Cotney Consulting Group Canada

09/16/2026

Strong safety programs don’t happen by accident—they’re built around a shared goal.

In this MetalCoffeeShop article, John Kenney explains how aligning leadership, supervisors, and crews around common safety expectations is the foundation of a world-class safety culture.

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By John Kenney, Cotney Consulting Group. If you are roofing contractor attempting to build a world-class safety program, you must recognize the need to build a safety culture. You can substitute grow, develop, establish, create or another word to put in front of culture, but the important word is cu...

09/15/2026

Operational Tuesdays – Crew Leadership
Discipline starts with the basics.
Crews that cut corners early usually cut bigger ones later.
Early discipline prevents larger failures down the line.

09/13/2026

Consistency may not be flashy—but it works.
Doing the right things the same way, every day, makes a bigger difference than short bursts of effort.

09/10/2026

Safety programs work best when positive behavior is recognized—not just corrected.

In this RoofersCoffeeShop article, John Kenney explains how adding an employee recognition program tied to safety can improve engagement, accountability, and jobsite performance.

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By John Kenney, Cotney Consulting Group. In this article, we will look at the structure of disciplinary policy and then discuss implementing a successful employee recognition program to improve project safety performance. Typically, the two things that come to mind about employee recognition are pro...

09/09/2026

🏗️ This Week in Roofing History
📍 St. Louis, Missouri | Circa 1905
This illustrated mailing envelope promoted Thomas Manufacturing Company, boldly declaring:
“We are specialists in protective paints and roofing.”
That word—specialists—is doing real work here.
By the early 1900s, roofing was already moving away from being a sideline trade and toward defined expertise.
This single illustration tells a complete story:
• Rolled roofing materials staged and installed in sequence
• Workers positioned across slope, ridge, and wall transitions
• Ladders, access points, and edge conditions clearly shown
• Roofing presented as a system, not scattered tasks
• Coatings and roofing marketed together as protective assemblies
This wasn’t accidental artwork.
It was education through illustration.
Manufacturers understood that if contractors installed products correctly, performance improved—and reputations followed. Visuals like this helped standardize methods long before manuals, videos, or training portals existed.
It also reinforces something timeless:
Specialization isn’t new in roofing.
It’s been part of the trade for well over a century.
History reminder:
The tools change.
The responsibility doesn’t.

09/08/2026

Operational Tuesdays – Superintendents
Field routines create jobsite stability.
When daily checks disappear, problems multiply quietly.
Lack of routine allows small issues to grow unchecked.

09/04/2026

Market cycles change—and leadership must change with them.

In Florida Roofing Magazine, “Decision-Making During Volatile Conditions, Part Two,” we explore how roofing companies can adjust leadership approach, strategic focus, and decision timing as conditions evolve.

Strong businesses don’t rely on one playbook—they know when to adapt.

📖 Florida Roofing Magazine — June 2023, pg. 84

09/02/2026

Project risk doesn’t stop when the job is done.

In Part Three of this RoofersCoffeeShop article, John Kenney explains how proper project closeout helps contractors reduce future risk, improve processes, and strengthen long-term performance.

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By John Kenney, Cotney Consulting Group. Learn to identify key quantitative elements in your risk management plan. In part one and part two, we learned about the meaning of risk management and understanding risk with project management. In Part Two, we discussed recognizing and classifying risks bef...

09/01/2026

Operational Tuesdays – Project Management
PM discipline shows up in small habits.
Missed logs, late updates, and incomplete records compound quickly.
Operational discipline breaks down long before projects do.

08/31/2026

🏗️ This Week in Roofing History
📍 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | July 1895
This letter comes from Merchant & Co., manufacturers, importers, and dealers in tin, terne plates, metals, sheathing paper, and roofing nails.
At first glance, it’s a routine acknowledgment of an order.
But read closely—and it tells a much bigger story.
Key takeaways from this 1895 correspondence:
• The customer specifically ordered “Merchant’s Old Method” roofing
• The supplier confirms delivery of all system components, not just panels
• A price increase warning is communicated in advance
• The manufacturer reassures quality and continuity
• The relationship is built on trust, consistency, and brand preference
This isn’t commodity selling.
It’s system loyalty.
Even in the 1890s:
• Contractors preferred proven methods
• Manufacturers branded installation approaches
• Complete assemblies were shipped together
• Price escalation was already a reality
• Communication mattered as much as material
The phrase “Old Method” is especially telling—it suggests that even then, roofing had new methods and proven methods, and contractors chose reliability over novelty when risk was involved.
More than a century later, the lesson holds:
Contractors don’t buy products.
They buy confidence.
History reminder:
The tools change.
The responsibility doesn’t.