TAMKO Building Products, Inc., one of the country's largest privately-owned
manufacturers of residential and commercial roofing products, waterproofing,
deck and railing products, cements, and coatings, celebrated 70 years in
business. Founded in 1944 by E.L Craig, TAMKO started as a streetcar barn with
one shingle line. During its 70 years in operation, the family-owned and operated
business has grown to have manufacturing facilities and warehouses across the
country. At the time of TAMKOs 70th anniversary, Ethelmae Humphreys — E.L. Craig's daughter — had spent her 67th year
working at TAMKO. Today she remains the Chairman of the Board of the company.
During TAMKO's early years, Ethelmae Humphreys was away at
college pursuing a degree in languages and history. At the time she did not
plan on working in the roofing business, but as her father's health declined,
she knew that as soon as she graduated she would return to work for her
family’s company. She was thrust into the business in her early 20s, and went
on to lead TAMKO throughout the 1950s. Though inexperienced in running a
business, she relied on her confidence and core principles of honesty and
ethics to guide her actions and decisions, as well as her father’s competent
and trustworthy staff.
Her father had told her, "Be honest, treat people as
you would like to be treated, only make promises you can keep, and hire people you
can trust to do the same." These are the principles she used to run her
business and life.
Ethelmae later married a likeminded man with similar values
and ethics. Her husband, Jay Humphreys, joined the company and continued to
instill integrity and quality into the business. Along with his ethics, he
brought business expertise to TAMKO and a focus on Continuous Improvement. He
ran the company for 33 years, during which TAMKO expanded substantially.
Today, TAMKO continues to remain in the family. After Ethelmae’s
husband’s death, the couple's oldest son, David Humphreys, the grandson of
TAMKO's founder, became President and CEO. Under his leadership, TAMKO continues
to reinforce and build upon the company's core values of honesty, integrity,
compliance, safety, quality, execution and profitability. To learn more about
TAMKO, visit www.tamko.com.
