Capitol Roofing Inc.

Dennis Humphrey and Craig Boheler founded Capitol Roofing Inc. (Capitol) in 1985 as a small, private roofing contractor in southeast Wyoming. Today, the business has grown to become a mid-sized commercial and residential contractor offering a number of diverse, energy-saving products and services.
Capitol employs between 30 and 35 full-time employees, and boasts a 10,500-square-foot headquarters in Cheyenne, Wyo. Serving clients in the southeastern part of the state and into northern Colorado, Capitol’s presence also includes a branch office in Fort Collins, Colo.
“Capitol has been in business for 28 years now,” Dennis explains. “But Craig and I parted ways in 2003. My wife Charlene and I are now the sole shareholders. Capitol is largely a residential and commercial roofing contractor, but we have expanded our services to include window, ventilation, gutter, siding and solar installation.”
Dennis is quick to note that the quality of Capitol’s employees is a major contribution to the company’s success. “We have hired some high-quality people over the years,” Dennis continues. “We have managed to put together a great, dedicated team. Our focus is on value here. We are rarely the cheapest, but you can’t be the cheapest if you want to be the best. Our philosophy is to do the right thing for our customers. Our knowledgeable salespeople and talented installers share that goal. At the end of the day, it’s all about the customer. We strive to live by our principles.”
Specialty Services, High-level Performance
Capitol specializes in residential shingle roofing; however, the team has been branching out into related services within the commercial market. “On the commercial end, our target market is building owners and managers,” says Dennis. “We offer service and replacement work, but we also bid with general contractors for new construction work. On the residential end, our customers are more of moderate-to-affluent means who care more about quality than the cheapest possible budget for a project.”
Dennis explains that a major hailstorm in summer 2011 kept Capitol busy with renovations and repairs over the last couple of years. “Bad weather makes us busy,” he says.
The team has been involved in a number of unique projects for a range of customers in both the commercial and residential sectors. “We recently completed a commercial project for the Cheyenne Hills Church here in Cheyenne, putting a roof on the structure’s new addition,” says Dennis. “We did work on our local Chevrolet dealership, installed the membrane roof on a new local elementary school, and even shingled the Wyoming governor’s house.”
According to Dennis, one of Capitol’s most interesting projects was a standing seam metal roof on a local bank. “We also shingled the Nagle-Warren Mansion, a historic bed-and-breakfast in downtown Cheyenne,” he continues.
Maintaining a Market Share
Changes in the economy, as well as federal regulations, have had an effect on Capitol’s revenue over the last decade. Dennis and the team have put extra energy into internal management, keeping overhead on track and diversifying services to expand the company’s demographic.
“The market has been withdrawn,” he explains. “People have been less eager to spend money on construction or home improvements and that has affected our business. We are running efficiently and our growing commercial division will help to keep the workflow steady throughout the recovery.”
The company’s in-house capabilities offer efficiency, quality control and cost management to Capitol’s customers. “We self-perform about half of our work and utilize great subcontractors for roofing, gutters, windows and related work on an as-needed basis depending on our workload.”
Of course, Dennis and the Capitol team hold the company’s partnering subcontractors to a high standard. “Naturally, we are always looking for talented strategic partners,” Dennis details. “We are very fortunate now to have great subs so we are not actively shopping around at this point. Managing our relationships with our subcontractors is incredibly important. We have gained a lot of ground in laying out clear expectations and holding our partners accountable. That allows us to set everyone involved in the project up for success.”
To measure success, the Capitol team targets three major aspects of business: an expanding workload, repeat and referred customers, as well as the company’s reputation. “I’m surrounded by some really good and talented people here,” Dennis explains. “We have built a good reputation in the local community and we are looking to expand on that. We are able to offer the best value for money spent and we hold ourselves to a high standard of performance.”
Capitol is ready to grow, with or without a fast economic recovery. “The economy is in pretty dire straits right now,” Dennis explains. “We are lacking serious leadership from the government and customers are still living in fear for the future. The uncertainty of this economy means people still aren’t spending money as freely as they were in the past.”
While consumers are keeping belts tight financially, the Capitol crew is looking for new ways to grow. “We will continue to develop our commercial market work, as well as new construction,” Dennis elaborates. “We are aiming for a 60 percent to 40 percent residential to commercial ratio.” With new outreach and a tightly managed core, Capitol Roofing Inc. continues steady and stable growth, expanding its reach further into Colorado over the next few years.