NSA Board Meeting – Boston 2021

The National Slate Association Board and committee members met in Boston last week to hold elections and discuss future plans for 2022. The agenda for the meeting can be found in this document.

The meeting started with the standards and installation committee discussing upcoming technical bulletins on galvanic corrosion and ventilation and condensation within slate roofs. The group helped proof read Dan Cornwell’s upcoming article and gave thoughts on intertwining it with slate roofing specifically. The delivery of the galvanic corrosion applying to slate roofs will be released shortly. Discussion also followed on the release of the AutoCad drawings found within the National Slate Association Manual and copyright issues. It was decided they will be added to the website for members only and the next steps for implementing this were noted. 

The membership committee report was opened with a PowerPoint about specifics and thoughts about the future of the natural slate roofing industry and how it will affect membership. This PowerPoint can be found here. An overview is there is still strong demand for slate as a roofing material and the quarries are dealing with labor shortage with supply. Membership added 13 new members in 2021 and the goal of retaining past members was discussed. The updated website and member directory were scrutinized and discussed on how to improve.  

Nominations followed and the 3 board members up for re-election, John Chan, Brian Chalsma, and Dan Cornwell, were re-elected. Bob Pringle will act as the 2022 President for another year. The nominating committee was assigned moving forward. If any readers out there are interested in helping out on the board, new faces are encouraged to reach out to the NSA. The email address is info@slateassociation.org

The final part of the meeting moved through various topics as bringing a 2022 updated manual to print / download, the NRCA Pro Certification on slate installation, and where to hold the 2022 event. Vermont, Virginia, and the Glendyne quarry were brought up as possibilities. These locations will be voted on in the near term and promotion for the event will take place. The meeting was adjourned with much anticipation for a successful next year. 

The following day a group met at Memorial Hall which has a beautiful slate roof on Harvard’s campus completed by Gilbert and Becker. Pictures can be seen below. 

The Mission

The goal of the NSA is to continue to promote natural roofing slate. A main agenda item is to continue to improve member benefits and support. New tasks will be to provide minutes from board meetings, provide AutoCad drawings of details, and support the industry at various trade shows (IRE, IBEC, AIA). It’s a challenging industry that faces much competition from cheaper alternatives and must do better spreading why slate should be installed. Focusing on the benefits of the material is paramount to the future success. Stay tuned for future updates on the 2022 event that we hope all members can attend.