Paramount Builders, Inc., of Virginia Beach, Virginia, has received GAF’s most prestigious contractor award: The GAF President’s Club Award. This highly coveted award recognizes Paramount Builders as one of the “elite of the elite” residential roofing contractors in the United States.

GAF is North America’s largest roofing manufacturer, and only GAF Master Elite^® Contractors can compete for its President’s Club Award. To qualify for this award, a contractor must demonstrate an exceptional level of excellence in their business, especially in the areas of Installation Excellence, Consumer Protection, and Installer Training.

Paramount Builders has been a GAF Master Elite^® Contractor since 2012. To become a Master Elite^® Contractor—a status that less than 2% of roofing contractors nationwide have achieved—a candidate must demonstrate proper licensing and adequate insurance, have a proven reputation and show commitment to ongoing professional training.

Paramount Builders is a classic “local boy makes good” story. In 1991, owner Ed Augustine started the company from his apartment. “He grew the business as he saw fit,” according to Sales and Marketing Assistant, Katie Wylie. “He borrowed a small amount of money, and started the company,” adds Bob Shackford, Vice President of Operations. “Ed was working for another remodeling company at the time but didn’t like the way they did things—he wanted to set a higher standard. And Paramount Builders was born. He chose that name because he wanted it to be the pinnacle of the industry.”

Since then, Paramount has grown into a multimillion-dollar company with seven locations in Virginia. “We’re the largest home-improvement company in the state,” says Shackford. “Having multiple locations has enabled us to cover a vast territory. We have the name recognition and relationships with the customers—they know they can call us, and we’ll still be around down the road. We have longevity as a business and an established management team, including several employees that have been with us from day one.”

Paramount is deeply involved in organizations across the state. “The owner makes it a priority to give back to the community,” says Wylie. “For example, we did a social media drive last year—we gave away a total of $5,000 to five different charities that were selected by fan votes on our Facebook page. We donated to the Virginia Wounded Warrior program, the Wish-a-Fish Foundation in Tidewater, Hope Charitable Services in Portsmouth, Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters hospital in Norfolk, and NAMI.” Also supporting local churches, homeless shelters, and children’s sports teams, Paramount has provided a new scoreboard and jerseys for the Lynnhaven Little League.

The company is involved with professional organizations as well, including the National Association of Home Builders, the National Association of the Remodeling Industry, Virginia Association of Professional Roofers the Home Building Association of Richmond, and the Tidewater Builders Association. At all locations, Paramount maintains an A+ accreditation from the Better Business Bureau; it has been recognized as “Best Place to Work” in Hampton Roads and has won multiple “Best of the Beach” awards.

The future looks bright for Paramount, with continued growth and expansion into new territories. “We’re looking into the western part of Virginia, and we’re growing in the northern part of the state,” says Shackford. He concludes: “We went into this business with a goal, all those years ago. We were babes in the woods but we continued to do the right things and how to make the wrong things right. We’ve just continued to grow since then, because of our employees, installers and relationships with established manufacturers.”

About Paramount Builders

The East Coast’s leading provider of replacement windows, vinyl siding, trim, and roofing, Paramount Builders maintains the goal of establishing the highest standard of excellence in the industry. Paramount sells not only the finest exterior remodeling products but its family, its reputation, and its commitment to excellent customer service—before, during, and after installation—and its products are backed by the best warranties in the industry.

About GAF

Founded in 1886, GAF has become the largest roofing manufacturer in North America. The company’s products include a comprehensive portfolio of steep-slope and commercial roofing systems, which are supported by an extensive national network of factory-certified contractors. Its success is driven by its commitment to Advanced Quality, Industry Expertise, and Solutions Made Simple for contractors, specifiers, and property owners alike. In 2011, GAF was the first roofing manufacturer to offer a Lifetime limited warranty on all of its laminated shingles and, in 2012, it introduced the GAF Lifetime Roofing System. For more about GAF, visit http://www.gaf.com