We are excited to announce our new National Sales Manager, Brent LaPorte. Brent comes to Rooftop Anchor with 21 years of experience working in the fall protection industry.  He has gained a vast amount of knowledge about the product and the industry while he worked with Pro-Bel Enterprises. He initially started in their inspections department and helped them open their first remote office in Ottawa, Ontario, and eventually was their regional sales manager in the southeast region of the US (Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, and the Carolinas).  
 
“I am thrilled to announce Brent as the newest addition to the Rooftop Anchor team.  I have personally known Brent for nearly ten years and during that period considered him a dear friend and worthy competitor.  He was the first and only person on our radar when we determined the need to bring aboard an experienced individual to oversee our national sales operation.  He is a very talented individual with a great wealth of knowledge and experience.  I also respect him tremendously for his integrity, ethics and strength of character.  I can’t wait for our fine network of reps to meet him and in turn to have Brent meet our reps,” states Kynan Wynne.
  
“Brent is a key piece of the management puzzle we are putting together. In order to sustain and grow this business, he will play an integral part in our strategic growth plan as well as give us the experience we so desperately need.  I can’t wait to get to know him and his wife better and bring them into our big Rooftop Anchor family.  Brent has made a major financial and personal change to come on board with us, all of which I am very grateful for.  I have been very impressed with his integrity and energy through the hiring process.  I look forward to working together,” states Nate Sargent.
 
Brent and his wife, Suzane, live in Ontario Canada, which is where he will continue to work. They have two children, Angele (13-year old daughter) and Eric (10-year old son). Brent loves to play hockey, coach Lacrosse, and he enjoys camping with his family. He will soon be releasing his first novel, Hope Burned, in October 2010.

I found this article today while going through my construction emails. It caught my eye immediately.

Plenty of owners and managers today do not take seriously the responsibility that they hold.

Check today to make sure you have the right fall safety equipment and procedures on your building.

Roofing company owner, foreman charged with manslaughter in death of worker who fell

Bay City News

Posted: 04/27/2010 07:31:35 AM PDT
Updated: 04/27/2010 09:57:42 AM PDT

SAN FRANCISCO — The owner and foreman of a roofing company have been indicted on charges of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the 2008 death of an employee who fell off the roof of an apartment building in San Francisco, San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris announced Monday.

Sam Hyung Goo Shim, owner of California C&R Inc., was indicted on April 13 by a criminal grand jury on charges of felony involuntary manslaughter and felony violation of the labor code in connection with the death of Antonio Martinez.

Jwa Young Kim, the foreman who was at the work site at the time of Martinez’s death, was also indicted on the same charges.

Martinez had been working as a roofer on a four-story apartment building when he fell 38 feet to the sidewalk below. He was not wearing a harness when he fell and there was allegedly no supervision of his work along the edge of the roof, according to Harris’ office.

The grand jury also returned indictments against Shim and his company for multiple counts of workers compensation fraud for allegedly failing to report Martinez’s wages in payroll filings submitted to the state Compensation Insurance Fund and the Employment Development Department, according to Harris’ office.

Shim and Kim were arraigned on April 22 in San Francisco Superior Court and entered not guilty pleas. They returned to court Monday for a hearing on reducing their bail, which was set at $300,000, but the judge denied their requests, according to Harris’ office.

They are scheduled to return to court on May 10.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_14967386?source=most_viewed&nclick_check=1