When East Coast Roofing and Siding’s owner Larry Stiteler, a second-generation roofer, established the company in 1979, he did it with a pocketful of change and a prayer.

As Stiteler prepares to pass the ever-growing, family-owned company to his son Shawn, a lot has changed since its early days. But one thing remained constant for more than 40 years: East Coast is determined to make a difference in its community, whether that’s South Jersey or the greater global neighborhood. 

That ethics- and morality-driven mentality was the deciding factor for President Jeff Kay when he joined the team in 2016.

“The vision of the company is to make a worldwide difference, and that’s why I came onboard,” Kay says. “We fulfill that mission through leadership development, faith-based initiatives, community service and strategic planning. The core values are integrity, fun, trust, servant leadership and personal development.”

At East Coast, every house is more than a shelter and “every employee is focused on the customer experience.” They treat every job with the same respect they’d show their own homes and each client like family.

“We explain to new employees that Larry expects every homeowner to be treated as if they’re his mother,” explains Kay. “We hold our people accountable to that.”

So, what does being guided by ethics look like in practice? It starts with the first meeting between prospective clients and the exterior consultants, includes a thorough home inspection and a discussion of all the available options—including options that would send a homeowner to another company because it’s outside East Coast’s wheelhouse. 

Each homeowner is not mailed an estimate, but is provided a detailed proposal with an exact price before the consultant leaves the home. That’s the bill a client pays, and not a cent more. 

“There’s plenty of work out there for everyone,” says Kay. “We’re not going into someone’s home to hard-sell our services for five hours until they say yes. If we can help you, that’s great but if we can’t, that’s OK, too.”

East Coast believes everyone should have a sturdy roof above them and endeavors to make that a reality for everyone. A strong partnership with GreenSky, one of the largest lenders in the construction space, has considerably simplified the process for clients of all budgets. 

“We discuss the process of financing your project, if you want to put any money down, how much you can afford a month,” Kay says. “We’ll go on GreenSky’s mobile app, it takes three minutes for the homeowner to apply and usually in 60 to 90 seconds after we hit ‘submit,’ we know if they’re approved. If they are, that’s when the process starts: We sign you up, we get you on the schedule and your project moves ahead.”

Kay notes that GreenSky most benefits people who were caught off-guard by emergency home repairs, and those whose projects were bigger than they initially planned for and require additional time and labor.

Beyond the work it does protecting area families and their homes, East Coast spearheads a number of ongoing charity initiatives.

“During the holidays, we give away two free roofs to people who’ve given back to the community but are currently facing true hardships,” says Kay, adding that recipients are generally first responders and are selected once the East Coast staff has read every single one of the almost 50 nominations they receive annually. “In the very beginning of December, we go out and surprise these folks. It’s a big community event. We show up with a parade of people, usually all the police officers and firefighters in the town are involved.”

Other efforts emphasize just how far-reaching East Coast’s sense of community really is. In addition to being the sole sponsor of a few feeding centers built in Guatemala by the nonprofit MANNA Worldwide, which fights childhood poverty and hunger internationally, they’ve also put their own construction skills to use for a greater global good.

“For a few years now, Larry’s been building a dentistry project in Guatemala because dental care is such an issue there,” Kay notes. “He’s gotten a lot of donations, he’s opened a couple facilities, he’s got dentists from the United States who come down there.”

It all goes back to that faith-based resolve to always lend a hand to those in need.

“In Larry’s words, when he dies, the Lord is not going to congratulate him on how many roofs he took care of—it’s about how many people he helped, and that’s what our team is here for, to facilitate making a difference worldwide,” says Kay. “Our reputation is that people hire us because we stand behind everything we do and we’re going to be here for you 10 years, 20 years, 40 years later because we strive to be a model corporate citizen.”

East Coast Roofing and Siding
6090 Danenhauer Lane #9, Mays Landing
(609) 646-1444
EastCoastRoofing.com

Published (and copyrighted) in House & Home, Volume 21, Issue 12 (September 2021). 
For more info on House & Home magazine, click here. 
To subscribe to House & Home magazine, click here. 
To advertise in House & Home magazine, call 610-272-3120.