Truth be told, she had no hopes of winning the actual award.  How could a construction company like Golden Group Roofing ever compete with the likes of innovative companies like Boston Dynamics, who are literally changing the world?

“After all, I’m just a roofer,” Bajrami said. As it turns out, the judges felt otherwise.

“When I heard my name announced as the winner, I was in shock,” she said. Bajrami knew that this wasn’t just a win for her. It was a win for every single worker in the trades industry.

It has been her personal mission to change the way America perceives careers in the trades. But Bajrami never intended to become a roofer.  As a young Albanian immigrant in Massachusetts, pursuing a college education with a white collar trajectory was always her American dream.

A look into Golden Group’s history

Things were going according to plan until sometime during her college career, Bajrami and her partner Freddy Compoverde (future co-founder) unexpectedly found themselves about to become parents. Suddenly, they had a family to feed while finishing their business degrees.  They searched for the highest-paying jobs they could find, and landed in an unlikely industry: roofing and construction.

What started out as a temporary job soon became a career as Bajrami quickly realized how her business operations and strategies studies could apply to the roofing industry. She could see that local roofing operations hadn’t changed in decades. Meanwhile, the rest of the world was advancing in technology, process, leadership, education, and customer service.

She wondered: what could they accomplish if they applied business school principles to the old school industry? Bajrami took the leap to see how she could revolutionize the industry, and co-founded Golden Group Roofing with Campoverde in 2012.

From there, Bajrami went straight to work streamlining processes with a heavy emphasis on excellent customer service. She began to research the latest technologies and contacted manufacturers directly to research the highest quality products and the best implementation strategies.  

A pandemic doesn’t stop this Entrepreneur of the Year

By the time the pandemic hit the region, Golden Group Roofing was already positioned to perform low-contact estimates and projects. They had invested in cutting-edge satellite technology to give them exact building measurements and detailed photos without ever getting on top of the roof.

But most importantly, Bajrami remained focused on the people.  Golden Group Roofing consistently invests in comprehensive training programs for their crew. This includes maintaining the highest levels of certification throughout the years. Bajrami understood the responsibility of leadership to create a stable environment that her employees looked forward to.

“We’ve created positions where everyone has a path in the company. As the company grows, they grow too. It’s the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit of our amazing employees that allow us to be innovative and stay ahead of the curve,” she said. “I’m really proud of that. “

Bajrami adds that there is so much more to “blue-collar” America than meets the eye. Advanced technology, streamlined processes, and customer service improvements are happening everywhere in construction. Unfortunately, a lot of the industry’s transformative work goes unnoticed.

Always work to be done for Bajrami

At times, she felt like she was swimming against the current, pushing back against “the way things were always done.”  After winning the award, Bajrami knew that pressing for innovation and investing in her crew was worth it. Golden Group Roofing was more than just a way for the team to feed their families. They were having a massive impact on their local communities and the industry as a whole.

Bajrami is now in the running for National Entrepreneur of the Year Award, to be announced later in the year in Palm Springs at the Strategic Growth Forum. She’s excited to bring Golden Group Roofing’s story to the national stage and finally recognize the hard work and vision of trades professionals everywhere.

What’s next for this Entrepreneur of the Year

“Anyone with the vision, skill set, and drive can elevate their trade industry to a new level of customer service and career fulfillment,” said Bajrami.  

Professionals all across the construction industry have flooded Bajrami’s inbox with messages of how proud they are of her, and what this means for the trades. “They just couldn’t believe that I had won that award. They felt like I had won it for all of them.”

“And they’re excited for what’s yet to come.”