On Feb. 19, Roofing Contractor will host its sixth annual State of the Industry Webinar, sponsored by GAF and EagleView Technologies. We’ll share some of the results of our exclusive surveyof roofing contractors andexplore key trends in the residential and commercial roofing markets.

Speakers will include Bob Tafaro and Paul Bromfield of GAF, who will offer advice on how to make the most of the opportunities available in the year ahead.

The live event will take place February 19 at 2 p.m. Eastern, but if you can’tmake it for the live event, it will be available on demand after that date. For more information or to register, just click here.

The State of the Industry survey contained questions about contractor’s economic outlook and other topics, including their plans for capital expenditures and the use of aerial measurements. This year we added several questions about marketing methods, including the most common sources of sales leads cited by customers. The survey also asked contractors to rate the important challenges facing the industry in 2014.

It’s understandable that business owners might worry about the strength of the economic recovery, but most contractors in the survey expect their own businesses to improve over the next three years. A majority of respondents (56 percent) reported an increase in annual sales for 2013 when compared to 2012. They are more optimistic about the future. Overall, 67 percent of respondents expect year-over-year increases in sales this year, and 79 percent expect sales to increase over the next three years.