Bigger & Better
Changes Coming to the Davis Memorial Foundation
by Marcus Dodson, Publisher
With all of the celebrations surrounding the 50th anniversary of the Western States Roofing Contractors Association (WSRCA) and the incredible turn out for this year’s Western Roofing Expo, it should come as no surprise that other records were broken at the event. The Davis Memorial Foundation, which supports education as it’s related to the development of a strong construction industry in the Western states, raised over $110,000 from the raffles and auctions that were held during the expo. Compared to previous years, which usually net around $75,000-$80,000, this was an extraordinary amount of support collected for the foundation.
Alongside great successes usually comes great changes as well, and the Davis Memorial Foundation is no different. We interviewed Chuck Chapman, Tecta America, Phoenix, Arizona, one of the members for the foundation’s Board of Trustees, for some of the details on the changes that the foundation might be seeing going forward.
One of the changes for the foundation, due to the increased funds they managed to raise, is to give out more of allotted scholarships. “Our goal is to continue to keep expanding our reach as our fundraising efforts also continue to grow,” said Chapman. Chapman stated that the $5,000 scholarship is still the ideal amount to be giving out per student and that they have no plans to change the amount per scholarship, but to instead raise the amount of scholarships from ten to 15.
Additionally, the Davis Memorial Foundation has announced that it will be giving out grants for high schools that want to compete at the annual SkillsUSA® conference in commercial roofing installation. Eligible schools can apply to receive up to $2,500 to assist in attending the conference with two grants being awarded.
Alongside the changes to the scholarships and grants, there are also changes coming to the Board of Trustees in the form of retirements. Both Bill Baley and Dennis Ryan will be retiring from the Board of Trustees at the end of this year. Both of them have had incredible impacts on the foundation in the past few years, with Baley in particular helping out the foundation as the auctioneer for the fundraising auctions at the Western Roofing Expos.
“I want to acknowledge Bill for his time as a trustee and as our auctioneer,” said Chapman. “If it wasn’t for him helping the foundation, I don’t think that we could have evolved to where we are today.” Baley will be retiring to focus on spending more time with his wife and family. Christian Madsen, Madsen Roofing and Waterproofing, Sacramento, California, and Travis Nelson, Brown Roofing and Siding, The Dalles, Oregon, will be stepping up into the roles Ryan and Baley are moving away from. Chapman will be partnering with Greg Bloom in the future to run the auctions.
In our interview with him, Chapman also expressed that there is a desire among the Board of Trustees to encourage more people to get involved and volunteer their time to help the foundation.
“A big part of being a trustee is putting in the effort to get even more people involved in the foundation,” said Chapman. “I think there are incredibly talented people out there that may not be aware that they can volunteer their time with us. We would like to give them the opportunity to get involved in the foundation.”
Chapman and some of the other members of the board believe it makes sense to expand the foundation alongside its increased successes. For anyone who is interested in helping facilitate some of these changes or in getting more involved in the Davis Memorial Foundation, the current Board of Trustees is always happy to hear suggestions and take volunteers. The foundation has only been able to grow to the scale it is because of the help of the WSRCA and its community, and they wish to keep advancing with that continued support so they can keep improving the roofing industry going forward.
