Marysville Resident Receives Regional Award

June 28, 2006

2006 National Roofing Contractors Association MVP Awards, Bill Koren is in back row, second from right.

Bill Koren, a Marysville, Ohio resident, has been receiving awards one after another for the outstanding work he does with The Durable Slate Company, headquartered in Columbus.

Koren, one of Durable Slate's top foremen, was nominated along with his crew for the Cleveland Area Builders Exchange Craftsmanship Award recognizing the highly technical restoration work performed at First Congregational Church in Akron. Chambers, Murphy & Burge Restoration Architects submitted nominations to the Cleveland Area Builders Exchange for both the slate work and the architectural metal work on the project.

Koren supervised the installation of over 160 squares of new slate. He also restored a copper monitor structure, parts of which had been removed some time in the past, using historic photographs to reproduce the original structure. Incidental to the awards for the slate and metal work, although by no means incidental to the scope of the job, were the structural improvements to the building, masonry restoration, and installation of a new skylight.

Two separate awards for one project is something to be proud of, but recognition of Koren's abilities and contribution to the field of historic restoration didn't stop there. Koren was nominated by Durable Slate for the National Roofing Contractors Association's Most Valuable Player award.

Koren's modesty is as admirable as his abilities which generate the accolades. "I had a lot of good guys and lot of help on the Akron job. Working as a team really helped get us through."

But those who work with Koren can add to that story. Mark Wolf, Koren's supervisor remarks, "Bill never looks for a reason why something can't be done. He's always looking for how to do something rather than how to get out of doing something. He's always looking for a better, faster way to do things."

Tim Ramage, a member of Koren's crew, says, "He's meticulous about his own work, so those who work under him need to adhere to those values and have equal integrity about their work."

John Meffley, another crew member, gave this insight into Koren's leadership style, "He really knows his stuff. I really like working for Bill. He's fun to work with, and he teaches me a lot. And hopefully someday I'll be in his shoes. He's got some big shoes to fill though."

According to Durable Slate's executive vice president, Gary Howes, "Bill has the same standards of work ethic, attention to detail, care for his crew and care for the customer - as we, the four partners, did - back when we were working in the field building the business. Seeing this gives me the confidence of knowing that our company will continue to grow on into the future because we have guys like Bill who have an ownership mentality. And that's rare in today's workforce."

Judged on his work ethic, workmanship, creative problem solving, contribution to employee retention, leadership qualities, and safety record on the projects he runs, Koren was selected, along with seven others in the roofing industry from across the nation as an MVP by the NRCA. He and his wife, Kim, were flown to the NRCA convention in Las Vegas where he received this honor.

Koren is the second Durable Slate employee to receive the MVP award.