Local Contractor Benefits from 2016 State Skilled Trades Training Fund Award
For nearly 30 years, Doyle Roofing has been a critical part of Cheboygan, MI’s construction industry. Doyle provides specialized industrial roofing services that are not available through other contractors and Doyle’s commercial and governmental customers require the use of specialized materials and processes. To maintain their standards of quality and respond to customer demand, Doyle employees continuously need training on new equipment and processes.
In 2016, Doyle Roofing worked with Michigan Works! Northeast Consortium to receive over $12,000 in Skilled Trade Training Funds (STTF), which they used to train nine of their existing staff and hire/train one new employee. Thanks to the STTF award, Doyle can increase their production rates and bid on more contracts.
"The 2016 STTF training program has helped Doyle Inc. Roofing to be more competitive and productive, says Joel Ross, Project Manager at Doyle Roofing. “STTF has helped Doyle Inc. to excel by promoting in-house employees and hire new employees. Our bulk buying power, new record keeping, new tools and equipment, and further education has helped Doyle Inc. grow to become one of the leaders in our area and that would not have been possible without funding through STTF.”
Training included computerized records for roofing to help the crews identify loss concerns and better plan/prepare future projects, forklift training to allow Doyle to buy in bulk and keep more materials on-site to fill orders faster, and Advanced TPO training to teach employees the set-up, maintenance and use of new equipment such as the walk-behind hot air roof membrane welder. It is anticipated that this training will make Doyle more competitive in the construction industry and increase their construction contracts in Northeast Michigan.
“The training we received in 2016 was very helpful to me, and in my opinion the other employees,” states Doyle employee and training recipient, Dustin LaHaie. “It helped us learn to be more proficient in our jobs. The guys all understood what was expected of them to increase our production rates and become a better crew and company in the process.”
In addition to working with Michigan Works! to secure the STTF award, Doyle Roofing has also partnered with Michigan Works! to host Student Talent Tours at their facilities, educating today’s students about career opportunities in construction and roofing.