At the heart of Nortex Roofing lies just that, heart. Coming from humble beginnings, Nortex Roofing has grown from a small shop into the large and hugely successful facility it is today. With over 30 years in business and numerous successful projects under their belts, the team at Nortex Roofing have worked hard to create a successful business. What are some of the standout moments in its 30 years of business, or better yet, what is the secret to a successful business? It seems that, for Darnell Vrban, Business Development Manager at Nortex Roofing, the answer lies in the care and consideration it gives to every aspect of its work. Vrban got into the construction industry over 20 years ago and has also worked in other industries prior to that. For him, something about Nortex is different.
“I have never seen an organization where from the top of the organization and throughout, everyone cares and wants to deliver. There’s just no complacency, even with the company’s success. The people here are genuinely involved. I’m on the business development engine which brings a different set of roles and responsibilities, and sometimes I’m amazed, quite frankly of just how well our operations team works. I see them just about every day that I’m in the office and I just see how focused they are.”
Having its people as a prominent force in the business is one of the key elements to Nortex Roofing’s success, but another, and something that has helped propel it to success is the craftsmanship of its work and the clients who recognize it. The company’s catalogue of work includes everything from schools to shopping centers to manufacturing facilities. However, there are some standout projects that help differentiate Nortex from its competitors, such as its work on the CAMH Health Facility.
The facility itself had strict requirements for the roofing component of the project. Not only were Nortex working to a precise timeline, but the work also had to be carried out in the winter months without disruption. While winters may bring their own set of obstacles to Canadian construction projects, the job was a complete success. In an example of where relationships can make all the difference, the project manager setup and maintained an open channel of communication with the facility, allowing the logistics behind the project to run smoothly, and which resulted in another happy client for Nortex Roofing.
It goes without saying that environmental alternatives are becoming increasingly prevalent and necessary both in roofing and the construction industry in general. In order to make positive changes, Nortex Roofing has rolled out green roofing to its clients. This involves the roof of a building being partially or completely covered with vegetation and a growing medium, planted over a waterproofing membrane. Also known as “living roofs”, green roofs serve several purposes for a building, such as absorbing rainwater, providing insulation, creating a habitat for wildlife, and helping to lower urban air temperatures and combat the heat island effect.
“We really have a team culture and team atmosphere at Nortex, and that’s what we try to cultivate.”
The company is dedicated to providing roofing services that are environmentally responsible by providing services such as solar powered roofs which convert sunlight into electricity. With this in mind, it is no surprise to learn that Nortex are currently working on a project with a number of environmental considerations. The project is for a large manufacturing facility and, as Vrban explains, it focuses on providing cutting edge technology with reasonable pricing. “Adding rooftop solar to a building involves some special requirements. We came in with a solution for this company and we gave them a very cost-effective roofing that met specific requirements for them, and particularly considering it was a manufacturing facility as well. So, we have to be very cognizant that you know what was under us while we were roofing and once again, timelines were very important.”
In addition to the innovation and technology being incorporated into Nortex’s designs, Vrban believes that this particular project highlights the importance of solid working relationships. “It’s actually a current project we started not too long ago and there’s a third entity involved in it. The solar provider is a fantastic company as well, so you have multiple companies coming together on a large project. The building itself is about 100,000 square feet and we had to work in close contact with the solar company to ensure that from our perspective, we delivered on what they needed in order to facilitate the solar array on the rooftop. It’s been a very successful project once again from a coordination and communication perspective. We’ve done a fantastic job and I’m very proud of that one.”
For Nortex, communication is extremely important, especially when it comes to clients. The company tries its hardest to keep communication channels open, not only externally, but internally also. The Vice President of operations works closely on every single project and no stone is left unturned. At Nortex, this inclusive culture ensures that almost everyone is involved in a project in some shape or form, and everyone is rooting for its successful completion.
What I refer to as inclusive culture, however, Nortex refer to as family. Even though the company has grown to become one of the larger contractors in the province, it has never reached a point that it forgets about its employees. The company has had foremen that have worked for the company since its inception and its current chief estimator has been there almost 20 years. For any company to have long standing employment like Nortex speaks to the character of the company and the overall environment of the workplace.
While Nortex will continue to expand on its success, its approach to growth is somewhat different than other businesses. Nortex Roofing is less concerned with expansion and more interested in maintaining quality.
Vrban believes that by maintaining quality as its primary goal, the company will never veer far from the attributes that have brought it such success already. “We are poised for growth, whether that may be into some different markets or different aspects of the building envelope. We’re measuring it to ensure wherever we grow or however we grow, that we can bring the same level of quality and best in class. Right now, we are redoing our website. We’re redoing our marketing collateral, and we have some strategic plans that are going to align with that. We’re not going to overextend ourselves and we’re not going to make promises that we can’t deliver on. However, we are looking into the next few years and there will be some exciting times for Nortex ahead.”
As Nortex continues to push forward, it will do so with its people in mind. At the heart of Nortex Roofing will always be its employees and when I asked Vrban for any last quotes he could not stress that enough.
“We really have a team culture and team atmosphere at Nortex, and that’s what we try to cultivate. The standout moments are seeing our colleagues, seeing their families grow and having monumental moments in their lives. Our people are everything.”
