Miller:Maybe metal con.
Todd Miller:Yep.
Todd Miller:Yep.
Todd Miller:Good deal.
Rob Haddock:Alright, take care gentlemen.
Todd Miller:Well, thank you and.
Todd Miller:I wanna thank our audience for tuning into this episode of Construction
Todd Miller:Disruption with Rob Haddock.
Todd Miller:Please watch for future episodes of our podcast.
Todd Miller:We always have great guests.
Todd Miller:Don't forget to leave us a review.
Todd Miller:Give us a thumbs up, whatever.
Todd Miller:Um, keep on disrupting, keep on challenging, keep on looking for
Todd Miller:better ways of doing things, and don't forget to have a positive
Todd Miller:impact on everyone you encounter.
Todd Miller:Um, just as Rob was alluding to.
Todd Miller:Make them smile, encourage them, make their life better.
Todd Miller:These are just such simple, yet powerful things we can do.
Todd Miller:So God bless and take care.
Todd Miller:This is Isaiah Industry signing off until the next episode
Todd Miller:of Construction Disruption.