Local since 2009. Still here in year eight.

Grant Lockridge framed houses in Cherokee County before he roofed them. He started this company in 2009 — the worst year anybody in construction can remember — with a truck, two guys, and the theory that a roofing company in a hail market lives or dies on whether it is still in business when the warranty gets called.

That theory has held up. There are fourteen of us now, in a building on Univeter Road that the company owns, plus the install crews — subcontracted, here and at almost every roofing company at this size, which is why they are not in that number. Five counties, five project managers who each live in the area they run, a supplements specialist, a permit technician, and a warranty coordinator whose entire job is the phone call you make three years after we leave.

Here is the part we want to be direct about. After a big hail event, north Georgia fills up with out-of-state crews. Some of them are fine. Many of them are not registered here, will not pull a permit, and will be in another state by the time the first valley leaks. Several of them will offer to make your share of the loss go away, which is a crime in Georgia and tells you precisely what you are dealing with. We are going to use the word once, here, and then not again: storm chaser is the label, and the label is less useful than the behavior. Ask where their office is. Ask who pulls the permit. Ask who answers in 2033.

We are not going anywhere. Our address is public, the license goes on every permit, and the warranty is written down with its exclusions on the same sheet as its coverage. If a roof we put on in 2019 leaks in 2027, the phone number you call is the same one, and Curt will already have the file open.

Melissa runs the business side and has since the second year. Ty came over from a national restoration outfit in 2016 and brought the process with him. Hector has run production since 2014 and has, at this point, been on more roofs in this county than most people have driven past.