The Home Depot’s acquisition of GMS, discussed by SRS CEO Dan Tinker and GMS CEO JT Turner, highlights a customer-first integration focused on growth, innovation, and expanded opportunities for contractors and employees.

With the price of everything rising, it’s more important than ever for contractors to gain new customers. But winning them over should be more than simply locking in a new project. Art Unlimited CEO Anna Anderson explains how roofing contractors can apply strategies to their marketing based on the book “Never Lose a Customer Again.”

W&C Editor John Wyatt speaks with Tom Harris of Tom Harris PUR Consulting to demystify one of the most misunderstood aspects of insulation—vapor barriers. Harris explains the crucial difference between air and vapor barriers, the science of moisture movement, and the importance of proper vapor control by climate zone, offering builders and homeowners practical insights on preventing condensation, mold, and costly building failures.

Thea Dudley, CEO of Pocket Protectors, and Ryan Ayers, CEO and co-founder of Suppli, join RC to discuss the latest changes to credit card interchange fees. The association fees for Visa business-to-business transactions just went up and there’s speculation that others will, too. That could impact roofing contractors and others that rely on credit card payments to keep companies moving.

Policymakers and the courts have disagreed for years on the fairness and enforcement of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s use of the multi-employer doctrine when it comes to safety violations found on a jobsite. Now, advocates for the construction and roofing trades are pushing for a series of statutory reforms that allow prime contractors on a site to help subcontractors with safety.

“The kind of thing I'm thinking about is collaborative efforts to ensure safety,” said W&C Legal Insights Expert Trent Cotney in a recent conversation about a new white paper he helped draft for the National Construction Policy Institute. “The reason why I wanted to write this white paper is that time and time again, I've been asked by contractors, ‘Hey, I want to help my subs, I want to give them PPE and train them.”

Diane Earll, now President of USG’s Ceilings Business, has spent 30 years rising through 13 roles across the company, driving innovations like lightweight USG Sheetrock Brand Gypsum Panels and centralized customer service. She credits USG’s culture of opportunity, training, and community commitment—paired with a focus on technology and innovation—for keeping the company and its partners resilient in a changing construction industry.

It’s been a relatively slow storm season along the coasts in terms of hurricanes and named storms, but that may be about to change. Meteorologists are tracking two developing storms at the same time in the same area of the Atlantic Ocean, just off the Bahamas. The unique circumstance could bring about some severe weather and damage that will put contractors in demand. To get a closer look with someone at the center of it all, we checked in with disaster response expert Steve Slepcevic, CEO of Strategic Response Partners, to discuss what contractors can do now while tracking developments. to be ready for the next crisis.