The Roofing Industry Committee on Weather Issues, Inc. (RICOWI), hosted their 2010 Spring Membership Meeting and Spring Seminar, March 25-26, 2010, at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort, Orlando, Fla. The RICOWI event was held in conjunction with the annual meeting and trade show of RCI, Inc.

CLINTON, Ohio – The Roofing Industry Committee on Weather Issues, Inc. (RICOWI), hosted their 2010 Spring Membership Meeting and Spring Seminar, March 25-26, 2010, at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort, Orlando, Fla. The RICOWI event was held in conjunction with the annual meeting and trade show of RCI, Inc.

RICOWI conducted a stimulating series of two days of membership meetings and educational seminar program sessions. A priority was the election of the new officers and board of directors.

Elected to the leadership for the 2010-2012 terms were:

Chair: Mike Ennis, Single Ply Roofing Institute (SPRI), Reynoldsburg, Ohio; 

Vice Chair: Wanda Edwards, Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS), Tampa, Fla;

Secretary-Treasurer: Jim Baker, Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association (ARMA), Washington, DC.

Dan Walker, Metal Building Manufacturers Association (MBMA), Cleveland, Ohio, was elected as Board representative to the Executive Committee. Dave Hunt, Revere Copper Products, Inc. Rome, N.Y., was appointed the Affiliate Member representative to the Board of Directors.

The Members recognized and expressed gratitude to outgoing chair (2006-2010), Rick Olson, Tile Roofing Institute, Eugene, Ore. Also recognized respectively were outgoing Vice Chair (2006-2010): Bas Baskaran, National Research Council of Canada (NRCC), Ottawa, Ontario; and Secretary Treasurer (1996-2010): Andre' Desjarlais, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tenn. New Members approved since RICOWI’s fall 2009 meeting and welcomed are: Russell Murphy, Donan Engineering, Wildwood, Mo; and Jim Sauter, Decra Roofing Systems, Inc., Arlington, Texas..

RICOWI has 13 Sponsor Members and 60 Affiliate Members.

Other highlights of the March 2010 RICOWI meetings were:

• Conference & Education, Hail Investigation, Wind Investigation, and Governance Committees met prior to the Board and General meeting to set goals for the coming year.

• ail Investigation Program (HIP) Committee Chair Richard Herzog, Haag Engineering, reported the committee is preparing for the 2010 hail season. The committee will be ready to deploy to the Dallas Fort Worth area in the event of a hail storm that meets the set criteria. Committee members are reviewing the current protocol and will be assuming more of the duties in light of RICOWI staffing and adjustments in its management.

• Patty Wood-Shields, Special Programs Administrator, reminded the attendees that the Hurricane Ike report is available for downloading on the RICOWI website at no charge.

• RICOWI Conference and Education Chair Jim Baker, ARMA, noted that a Call for Presentations has been issued for the upcoming fall seminar.

• Reports were heard from both Sponsor and Affiliate Members. Written reports will be posted to the RICOWI website.

The Fall RICOWI meetings/seminar will be held Nov. 11-12, 2010. RICOWI's fall seminar is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 11, 2010 at the Holiday Inn, Rock Hill, S.C. The Board of Directors and the General Membership meeting will be held the following day, Friday, Nov. 12, 2010, at the new IBHS research facility in Chester County, S.C. The location for both the meeting and the seminar are in proximity to the Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Charlotte, N.C. Details will be posted on the website at www.ricowi.com. For more information, call Joan Cook, RICOWI Executive Director, at 330-671-4569.