Home Improvement

“This Publication Will Always Be About Serving the Contractor”: Roofing Contractor Lands at No. 2 on HG HomeClub’s Ranking of the 25 Most Influential Publications and Media Platforms Serving Home Improvement, Home Services and Outdoor Living

By HG HomeClub September 1, 2026 21 min read

The magazine that began in 1981 as a title for contractors written by contractors now owns roofing’s defining revenue ranking, its longest-running owner conference, its contractor-of-the-year honors and the official podium of the industry’s largest trade show, and is recognized as the second most influential media brand serving the trades

August 29, 2026 – HG HomeClub today named Roofing Contractor the No. 2 media brand on its ranking of the 25 most influential publications and media platforms serving home improvement, home services and outdoor living. The placement recognizes a publication that has spent more than four decades doing one thing with unusual discipline: putting the roofing contractor, rather than the product, the supplier or the editor, at the center of the story.

The ranking evaluates the publications, magazines, digital platforms and media brands that professional contractors, remodelers, home service operators and outdoor living companies actually use to run their businesses. Roofing Contractor placed second in a field of 25.

A curated media platform built on “informed transparency” turns its attention to the publications the trades actually rely on

HG HomeClub is a curated media platform serving homeowners, contractors and the wider home improvement, home services and outdoor living economy. Its work is organized around a principle it calls informed transparency: the belief that better decisions follow from better information, and that the people who make those decisions deserve to see how a judgment was reached rather than simply being handed a verdict.

That principle is why HG HomeClub publishes its criteria alongside its rankings, and why its lists tend to reward usefulness over volume. The 25 most influential publications and media platforms list applies that approach to the trade press itself, the magazines, websites, newsletters, podcasts, research programs and live events that contractors turn to when they need to price a job, hire a crew, adopt a technology or decide whether to sell.

The criteria behind the list: usefulness to owners, not traffic, followers or the age of a masthead

Placement on the list was determined against six standards: industry influence and professional recognition; practical value to contractors and company owners; quality and depth of original content; reach among professional decision-makers; strength of rankings, research, events and recognition programs; and the ability to educate and connect the contractor community.

The list is explicitly not a ranking of website traffic, social media followers, advertising volume or publication age. Longevity and circulation were considered, but were not permitted to automatically outweigh a publication’s usefulness to the contractors it serves. Specialized publications were assessed within the context of the markets they serve, on the reasoning that a title with deep authority in a single trade can matter more to the people in that trade than a broader title with a larger audience and a shallower relationship.

Judged that way, Roofing Contractor is one of the clearest cases on the entire list. Few publications hold this much influence inside a single contractor category.

A magazine for contractors, written by contractors

The publication’s origin story is unusually literal about who it was built for. Roofing Contractor started as a magazine for contractors written by contractors. It launched in 1981 as Roofer Magazine, founded by publisher Danny Carson, the owner of a roofing and metal company, with founding editor Deborah Currier-Liftig, who came from a family of roofing contractors and grew up close to the industry.

That combination, an owner who signed payroll checks and an editor raised inside the trade, set an editorial posture the title never abandoned. It was not a technical journal written at contractors from a distance. It was a working publication written from inside the business.

The magazine’s second chapter began when Taggart Henderson, acting on behalf of his family’s publishing business, BNP Media, acquired Roofer Magazine and became its publisher. Under BNP Media the publication became Roofing Contractor and went on to become the top independent national publication serving the roofing industry. BNP Media is a fourth-generation, family-run business that has operated since 1926 and describes its purpose as driving industries forward with authentic content, engaged communities and powerful connections.

Marking a milestone anniversary, the publication set out its own terms of engagement in language that still governs the brand: “This publication will always be about serving the contractor. We don’t want that to change, and we’ll rely on you and our growing audience to help ensure that it doesn’t.” It added a second commitment in the same breath: “We want to reflect you, the contractor, as best we can.”

Today Roofing Contractor describes itself, with characteristic plainness, as the most trusted source for roofing industry news and information, from the fundamentals of steep-slope and low-slope roofing to safety, crisis management, women in roofing, Spanish-speaking contractors, solar, technology and shingle recycling.

The Top 100: a ranking that became the industry’s barometer

If one franchise explains why Roofing Contractor sits this high on the list, it is the Top 100 Roofing Contractors ranking, released each summer. It organizes the premier residential and commercial roofing businesses across North America, ranked strictly on self-reported annual revenue submitted through an online form over the preceding six months. Entrants also disclose whether the company is, or is part of, a private equity group or platform – a question that has become one of the most consequential in the trade.

The list has transformed from a simple directory into a vital barometer for the health, trends and evolution of the entire roofing industry. For the companies on it, it functions as an elite badge of honor. For small and mid-sized enterprises reading it, it serves as a roadmap and a goalpost.

The 2026 edition, published as Benchmarking the Best in Roofing, put Leaf Home of Toledo, Ohio, at No. 1 with more than $2 billion in roofing and gutter revenue, entirely residential and private-equity backed. Tecta America of Rosemont, Illinois, ranked No. 2 at $1.6 billion, entirely commercial, followed by Flynn Group of Companies of Mississauga, Ontario, at No. 3. Roofing Corp of America, Infinity Home Services, Nations Roof, Baker Roofing Company, Stronghouse Solutions, Greenwood Industries and Omnia Exterior Solutions completed the top 10.

What distinguishes the franchise from a leaderboard is the reporting built around it. The publication uses the submissions to track three industry-wide forces: private equity acceleration, described as a massive wave of consolidation driven by firms building multi-regional roofing platforms; labor and supply chain constraints, where peak staffing fluctuations reveal the severe labor shortages and recruitment struggles facing the construction trades; and technological adoption, where profiles show how top firms use cutting-edge estimating technology, advanced safety protocols and drones to out-scale their competitors.

The executives inside the ranking treat it as a strategic marker rather than a trophy shelf. “We’ll continue building on the fundamentals that have driven our success by investing in our people, maintaining our focus on safety and quality, growing our service business, and delivering the exceptional customer experience our clients expect,” said Kevin Palmer, president and chief executive officer of Tecta America.

Jim Ziminski, chair of the board of directors at Omnia Exterior Solutions, described the same discipline in operational terms: “We’ve focused on improving our sales technology and tools to better help our customers, while at the same time continuing to invest in our systems and tools.” Of the ranking itself, Ziminski said: “It is a huge honor (to be Top 100), and a testament to the hard work of every single team member of Omnia.”

Officials at Leaf Home, the year’s top-ranked company, framed the position as an obligation: “We will keep our momentum by delivering exceptional quality and service, guided by our purpose of crafting home solutions for generations and our commitment to creating lasting value for homeowners.”

Best of Success: two decades of putting owners in the same room

The publication’s live franchise is Best of Success, created and overseen by group publisher Jill Bloom, who joined the publication in 1999 and launched the first conference in 2003 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The event was conceived as an extension of the print and online versions of Roofing Contractor, with the advantage a live gathering has over a page: face-to-face interaction with industry leaders.

The 2025 edition, the 21st annual, opened in December at Live! by Loews in Arlington, Texas, and drew more than 500 contractors, manufacturers and industry leaders across three days. Bloom opened the conference by reflecting on its two-decade evolution from a modest mission to connect industry minds into a major gathering that has shaped careers and influenced business practices across the roofing sector.

The 2026 conference, the 22nd annual, runs December 7-9 at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point in Bonita Springs, Florida, promising strategies from top roofing contractors and an environment, from welcome receptions to evening socials, designed for collaboration rather than passive attendance.

Bloom‘s remit extends well past the conference. As executive director across Roofing Contractor, Walls & Ceilings, Building Enclosure, Roofing Supply Pro and Best of Success, she oversees a portfolio of publications, podcasts and events that, in the company’s description, empower professionals with knowledge, inspiration and connections.

Contractor of the Year, Young Guns and the business of recognition

Recognition programs are where a trade publication either builds standing or spends it, and Roofing Contractor has built a franchise that operators compete for on merit rather than revenue. Its Contractor of the Year honors are awarded in commercial and residential categories and announced at Best of Success. The 2025 commercial award went to BEST Contracting Services, Inc. of Gardena, California; the residential award went to Infinity Exteriors, the Wisconsin company built by Josh Sparks, who now chairs Infinity Home Services.

The publication’s Young Guns in Roofing program addresses the trade’s most durable structural problem: succession. For a second consecutive year, Roofing Contractor hosted roofing contractors under 40 a day early at Best of Success for a workshop built around the industry’s youth movement, facilitated by Anna Anderson, chief executive of Art Unlimited, and Ryan Groth of Sales Transformation Group. Attendees shared their visions for their companies, named their key issues and workshopped solutions in a peer-to-peer, non-competitive environment, and former Young Guns returned as subject matter experts to steer the conversation.

“Young Guns wasn’t about job titles, it was about alignment,” said Victoria Ogrizek, customer experience officer with Home Genius Exteriors of Ohio. “Being surrounded by peers who value people, integrity, and the bigger picture reinforced that the future of roofing belongs to leaders willing to listen, learn, and lead with purpose. It was refreshing, motivating, and exactly the kind of room you want to be in.”

The official publication of the industry’s largest trade show

Roofing Contractor continues its long tradition of serving as the official publication of the International Roofing Expo in 2026, a role that places the title at the center of the roofing industry’s largest trade show. The publication provides exclusive, comprehensive coverage before, during and after the show, spanning the show floor, educational sessions and networking events, with inside access across its content platforms. As the title puts it, it is not just an observer but an active participant at the International Roofing Expo.

The 2026 expo, held January 20-22 in Las Vegas, was the largest in the event’s history, with more than 230,000 net square feet of floor space, more than 700 exhibitors and thousands of residential and commercial roofing and exterior professionals, including international attendees from Canada, Mexico, China, the United Kingdom, Brazil and Colombia.

The publication used that platform for original research rather than show coverage alone. “In our role as the official publication of the show, and the industry leader in providing news, research, and information, we partnered with industry experts Trent Cotney and the NRCA‘s McKay Daniels to share the latest survey data from our State of the Industry Roofing Report, and laid out the prospects for the industry in 2026 and beyond,” wrote editor-in-chief Art Aisner.

Research the industry argues with

The annual State of the Industry report is the publication’s most quoted asset, and its methodology reflects the same contractor-first instinct. For each of the past ten years the title has issued a comprehensive survey to roofing contractors and industry professionals to gauge the state of the industry and highlight emerging trends across regional markets.

“Roofing Contractor once again sought input from the people who know the industry best: roofing contractors,” Aisner wrote in introducing the 2026 report. “We sent our annual survey to contractors and industry stakeholders last fall to determine what trends and challenges they’re experiencing.” The fieldwork is run with the survey and research arm of parent company BNP Media, so that contractors nationwide share insights about the year they had and their expectations for the future.

The findings are not sanitized. In a year marked by economic downturns, increased immigration enforcement and the rapid encroachment of artificial intelligence, Aisner reported, roofing contractors endured, an assessment that names the pressures on the trade rather than the optimism of its suppliers. The responses, the publication notes, offer honest answers about sales trends, continued challenges and technology adoption.

An editorial operation with a newsroom’s habits

The masthead explains much of the publication’s credibility. Art Aisner is editor-in-chief of Roofing Contractor and Roofing Supply Pro, and the driving force behind the publication’s content development, editorial strategy and other initiatives serving audiences in the roofing space. He spent the bulk of his career as a multimedia journalist for newspapers and television stations before joining the title in 2015, a reporting background that shows in the publication’s willingness to cover consolidation, labor and litigation as news rather than as advertiser-adjacent topics.

Rick Damato, editorial director and editor emeritus, provides the institutional memory. He has held posts in the roofing industry since 1974 and has contributed to the magazine since its inception in 1981, becoming editor in early 1999. Few trade titles in any category can point to a senior editor whose tenure spans the publication’s entire existence.

Tanja Kern, senior strategic content editor, covers economic trends and the intersection of architecture, design and construction, with an emphasis on the forces reshaping the industry, and develops and amplifies content that connects roofing professionals with the intelligence they need to compete and grow. She is a co-byline on the Top 100 franchise and the reporting contact for industry news. Patricia Soto Servin serves as strategic content editor, part of an editorial commitment to Spanish-speaking contractors that runs through the brand.

A platform that no longer fits inside a magazine

Published 12 times a year in print, Roofing Contractor now operates as a multi-format platform. Its podcast channel is framed in the brand’s own idiom, “You’ve read Roofing Contractor; now it’s time to listen,” and delivers industry news and interviews for consumption on the job, in the truck or at the end of the day. The Best of Success Podcast Show extends the conference programming across the year.

Around that sit dedicated content lines for steep-slope and low-slope roofing, roofing technology, safety, solar, cool roofing and shingle recycling; a Latinos in Roofing section and the Spanish-language Techos y Más newsletter; the Editor’s Choice awards; and Roofing Supply Pro, which brought the distribution side of the industry inside the brand, a structural decision, since distributors and contractors increasingly negotiate the same supply and pricing pressures.

The title’s editorial reach also runs to the people the industry follows. Recent coverage included Ken Kelly returning a founder’s mentality to Kelly Roofing, the Naples, Florida, company Kelly built into one of the trade’s most-watched operations at Kelly Roofing.

Why the methodology placed this brand at No. 2

Roofing Contractor scored at or near the top of the list on nearly every criterion that matters to a working contractor. Its recognition within professional roofing is exceptional. Its reach spans contractors, manufacturers and distributors. Its Top 100 ranking is the established revenue benchmark for the trade. It covers both residential and commercial roofing rather than choosing the easier half. Its contractor profiles and business education are consistent rather than seasonal. Its event presence is strong, and its print, digital, podcast and video programming works as one platform.

HG HomeClub‘s assessment was blunt about the scale of that authority: few publications possess this much influence within one contractor category. Roofing Contractor has become an essential information, recognition, and education resource for the roofing industry.

The considerations that placed it second rather than first are structural, not qualitative. The publication is primarily focused on a single trade, which concentrates its authority but limits its usefulness outside roofing and exterior construction. Its flagship ranking is ordered on revenue, which favors larger contractors, and the ranking information is substantially based on company submissions, a limitation the publication itself discloses each year rather than obscuring. Product and supplier coverage occupies significant editorial space, as it does across the trade press.

The No. 1 position went to a title with a comparably deep record whose franchises reach across the whole remodeling and home improvement market rather than one trade. That is a difference in scope, not in standard. Inside roofing, no publication on this list outranks Roofing Contractor.

What the ranking means for a trade being consolidated while it grows

The roofing industry is arguably the most rapidly restructuring segment of the residential and commercial construction economy. Private equity platforms are assembling multi-regional companies at speed. Labor supply is constrained and politically exposed. Estimating, inspection and sales technology is changing how work is priced and won. Insurance, litigation and code are moving underneath every contract.

Publications matter more, not less, in that environment. A contractor deciding whether to sell, recapitalize or grow independently needs to know what comparable companies earn, how platforms behave after acquisition, which technologies survive first contact with a crew and what the trade’s labor math actually looks like. That is the specific work Roofing Contractor has been doing since 1981, in the format the trade uses at any given moment, a print magazine, a podcast in a truck, a conference ballroom in December or a research report argued over on a show floor in January.

Its founding proposition has proved unusually durable. A magazine for contractors, written by contractors, is still the hardest thing in trade media to replicate, and it remains the reason this title holds the standing it does.

The complete ranking: HG HomeClub’s 25 most influential publications and media platforms serving home improvement, home services and outdoor living

About HG HomeClub

HG HomeClub is a curated media platform serving homeowners, contractors and the broader home improvement, home services and outdoor living economy. Built on a principle of informed transparency, HG HomeClub publishes rankings, research and editorial coverage that make the standards behind its conclusions visible, so that homeowners and professionals can judge the reasoning as well as the result. More information is available at hghomeclub.com.

About Roofing Contractor

Roofing Contractor is the most trusted source for roofing industry news and information, serving roofing professionals across residential and commercial markets since 1981. Published 12 times annually by BNP Media, the brand spans print, digital, newsletters, podcasts and video, and produces the Top 100 Roofing Contractors ranking, the annual State of the Industry report, the Contractor of the Year awards, the Young Guns in Roofing program and the Best of Success conference. It is the official publication of the International Roofing Expo. Roofing Contractor is online at roofingcontractor.com and on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, X, and YouTube.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is HG HomeClub?

HG HomeClub is a curated media platform serving homeowners, contractors and the wider home improvement, home services and outdoor living economy. It publishes rankings, research and editorial coverage built on a principle it calls informed transparency, the practice of showing the standards and reasoning behind a conclusion rather than issuing a verdict alone. Its rankings cover the publications, podcasts, brands and companies that shape how homes are built, maintained and improved, and are designed to be useful to the professionals who work in those markets as well as to the homeowners who hire them.

What is the ranking that Roofing Contractor placed second on?

It is HG HomeClub‘s ranking of the 25 most influential publications and media platforms serving home improvement, home services, and outdoor living. The list evaluates the magazines, digital platforms, newsletters, podcasts, research programs and live events that professional contractors, remodelers, home service operators and outdoor living companies rely on to run their businesses. Roofing Contractor placed at No. 2 in a field of 25.

How was the ranking determined?

Six standards were applied: industry influence and professional recognition; practical value to contractors and company owners; quality and depth of original content; reach among professional decision-makers; strength of rankings, research, events and recognition programs; and the ability to educate and connect the contractor community. The list is not a ranking of website traffic, social media followers, advertising volume or publication age. Longevity and circulation were considered but were not allowed to automatically outweigh usefulness to contractors, and specialized publications were assessed within the context of the markets they serve.

What is Roofing Contractor?

Roofing Contractor is a national trade publication serving professional roofing contractors across residential and commercial markets. It launched in 1981 as Roofer Magazine, founded by a roofing company owner with an editor raised in a roofing family, and was later acquired by BNP Media, under which it became Roofing Contractor and the top independent national publication serving the roofing industry. It publishes 12 print issues a year alongside digital coverage, newsletters, podcasts and video, and runs the trade’s leading rankings, awards and conference.

What is the Top 100 Roofing Contractors list?

It is Roofing Contractor‘s annual ranking of the premier residential and commercial roofing businesses across North America, released each summer and ordered strictly on self-reported annual revenue submitted through an online form. Entrants also disclose whether the company is, or is part of, a private equity group or platform. The publication describes the list as having evolved from a simple directory into a vital barometer for the health, trends and evolution of the entire roofing industry, an elite badge of honor for the companies on it, and a roadmap and a goalpost for small and mid-sized firms working toward it. The 2026 edition was led by Leaf Home, Tecta America and Flynn Group of Companies.

What is Best of Success?

Best of Success is Roofing Contractor‘s annual conference for roofing company owners and leaders, created and overseen by group publisher Jill Bloom and first held in 2003 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It was designed as a live extension of the publication, offering face-to-face interaction with industry leaders. The 2025 edition, the 21st annual, drew more than 500 contractors, manufacturers, and industry leaders to Arlington, Texas. The 2026 conference, the 22nd annual, takes place December 7-9 at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point in Bonita Springs, Florida.

Who leads Roofing Contractor’s editorial operation?

Art Aisner is editor-in-chief of Roofing Contractor and Roofing Supply Pro, and the driving force behind the publication’s content development and editorial strategy; he worked as a multimedia journalist for newspapers and television stations before joining the title in 2015. Rick Damato serves as editorial director and editor emeritus, has held roofing industry posts since 1974 and has contributed to the magazine since its inception in 1981. Tanja Kern is senior strategic content editor, covering economic trends and the intersection of architecture, design and construction. Jill Bloom is group publisher and executive director across the brand’s publications, podcasts and events.

What does Roofing Contractor’s role at the International Roofing Expo involve?

Roofing Contractor is the official publication of the International Roofing Expo, the roofing industry’s largest trade show, and continues that role in 2026. It provides exclusive, comprehensive coverage before, during and after the show across the show floor, educational sessions, and networking events, and describes itself as an active participant rather than an observer. The 2026 expo, held January 20-22 in Las Vegas, was the largest in the event’s history, with more than 230,000 net square feet of floor space and more than 700 exhibitors.

Why did Roofing Contractor place at No. 2 rather than No. 1?

The publication scored at or near the top of the list on influence, practical value, original content, professional reach, recognition programs, and community building, and HG HomeClub concluded that few publications possess this much influence within one contractor category. The considerations that placed it second are structural: its authority is concentrated in a single trade, which limits usefulness outside roofing and exterior construction; its flagship ranking is ordered on revenue and substantially based on company submissions, which favors larger contractors; and product and supplier coverage occupies significant editorial space. The No. 1 title holds comparable depth with franchises that reach across the whole remodeling and home improvement market. Inside roofing, no publication on the list outranks Roofing Contractor.