Aug 7, 2023 9 min read

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Tim Dunlap is proud of CentiMark, the Southpointe-based company his father founded and which the son now runs.

“We are the largest roofing company in North America, and could be the largest in the world,” the firm’s president and CEO said from corporate headquarters along Grandview Circle, which provides a grand view of the mixed-use park.

“Things are going extremely well. Every year we continue to get bigger.”

CentiMark is a private company that specializes in commercial and industrial roof construction and flooring. It is a sizable company with about 90 offices in North America, a payroll around 3,500 and a $100 million flooring division. The firm, overall, has 100 locations around the world and is a pacesetter in its industry.

And what a pace it has been in recent years.

Tim’s father, Ed, who died in July 2022, may not have envisioned the heights this enterprise would hit when he launched it in 1968. CentiMark, according to Tim, topped $1.122 billion in sales in 2022, a 12% increase from the previous year, when the firm bypassed $1 billion. And through this May, he added, sales were up 15% from 2022.

“This is the third year in a row we’re working on being a billion-dollar company,” he said.

Unlike many businesses, CentiMark came out of the pandemic unscathed, and actually gained momentum, according to Dunlap. “If anything, it had a positive impact on our business,” he said.

CentiMark was deemed to be an essential operation, not subject to Gov. Tom Wolf’s edict to close “non-essential” businesses during the initial months of the outbreak in 2020. 

“We never had to shut down anything,” he said. “The first couple of weeks, people panicked and it was a little hectic, but things smoothed over and it was business as usual. There were supply chain issues, but we had the financial ability to buy materials and store them in warehouses.

“We’ve been very lucky. We’ve had no layoffs.”

The company, in the meantime, continues to innovate. In early July, it launched a new technology called CentiVision, a roofing configurator that, according to the corporate website, “allows our customers to work in unison with the CentiMark sales team to configure an existing roof assembly, show defects, develop a proposed roof assembly and add safety and finishing details to the roof.”

CentiMark’s start more than half a century ago was not as auspicious. Ed Dunlap, who grew up outside Cleveland, began his career with a firm based in that city. Then he was transferred to Pittsburgh, where, he told the Observer-Reporter in a 2018 story “it was like coming home.” His paternal grandparents had settled in Western Pennsylvania after leaving Ireland.

Dunlap later opened a janitorial products operation known as Northern Chemical Co., situated in a cramped office along Route 51 in Pittsburgh. The business sat next to a creek infested with rats, who visited occasionally. Ed moved that endeavor to Venetia Road in Peters Township, and eventually to an industrial park in Bethel Park.

CentiMark was born in the interim, in 1987. Nine years later, the company became one of the first tenants in Southpointe when it moved to its current spot.

Ed Dunlap’s brainchild not only has grown into one of the top roofing contractors anywhere, it maintains a reputation 

Feb 2021 Tim current positions

Mr. Dunlap made significant contributions to St. Clair Hospital’s Emergency Room, as well as the Hospital’s Dunlap Conference Center.

CentiMark has a reputation for philanthropy, for reaching out not only to tropical nations in need, but to human services agencies, schoolchildren and other interests. Ed is particularly proud of the roofing and siding renovations his crews performed at St. Anne Roman Catholic Church in Castle Shannon.

notes

Ed passes 7/23/2022

flooring

According to website:

Our mission is to keep our customer’s buildings watertight, protect their properties and employees, all in concert with regular business operations.

we have over 95 offices throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. Each office has dedicated crews for the installation and service of all major roof systems who are highly trained and experienced with a focus on safety. Our workplace is your roof, so safety of your employees and our crews is a top priority which has allowed our safety program to exceed industry standards.

Celebrating 55 years in business in 2023, our success is due to our valued customers and the dedication of our associates.

Tim Dunlap now president/CEO

8/19/2018 story

Ed Dunlap, like most business owners, strives to limit operating costs. But for him, the term “overhead” has a dual meaning.

His company, CentiMark Corp., specializes in commercial and industrial roof construction.

The Southpointe-based firm is among the premier roofing contractors in the U.S. A year ago, it was No. 1 in total revenue – $625.8 million – more than $125 million ahead of the runner-up, according to Roofing Contractor Magazine.

“We’re a pretty big operation,” Dunlap said, with a smile and without a trace of arrogance.

He is chairman and chief executive officer, the man who founded this company a half-century ago – in April 1968 – and nurtured it into a formidable force, one that has experienced good times and emerged unscathed from national downturns. CentiMark, which also does flooring, has 85 locations across North America, including five in Canada. The firm has a presence in 42 states, including Hawaii and Alaska, and employs 3,500.

CentiMark’s presence, actually, extends beyond this continent. The company has done a lot of roofing work in storm-ravaged Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. “We had a big job in St. Thomas,” Dunlap said.

Longevity has been a hallmark. The reasons it has endured, and is projected to endure, are simple, according to the boss.

“Number one, I’m Irish,” said Dunlap, who is proud of his heritage. “Hard work is second. And we’re surrounded by excellent associates.”

Those 3,500 associates include about 150 working in Southpointe, in two buildings.

Dunlap would not betray his exact age, saying he is “in the 70s.” He runs the company with his son, Tim, the chief operating officer.

Both are family men to be sure. Ed and his wife, Anna, who live in Upper St. Clair, have four children, nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Tim and his wife, Teri, reside in Peters Township and have three children and two grandchildren.

Their concept of “family,” however, goes beyond traditional relatives. CentiMark has a reputation for philanthropy, for reaching out not only to tropical nations in need, but to human services agencies, schoolchildren and other interests. Ed is particularly proud of the roofing and siding renovations his crews performed at St. Anne Roman Catholic Church in Castle Shannon.

Starting and growing CentiMark wasn’t easy. Dunlap, who was raised outside Cleveland, began his career with a different firm based in that city. Then he was transferred to Pittsburgh, where “it was like coming home.” His paternal grandparents had settled in Western Pennsylvania after leaving Ireland.

Dunlap later launched the first iteration of CentiMark as a janitorial products operation known as Northern Chemical Co., situated in a little two-man office along Route 51 in Pittsburgh.

“We were next to a creek, and rats used to visit us in the basement,” Dunlap recalled. “We got rid of them, then got rid of the building.”

His enterprise relocated to a site along Venetia Road in Peters Township, then eventually to an industrial park in Bethel Park. In the interim – in 1987 – it became CentiMark.

Nine years later, the company became one of the first tenants in Southpointe when it to moved to 12 Grandview Circle, its current digs.

Tim Dunlap, almost literally, has grown up with this business. He was 8 when it started, and did odd jobs there into his early adolescence. Tim worked for his dad through high school, and became a full-time employee about a week after clutching his Bethel Park diploma.

“I started June 17, 1978,” he said. “I began working with the flooring crews, learning from the ground up, and did a number of jobs. I was very well-versed in the business.

“Dad was very steadfast that I wouldn’t be just the boss’ son. I had to work hard and then some. My dad … all he does is work.”

Kathy Slencak can attest to that. She is CentiMark’s public relations manager and a longtime employee. “Mr. Dunlap is an entrepreneur,” she said. “To him, it’s not 9 to 5; it’s your life.”

Slencak said the firm experienced a major metamorphosis a generation or so ago, when it “grew like a bad weed.” Revenue jumped from $10 million in 1984 to a company high $100 million in 1994 – a target Ed Dunlap had coveted for years.

“Our goal now,” Slencak said, “is to be the first in the roofing industry to reach $1 billion (in a year).”

CentiMark has neatly appointed headquarters on a bluff off Technology Drive. The Dunlaps have numerous photos and memorabilia in their offices related to their respective passions.

Ed has a few Three Stooges pictures on his walls, but baseball-related items dominate his workspace. He is a devoted fan who, when he takes in a game in Kansas City next month, will have visited 20 of 30 major-league stadiums. The 10 venues from Texas to the West Coast are on his itinerary.

Tim’s pastime is cars, cars, cars. They fill two garages at home.

He is the heir apparent at CentiMark, but it may be a while before the son is in charge. Ed Dunlap is not a retiring sort in any sense. He plans to continue working.

“Absolutely. I wouldn’t know what to do otherwise. Besides, my wife would kick me out.”

He’d probably go immediately to the office.

What is CentiMark roofing net worth?

First in the Commercial Roofing & Flooring Industries. CANONSBURG, PA — On December 20, 2021, CentiMark Corporation achieved a very important milestone – the first commercial roofing and flooring contractor in North America to achieve over $1 billion in sales through organic growth.