2008 Most Valued Employee Award (Mar-Apr-08)
This program is designed to honor one outstanding roofing worker from the Carolinas and Virginia to be recognized during the Tri-State Roofing Expo. Each state that participates in the Tri-State Roofing Expo (North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia) will select their MVE of the Year. The purpose of the award is to recognize excellence in the roofing industry and allow recipients to serve as role models for other roofing workers, as well as increase professionalism and attract more workers to the roofing industry.
Only one employee per branch office of a contracting company may be nominated for the MVE of the Year Award. Nominees must hold positions no higher than foreman.
Judges will include CRSMCA and VARC members. Judges' decisions will be based on evidence of professionalism; uniqueness or significance of a nominee's contribution; and benefit to a nominee's company and co-workers or community.
Award recipients receive a plaque, free registration to the Tri-State Roofing Expo, and one-night lodging during the Tri-State Roofing Expo. Winners are formally honored and presented at the end of the last day of the Tri-State Roofing Expo.
2008 Most Valued Employee Award Recipients...
Mr. William Funderburk, Jr.; Foreman, Murr-Laney, Inc.
Will Funderburk earned a BA degree in Criminal Justice from UNC-Charlotte, and worked for a time as a private investigator, before coming to work with Murr & Laney, Inc. in April of 2001. Not a normal background for a roofer, but this training has provided Will with the ability to focus on the most minor details and still see the whole project.
Will is currently one of our foremen. He has the ability to take a job assignment, study the scope and details of that project until he is completely familiar with it, and has a vision of how the finished job needs to look. He then assigns work, and teaches the job skills needed, to each man on his crew for the different segments of the project.
Will has earned the friendship and respect of his fellow workers. His willingness to work with other subcontractors on the job sight to keep the project moving was documented in the sight meeting minutes by S. C. Hondros Construction for St. Nektarios Greek Orthodox Church located on Kuykendall Road earlier this year. He is able to quickly build a rapport with contractors and homeowners alike, which sets a good example for the company and the industry as a whole.
Will is constantly striving to learn new skills, and attend training sessions to hone those skills. He recently attended the National Roofing Legal Resources seminar in Tucson. Having taken the CPCC Ten-Hour OSHA Compliance Course, Will is one of our safety instructors. It is for these reasons that I wish to nominate William Funderburk, Jr. Most Valued Employee for 2008.
Letter from Mr. William Funderburk, Jr.
Winning the Most Valued Employee for North Carolina has meant so much to me. To be recognized for doing something that you love to do is great. I worked for Murr and Laney thru College. After I graduated from UNC-Charlotte, I decided to use my degree and became a Private Investigator. That didn't last very long. I was itching the entire time to get back on a roof, and I can't imagine doing anything else. I definitely have to credit this award to my fellow workers at Murr and Laney. John Hyatt and Jimmy Warlick go out of their way to help me and teach me what they know on the job. My brother, Matthew, really makes me look good, I have more leadership skills, but he has more technical skills, and more patience when it comes to difficult jobs, and always does great work.
Most of all I need to credit this award to Bill Laney. Without his help and guidance I wouldn't know anything. He has taught me so much about roofing, leadership, and just life in general that I really owe him everything. Doing the specialty type roofing that we do (Slate and Copper) it really gets challenging some times, and whenever you have a question or just need some answers, Bill is always there to help. Bill instills in us that Quality comes first, and he expects you to do a top quality job every time you go out. I know for me, I stay up nights trying to figure out how to do something or thinking over who I am going to have doing what on a job the next day.
Last week my fiancé and I went to talk to our minister about our upcoming wedding. She asked me about my job; and before I knew it I talked for 30 minutes about slate and copper roofing, and how much I enjoy working at Murr and Laney. The minister said that she "has never met someone that loves his or her job as much as you do." It took me by surprise because I never really thought about how much I do love my job. A job is something you do to pay the bills and put food on the table, however my job at Murr and Laney is much more than that. I look forward everyday coming into work. I love everything about my job, and not a lot of people can say that. Thank you so much for this honor.
Mr. John Jennings; Foreman, C.E. Bourne & Co., Inc.
C.E.
Bourne & Co., Inc. would like to nominate John Jennings for the 2008 Most
Valued Employee Award. John has been
roofing since 1974 and has been with C.E. Bourne & Co., Inc. for 15 years
as a trusted and valued employee.
John handles our most difficult projects from start to finish. He take great pride in his work and independently handles all aspects of the day-to-day workings of a project. John makes himself available to work nights, weekends, or whatever is required to finish a project in a timely manner. All John's projects are finished ahead of schedule. When a project is completed, he seldom has punch list items.
John just completed a very large project that required deck replacement at night with no disruption to the manufacturing facility and finished with a zero punch list.
John trains any new employees to reach the standard that he and C.E. Bourne & Co., Inc. expect.
John's crew are long term employees who work well and efficiently together as a team. The average employment for John's crew is 10 years - ranging from 19 years to recently hired. They have great respect for John Jennings and each knows his responsibility and performs as expected.
John is a devoted husband and father and lives his life with great integrity.
C.E. Bourne & Co., Inc. wouldn't be where we are today without devoted employees such as John Jennings and his crew.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
CRSMCA would like to congratulate the following employees for being nominated by their companies for the Most Valued Employee Award. Their company submitted the employees listed below with exceptional recognition. We would like to thank you also for what a great job you do for the roofing industry and for your company. Continue to keep up the great work!
Harry Oliver, Foreman, Coastal Roofing Co., Inc., Charleston, SC
Glen E. Floyd, Foreman, Hanover Iron Works, Inc., Wilmington, NC
Olger G. Elizondo, Crew Leader, Service One, Inc., Fletcher, NC
Kelly Pate, Sheet Metal Foreman, Gastonia Sheet Metal Works, Inc., Gastonia, NC