She's Got It Covered: Lisa Ege, owner of Acclaimed Roofing, celebrates 10 years

Lisa Ege has reached heights to which many businesswomen would never dream climbing.

The owner of Springfield-based Acclaimed Roofing LLC, which performs commercial and residential roof installations and repairs across southwest Missouri, celebrates 23 years in roofing and the 10th anniversary of her business this year.

"What sets me apart from a lot of roofing companies is that I have actually done time on the roof," Ege said. "I grew up around backhoes and bulldozers. I just love the outdoors."

No-nonsense approach

After high school, Ege started college at Drury University for one year before deciding textbooks

just weren't for her. She took a job at a local roofing company that is no longer in business, where she met Georgia Powell, an experienced female roofer. "She was my foreman and just took me under her wing and taught me all the specifications and details of rubber roofs, which is what she did back then," Ege said.

Lisa Ege's three and a half years at the company eased her into the roofing business.

"It was like a family, and we all worked together," she said. "It didn't matter that I was a woman."

Ege was then hired by Queen City Roofing and joined the Roofers Union Local 20.

"We walked on a roof at 6 a.m. and walked off at 6 p.m.," Ege said. "It was physically demanding, but I never cried."

During her time there, she completed a four-year roofing apprenticeship through the roofers' union and gained the essential skills for the trade.

In 1999, Ege used $2,000 of her personal savings to open Acclaimed Roofing LLC.

"The first four-and-a-half years were tough," she said. "It took awhile to find a crew I didn't have to baby-sit."

She said it was a challenge finding roofers who were tough enough, both emotionally and physically, to keep up with the demands of the job.

And while she must pay attention to workers' compensation issues, she said complaining doesn't fly with her no-nonsense approach to business, either.

"My back hurts every day, but I don't complain," she said.

Quality and pride in their work were key attributes she looks for in hiring roofers. "I will know within a week whether they know what they're doing," she said.

Standing on the work

Today, Ege's $2.3 million company, with 17 employees, works on projects ranging from 400,000-square-foot, flat-roof commercial jobs to small residences.

"I met Lisa shortly after she started her business, and I knew from the first project she did that she was very conscientious and I could depend on her," said Paul Dock, owner of Dock Brothers Construction Co.

"She's done probably 50 projects, and not just through my construction company. She's done stuff for me personally, for my own home and rental properties I own," Dock added.

Her residential customers include some well-known local names: entertainer Andy Williams, architect Geoffrey Butler and businessman Jerry Jared.

"In this economy you have to go where the work is," she said of her diversified business approach. "Business started picking up again in March and April of this year."

She said one of her pet peeves is when roofers don't warranty their work.

"There are a lot of out-of-state roofing companies that send a group of guys into neighborhoods here and flood them with salesmanship," she said. "Unfortunately, they get their money and then those guys are gone."

Acclaimed Roofing customer Bill Duplisse said Ege, on the other hand, stands behind her work - and he said that's one reason he would recommend her to others.

"She had a bunch of roofers out to do a job on our home, and a year or so later we had a leak," said the Nixa resident.

"Lisa came out to inspect it and realized that they should have done something different. She did a whole new roof for no charge."

Ege said she has built her business on customer referrals, and it's a strategy that seems to be working.

In March she purchased a warehouse at 1630 W. Walnut St., and she hired an office assistant and an estimator who help her with residential and insurance claim projects.

"I still do all the detail work on commercial jobs," she said.

Her commercial clients include Kinney Amusement and Vending Co., Battlefield Fire Department, Medical Consulting Group LLC and Williams' Moon River Theater in Branson.

"If it's going to fail, at least I know what I did. I (do) everything for this company because I have a hard time trusting, and I don't want to get bigger," she said.