Reaching New Heights
These roofing specialists are growing their business by focusing on the environment.
Competition placed some limits on Kelly Luckett and Mike
Crowell's architectural sheet metal business, but they dreamed
big. In 2001, four years after founding Florissant, Missouri-based
Saint
Louis Metalworks Co., they decided green roofing was the
future.
Covering a roof with plants is environmentally friendly, but has
traditionally been expensive and difficult to do. So the pair
created Green Roof Blocks--aluminum trays containing soil and
plants. Compartmentalized and mobile for easy installation, the
blocks are designed to last 65 years with no maintenance, since the
plants resist drought and require no irrigation. Better yet, the
blocks increase roof life up to 200 percent and lower heating and
cooling costs.
Luckett and Crowell, both 43, now have customers nationwide and
an office in China. Says Luckett, who estimates 2006 sales of Green
Roof Blocks to exceed $1 million, "You calculate to minimize
your risk, but at some point you have to jump off that
cliff."
Content Continues Below