Biographies – National Slate Association

Officers, Board Members and Committee Biographies

NSA President

Jeffrey Levine

Jeffrey Levine is President of Levine & Company, Inc., Roof Consulting and Architectural Conservation. Mr. Levine’s responsibilities include condition assessments, leak investigations, construction documentation and administration, materials analysis and selection, hands-on surveys and test probes, and maintenance planning. Mr. Levine’s expertise in the field of slate roofing is nationally recognized. He has served as Project Manager for over 200 restoration and rehabilitation projects, preservation plans, and maintenance programs for a large variety of building types, including academic, commercial, and ecclesiastical buildings; museums; industrial structures; and, ruins.

Mr. Levine has an M.A. in Historic Preservation Planning from Cornell University, has written numerous articles on slate roofing, including “Preservation Brief No. 29″ published by the National Park Service, is a founding Director of the National Slate Association, and is a member of the Historical and Architectural Review Board, for Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania.

NSA Senior Vice President

Dave Large

David is Vice President of North Country Slate. North Country Slate (formerly Newfoundland Slate Inc.) has been a quarrier and distributor of natural roofing slate since 1988. As well as the distribution of Vermont roofing slate, North Country is the exclusive distributor for its sister company, Glendyne Quarries Inc., the largest roofing slate producer in North America. North Country Slate actively promotes the use of natural roofing slate through architectural and roofing trade magazines, industry trade shows and the dissemination of quality informational and technical literature.

David has been Vice President and General Manager of North Country Slate for the past 12 years, and has spent the past 34 years in sales/marketing capacities in various technical product industries. He is an active member of the ASTM (ASTM International) C-18 Dimensional Stone committee governing roofing slate and sits on the Test Methods C18.01 and Material Specification C18.03 sub-committees. He is a charter member of the National Slate Association, sitting on its Standards, Publications and Manual Committees, and holds memberships in several North American roofing industry associations.

NSA Vice Presidents

Russel Watsky

Russel Watsky is an independent roofing consultant, with over 25 years as a contractor specializing in historic roof restoration. He provides knowledgeable, unbiased roofing advice for private homes, commercial buildings, churches, and historic structures. He is not affiliated with any roofing contracting company, supplier, or manufacturer.

Rus’ experience in roofing began in 1963 working during school vacations for Julius Watsky, Inc., the roofing company founded by his grandfather in 1917. The company was highly regarded for the quality of its copper-work and traditional flat roofing and provided Rus with the benefit of learning from some highly skilled tradesmen. One of the most memorable was Ralph Angelori, a slater who was 80 years old when Rus spent the summer working with him.

When Rus’ uncles dissolved Julius Watsky, Inc. in the 70s, Rus joined Westal Contracting, and became president in 1993. He advanced the company’s reputation as a leader in historic roofing and commercial flat roofing. Under Rus’ leadership, Westal worked extensively with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, worked at Ellis Island with New York Landmarks Conservancy, and received a national award for workmanship at the Jay Mansion in Rye, NY.

Matt Hicks

Matthew Hicks has been with Evergreen Slate Co., which his grandfather started in 1916, for nearly 30 years. He currently coordinates all material testing, including Miami-Dade approvals, for Evergreen. Matt earned a B.S. degree in Industrial Economics at Union College.

He is proud to be a member of the Board of Directors of the NSA, serving on it’s Membership and Standards Committees. He is also a founding Board Member of the Slate valley Museum in Granville, NY.

Secretary / Treasurer

Pete Papay

Pete J. Papay, of Penn Big Bed Slate Company, Inc.

Biography coming soon…

NSA Immediate Past President

Danny L. Cornwell

Dan Cornwell is the President and cofounder of CC&L Roofing Co. “The Tile Roof Specialists” established 1978 in Portland, Oregon, and the CEO of Quality Plus Roofing, established 1971in Hillsboro, Oregon. He began his career in the roofing industry in Portland, Oregon in1974 as a roofing installer for a concrete roof tile manufacturing plant.

Dan is a member of National Roofing Contractors Association and a charter member of the Associated Roofing Contractors of Oregon and SW Washington. He has served on the Western States Roofing Contractors Association board of directors since 1996, and will serve as WSRCA President in the 2004/2005 biennium. He is a board member of the Roofing Industry Committee on Weathering Issues, and a voting member on roofing standards at ASTM, the American Society of Testing and Materials.

Dan is also a technical committee member and consultant at the Roof Tile Institute where he helped to co-author the Concrete and Clay Roof Tile Moderate Climate Installation Manual which became a code document in September 2002, ICBO ER-6034P.

Always a student of his trade, Dan has been fortunate to work with, train under and employ, Master Craftsmen from both Scotland and Germany where he learned the Slate Roofing Craft and invaluable European Tile and Slate Roofing installation techniques. Dan became a charter member and director of the National Slate Association in 2002 where he chairs the Contractor Certification Committee. Dan currently works as both a contractor and consultant on steep slope and specialty roofing systems for residential, commercial and historical restoration projects throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Board Members

JoAnne Baker

Alan Buohl

Alan Buohl has been a Sheet Metal Superintendent for eight of the 28 years he has been employed at GSM Roofing. GSM is a commercial and specialty roofing contractor serving the mid-Atlantic region.

Several honors and awards have been bestowed upon Alan during his dedicated service at GSM. The Roofing Industry Alliance for Progress, an affiliate of National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA), sponsors the Roofing Industry’s Most Valuable Player Awards (MVP) Program, which annually identifies and honors a maximum of 10 outstanding roofing workers nationwide. Alan was one of the NRCA’s MVP Award Winners in 2001.

NRCA proudly recognized GSM Roofing by presenting them with the Gold Circle Award for the Lititz Watch Technicum project located in Lititz, PA in 2002. Alan served as foreman for this project. His leadership demonstrated the high standards of craftsmanship and exceptional effort by professional roofers.

In 2006, Alan joined over 43 employees that have been with GSM for over 25 years.

Alan and his wife Deborah are enjoying the teen-age years with their son and daughter. Josh keeps him active with hockey while they also enjoy hunting and fishing together. Mallory is attending Penn State University’s Berks campus and enjoys her job as a waitress at an upscale restaurant near her home. Alan and Deb both work out at the gym together to keep their health in check.

John Chan

John Chan started slate, tile and copper roofing at The Durable Slate Company while on a summer breaks during college in 1986. He resumed his career full-time after graduating from UCLA with a degree in Economics in 1989.

After working through the ranks in the field, he became one of the principles of the company in 1992. In 1996, he moved and opened the Cincinnati branch office. Once that office was fully staffed, he went on to open up the New Orleans branch office in 2006. Over that time span, he has been on over 10,000 slate and tile roofs all over the United States and Europe.

John has given many lectures/workshops on slate, tile and copper roofing including ones for: The Preservation Resource Center, The Ohio Historical Society, Cincinnati Preservation Association, University of Cincinnati, Department of Design and Architecture, Tulane University, Department of Architecture, International Preservation Trades Network, Traditional Building, The Restoration Industry of America, The Slate Roofing Contractor’s Association and many others.

While at Durable Slate, John was instrumental in the completion of many high profile jobs such as The Ohio Governor’s Mansion, Columbus, Ohio, St., “The Wedding Cake House”, New Orleans, LA, Ephesus Seventh Day Church, New York City, NY, Church of All Saints, Keokuk, IA, and the Sarasota County Courthouse, Sarasota, FL. Some of these jobs have garnered some impressive awards, such as the Church of All Saints. It was Durable Slate’s 3rd Gold Circle Award, given to the Project of the Year, by the National Roofing Contractor’s Association. Durable Slate is also the proud winner of the Better Business Bureau’s International Award for Market Place Ethics. This award is only bestowed on one company per year, for each size of company (3).

John is proud to have served on the Board of the NSA since 2007.

Clark Chase

Doug Cochran

Doug Cochran started selling roofing slate and tile in 1996 while working for a slate roofing company in Ohio. He founded Reclaimed Roofs, Inc. in early 2003 and later that year moved his operation to Wilmington, Delaware to be in the heart of slate and tile roof country.

Reclaimed Roofs, Inc. deals in 80% reclaimed product and 20% new product (60% slate and 40% tile). Their central location on the East Coast allows them access to many roof reclamations and enables them to efficiently ship new or reclaimed roofing slate or tile anywhere in the United States.

Jon Hill

Mr. Hill is the owner of Greenstone Slate Company. Greenstone is a third generation Vermont slate quarry in Poultney, Vermont. The original operation was opened by his Grandfather in 1954. Mr. Hill began working in the family business at age 13. From 1982 to 1992, he split his time between that of a production worker and student. Upon receiving a M.A. in Marketing and Finance from St. Michael’s College, Mr. Hill returned full time to the family business. Mr. Hill has helped in Greenstone’s emergence as a national supplier of Vermont Roofing slates. He is responsible for the day to day management of sales and marketing.

Craig LeGere

Craig LeGere is President of Mid-America Slate & Stone Inc located in Chesterfield, (St Louis) MO.

Craig got his start in 1981 with Eurocal Slate Centers which was a Pioneer in the Marketing and Distribution of both Domestic and International slates. Craig started at the office in Walnut Creek, CA before working in Newport Beach, CA and finishing as Sales Manager at the office in Dallas, TX.

Craig founded Mid-America Slate & Stone Inc which distributes mainly slate roofing tiles focusing for the past 17 years on the markets in the Midwest. Other materials of consequence distributed by Mid-America Slate & Stone Inc are class A frost proof clay roof tiles, Bluestone paving and coping, including quality Limestone paving, coping and veneer stone.

Matt Millen

Mr. Millen is a fifth generation slate and tile roofer. He and his brother John manage Millen Roofing Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a 110-year old family-owned business. He joined the business after completing postgraduate work at New York University.

Mr. Millen holds several memberships in national and regional preservation and roofing industry associations, and has spoken at many of their conferences. Mr. Millen has written numerous articles, which have appeared in such publications as Professional Roofing and Roof Craft. Mr. Millen’s vast professional experience includes inspection and work on public buildings, historic homes, and Frank Lloyd Wright buildings. He is past chairman of the NRCA technical steep roofing committee.

“These stone roofs are a gift from one generation to another. Moving forward the craft and industry of making and maintaining beautiful and long listings roofs is our responsibility.”