After Hail Storm Pounds Roundup, MT, Race Is On for Contractors, Repair Businesses casualty, presented its own business opportunities. For one repairman, it Roundup, MT, residents are seeing helped get a new business off the more trucks, trailers and yard signs ground. bearing the names of roofing conCory Canfield has been plantractors these days. ning a move to Roundup for months. The rush to repair is on after a The Philipsburg collision repair May 31 hailstorm battered the town’s technician found a shop to rent in Roundup, and he saw it as an opportunity to move and start his own business there. He wasn’t planning to get to Roundup until about July, but the storm gave him a chance to start establishing himself. So he asked to set up shop a bit early. “The storm hit, and I talked to the landlords and said, ‘Hey would you be willing to Billings contractor Steve Jones, who runs The Good Life Construction, explains the work he's doing at the Ideal let me do some windshields Motel and RV Park in Roundup. In May, a hailstorm damout of our parking lot?’” he aged town properties. Credit: Matt Hudson, Gazette staff said. roofs, windshields, windows, cars That wasn’t a problem, and pretty and anything else left exposed. soon he found himself swamped with That means there is lots of work weekend work. His only advertising for contractors and businesses that tools were Facebook and the word-ofhave flooded the town in the storm’s mouth from his shop landlords. wake to meet the demand for repairs. So Roundup Collision Center An oft-seen name on those yard took off a bit earlier than planned. He signs is Singh Contracting, which is said he’d be back in town this weekamong a handful of Billings compa- end to finish more repairs. nies scrambling to Roundup. Word-of-mouth can be the most “It’s actually been pretty exten- effective marketing tool in a small, sive just because of the severity of the rural town like Roundup. Steve storm,” said owner Harvey Singh. Jones, who runs The Good Life Con“We’ve been doing roofing, siding, struction out of Billings, was getting gutters, windows, doors.” calls all day June 12 that way. For a Billings-based outfit like And it’s a competitive market. Singh, it’s easy to send representa- Jones estimated there were as many tives the 50 miles to Roundup to as 75 roofers in town, and he said begin working on estimates and in- some have tried to swoop in after surance claims. The insurance com- him to steal his customers. panies may take several weeks to “It’s very cutthroat out here,” he review the claims and that’s where said. things stand now, he said. With a town full of busted roofs Much of the construction will and an average claim of roughly start in the coming weeks and months, $25,000 for a house that needs roof, meaning that for Singh and a host of siding, gutter and other work, the other contractors, this initial outreach Roundup hailstorm is something of phase can secure business throughout a gold rush. the summer and into fall. And it can be a seasonal boon “There’s quite a bit more work for businesses. than it would be in a normal sumJones said that he might secure mer,” he said. work on 15 homes throughout a normal summer. After the Roundup storm, he said he got that many in a week. Making Contact While home repairs are the bigger He hopes to finish 50 roofs this jobs, those weren’t the only things hit summer. by the storm. Auto glass, a common hail storm Stormchasers by Matt Hudson, Billings Gazette
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JULY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com
With every roofing rush, there are horror stories of shady contractors dropping into town from out of state. Jones said he’s seen them scoping out homes that he’s already working on. They sometimes use fake business names that sound local and
Part of Eastern Montana saw hail recently, like this tennis ball-sized hail in Roundup, MT. Credit: Courtesy of Andrea Goffena
then vanish after doing shoddy work. It seems like every real local contractor has their own stories about being hired to finish or repair an unscrupulous storm chaser’s work.
Singh said he’s seen them around town. “If you don’t know who they are, if they’re not in the phone book and they’re knocking on your door, you probably don’t want do work with them,” he said. Contractors, government officials and burned homeowners have long cautioned against forking over large construction deposits too early and doing business with unlicensed roofers. State Auditor Matt Rosendale’s office cautions consumers to be wary of high-pressure contractors who have no references, cannot produce a contractor’s license or offer to submit an insurance claim on the customer’s behalf. A contractor asking for a deposit in excess of materials costs should also raise red flags. Musselshell County Disaster and Emergency Services Director Floyd Fisher said he’s heard of some cases. In one such case, he said a North Dakota contractor tried to bilk See Hail Storm Repairs, Page 22