A sense of isolation crept over Cliff Johnson as he read the list of his fellow Roofing Alliance 2025 MVP Award recipients — the other five work as superintendents at their respective roofing companies.

“I felt as though I was the odd man out there because I was a driver, an operator,” he said with a chuckle. “I didn’t have a whole lot in common with what their job role was.”

While he regularly interacts with superintendents as a driver/operator for Beacon in the Rochester, Minn. area, it’s easy to feel disconnected from most of the industry's business. As he points out, delivering the materials is the final step in a long line of transactions between supplier and contractor.

It made it all the more satisfying when, during the 2025 International Roofing Expo, the Roofing Alliance announced Johnson as the “Outstanding Community Involvement” award winner for his personal and professional contributions.

“Since joining in 2017, Cliff's unwavering commitment to safety, excellence, and community service has made him an invaluable asset to the Beacon team,” the Roofing Alliance said in a social media post.

Johnson stays humble about it all, telling me he was just in the right place at the right time to be nominated. However, our conversation showed it was much more than happenstance — it underscores years of dedication to work and community.

“I feel I do the best job that I can all the time, and that shows because … I was then nominated,” he said. “But also, I have a passion for helping people even outside of work, and that’s been my focus for much of my life, and I think they meld together a lot.”

The Road to Distribution

Growing up in a large family, Johnson found satisfaction in being the peacekeeper, wanting to resolve conflicts and ensure people were happy. He also found joy in tinkering.

“I always had an interest in how things work from a little child, and sometimes, to the dismay of my sisters, I would take their toys and figure out how they work and take them apart and put them back together the best I could — sometimes not quite the way they should,” he said.

That fascination was handy, as he and his siblings often took care of projects around the house, including installing a large addition to the family’s farmhouse. Watching something come together using his own hands sparked an interest in construction.

Cliff Johnson joined Beacon in 2017 as a driver/operator.

After graduating high school, he explored numerous opportunities, landing a job with a local home builder in 2000. As Johnson puts it, the company had the “grand idea” of buying a boom truck to deliver materials to its crews and selected Johnson for the job. Having just acquired his CDL, Johnson found the work rewarding.

“At that point, there were no certifications … no requirements; you just had to have a license to drive the truck, so through trial and error — and a few minor mishaps here and there — I figured out, ‘Hey, this is kind of fun,’” he said. 

This led him to work in the lumberyard industry, delivering sheet rock and lumber from the perilous crow’s nest of his truck. When he transitioned into the roofing materials industry, he experienced the joy of a remote boom truck.

“I fell in love all over again,” he said. “You don’t have that precarious sitting on top of a truck and a bad vantage point.”

Through a chain of distributor acquisitions, Johnson found his way to Beacon in 2017. Since joining, he has helped train more than 100 drivers on safe driving habits and safely conduct a pre- and post-trip driver vehicle inspection report. 

“Driving a truck, especially a truck that weighs, empty, 40,000 pounds that is a little top-heavy with these cranes, you have to know what you’re doing, you have to be safe at it, and you have to pay attention to what you’re doing,” he said. 

He emphasizes safety because it’s more than just the driver or operator at risk. Part of learning truck safety is assessing job sites for proper crane use and setting up safe delivery zones. If it isn’t feasible, that means telling a customer “no.”

“I know Beacon has our back, and they promote that,” he said. “They tell us as operators if you get to a job and it is unsafe to operate a crane in that space, you don’t try to make it work because a contractor is yelling at you trying to make it easy or most cost-effective on them.”

Driven to Succeed

Recognized by his peers for his work ethic, Johnson was nominated to Team DRIVEN, a council of 15 Beacon professionals, about two years ago. The team creates a collaborative environment between senior leadership and Beacon’s 2,000-plus drivers to identify safety concerns and operational improvements. 

“It's been great to network in the company and understand a lot more of what goes into getting the trucks here, getting the material here, understanding how the safety protocols and safety regulations are, and keeping track of our scores,” he said.

Since becoming involved, Johnson has assisted in bringing on technology generally seen in companies with vast fleets like UPS and FedEx, including onboard telematics and onboard cameras equipped with artificial intelligence.

“There was a lot of skepticism at first about this, but it’s a great tool to just understand driving, and even as a driver, understand our habits,” he said.

One improvement Johnson noted was upgrading phones for drivers. The base model phone drivers used as their electronic log devices reduced productivity and affected the drivers’ performance scores due to technical issues. 

Team DRIVEN advocated for better phones, and Beacon listened, issuing rugged, military-grade phones to nearly every branch and driver.

“Bringing these real-world situations or ideas from the people that are doing the job directly to our corporate executors is an awesome idea, but it also alleviates the communication gap, or the telephone game that happens because we’ll say one thing and it’s understood by someone else very differently,” he said. “Seeing an idea come to life companywide feels good.”

Community Service

This is far from the first time Johnson has experienced the satisfaction of bettering the lives of others. As mentioned, growing up in a large family instilled a desire to help and bring peace, inspiring him to serve in his church’s various ministries.

He has been a youth leader with his church for 22 years, leads the men’s ministry and has gone on multiple mission trips to Haiti. Johnson is also part of the church’s team that hosts an annual Men’s Derby, which serves as an outreach to men in the Minnesota Adult & Teen Challenge treatment center.

Even his construction skills have come into play, helping re-side and reroof his church. Outside of his church, Johnson volunteers with Care Fest of Rochester and has worked with Bear Creek Services at Oak Terrace Estates to fix trailer homes for families in need.

“I’ve really kind of been drawn to the fact that there are so many people out there that are in desperate need, and not only physically, but spiritually, they are in need, and that's where I've focused a lot of my attention on serving others is leading with the physical help and leaving them with the reason why I do what I do,” he said.

A Beacon of Integrity

The Roofing Alliance’s MVP Awards recognize exceptional roofing professionals who demonstrate outstanding performance, leadership and a commitment to community service. During IRE, the Roofing Alliance spotlights these individuals annually to acknowledge their accomplishments and inspire others to elevate the industry’s standards.

In the nomination form Beacon submitted, the company had this to say about Johnson:

“Cliff always puts people first, whether it is serving customers on a job site or volunteering in the local community. He is known for doing whatever it takes to get the job done and being excited to tackle any new or challenging projects that come along, and it shows. He always makes customers happy and as a result has great relationships with local contractors. As such, he is often requested by customers to make their deliveries.” 

Though modest about his achievements, he is grateful for the recognition and hopes that more companies will participate in the program.

“[They should] know their employees, understand who they are, inside their workspace and outside in the community, and if they see something, go ahead and nominate them,” he said.