Delta Roofing founder begins handing over reins

Visitors still find a Spears at the desk. Chances are, though, that it’s now founder Jim Spears’ son, Jimmy, the company’s vice president, who has been with Delta since 1992.

“He is backing up and giving me more responsibility – that’s been gradually happening for probably the last two years or so,” Jimmy Spears said. “I had been doing actually the work out on the roof, and now I’m slowly stepping away from that and doing more of the business work.”

That’s just fine with his father, who is content with slowly stepping away.

“I told Jimmy I’d continue giving him more work as long as he keeps sending money,” said a joking Spears, the company’s sole shareholder. “When he stops supporting me, I guess I’ll have to get back into it.”

Spears founded Delta Roofing in 1970, going out on his own after working for his father-in-law’s roofing business. In 1973, the company opened an office in Greenville, Miss., but that office closed its doors in 1995.

The 15-employee Springfield office, meanwhile, celebrated its 35th anniversary earlier this year.

Since Delta Roofing opened its doors, not much has changed in the front office.

Visitors still find a Spears at the desk. Chances are, though, that it’s Spears’ son.

Changing materials

In the last 35 years, Jim Spears said he’s seen a lot of changes, particularly in the asphalt materials the company uses in its work.

“In making asphalt, they squeeze everything out of crude oil that they can get, and asphalt is made from what’s left. Now, with the refineries getting more out of the crude oil, the asphalt is a trashier product than it was,” he said.

“All of the others – the thermal plastics, the PVC, the white roofing products – have improved so much and broadened the roofing industry so much that it’s unreal,” Spears added.

The products are improving – so much, Spears said, that the average person should probably leave the installation process to professional “roofologists,” a term Spears coined for himself.

“Everybody thinks they can work on a roof, and they can, but that doesn’t mean they can fix it,” he said.

“It’s like cars – you have to go to a good mechanic who makes it his living and went to school and has the equipment to get it fixed. Roofing is the same way – just because you can get up on a roof and look at it and you can buy something that you think can fix it, that doesn’t mean it’s going to get fixed,” Spears added.

What’s ahead?

In the future, Spears said he expects a bigger emphasis on environmentally friendly products and techniques in the roofing industry.

Metal roofing products, for example, are growing in popularity, though Spears said they’re not utilized as effectively as they could be.

“I think it has a long way to go before it’s really good for the customer,” he said. “The metal roofing product is good, but a lot of the applications and installation of it is not good. It’s like a plane crash – most of the time it’s caused by pilot error. Roofing problems a lot of the time are caused by roofer error more so than product failure.”

Whatever changes the industry sees, the elder Spears is likely to be on hand to observe them, because he’ll still be involved with the company.

“He’ll be here until he can’t be here anymore,” Jimmy Spears said.

Ask Jim Spears, and the answer is the same.

“I don’t ever intend to quit,” he said. “I will slow down, maybe travel some more, but I’ll never be completely out of it until I have dirt on my face.”

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