Erik McLaughlin (Bold North Roofing)

Erik McLaughlin is the owner of Bold North Roofing in Bloomington. 

Hailing from Maple Grove, McLaughlin’s childhood was ideal.

His life was never in danger, and a stable household enabled him to grow up amid the comforts of the middle class. 

“I love Maple Grove,” the roofing business owner says.  

“I think it is one of the best suburbs in the Twin Cities.”

Like many youth hoopers, McLaughlin thought he was going to one day play in the NBA, until he realized he would never soar through the air like Vince Carter or shoot threes with the accuracy of Kyle Korver. 

“I was in fifth or sixth grade when I stopped growing, and then those hoop dreams fell apart pretty quickly,” he says with the type of laugh that is relatable if only because I once had visions of donning an NBA uniform, until the acknowledgment of a lack of muscle mass and putrid foot speed also derailed my boyish aspirations. 

As a teenager, McLaughlin was always hungry, literally and metaphorically. 

He worked at Frankie’s Pizza in Maple Grove, just off Highway 94, so he treated himself to the occasional slice of pepperoni, but he didn’t clock in at Frankie’s just to gorge on the leftovers.

He also wanted to work and earn money, the irony being that when McLaughlin later started Bold North Roofing, their first office space was above Frankie’s Pizza. 

But I’m getting ahead of myself. 

Maybe because it’s 4:36 PM and now I want a slice of pizza.

After high school, McLaughlin headed west and enrolled at UND to study accounting.  

After graduating, he got into the industry and eventually became a CPA, the power of numbers never eluding him.

“I eventually was working my dream job too,” he says, adding that at one firm he was not only tabulating figures, but also staying heavily involved in the business side of the operation.  

For many, stimulating gainful employment would be enough, but for McLaughlin, it was only the beginning. 

Along with one of his best friends from college, who already had amassed considerable experience in the roofing industry, and actually originally founded Bold North Roofing in 2020, McLaughlin became a roofing business owner. 

“I wanted to have my own thing,” he lists as the reason for the foray into shingles.

“I also believe in life, we only have a finite amount of opportunities, and I saw getting into the roofing industry as my chance to take that leap into entrepreneurship.”

The combination of McLaughlin’s business prowess and his co-owner’s roofing expertise has led to Bold North Roofing flourishing in the last few years. 

At present, the roofing company helps homeowners with replacing roofs, siding, and windows, often as a result of hail impacting homes.

“During our initial home inspection, we will make a determination on if the roof has been affected by hail, or if it is just old and the homeowner should replace it by paying out of pocket,” McLaughlin explains.

For context, hail claims can be laborious for homeowners, but Bold North Roofing aims to make the process more palatable by meeting with insurance adjusters to point out damage, and then performing the work that later gets approved by the insurance carrier. 

Some homeowners will bristle at the notion of working with insurance companies, but McLaughlin is quick to point out that filing a legitimate claim, as it relates to hail damage, could save homeowners up to 95% off a roof replacement, depending on their insurance policy. 

“When homeowners work with us on an insurance claim, they only pay for their deductible, and then their insurance company pays for the rest, unless they choose to add some elective upgrades,” McLaughlin notes.

It should be noted that not every roof will be replaced due to hail damage.

In some cases, roofs are just old and will need to be swapped out sooner than later, particularly because prices for shingles almost never go down.

“The longer you wait, the more likely that your roof will be more expensive in the future,” McLaughlin cautions. 

“Plus, the longer you wait, you could then have more issues with the roof itself.”

Components like decking, underlayment, and vents can all fail over the course of a couple decades.

“If your roof is 10 years old, and there is no significant hail damage, then it is fine,” the Maple Grove product says. 

“But if it is 25 years old and you want to get it to 30 years old, it’s unlikely that a roof that has hail damage is going to make it those next few years.”

Of note: premiums on homeowner insurance tend to go down when a roof gets replaced, simply because a newer roof is less susceptible to being damaged by inclement weather.

That being said, what excites McLaughlin every morning is not navigating the nuances of insurance legalese with homeowners. 

Rather, the ability to help homeowners and make a living is a key reason why McLaughlin and his team have gotten Bold North Roofing to become a recognizable name in the Twin Cities market. 

“If we can get a homeowner a new $30,000 roof that is covered by their insurance after a hailstorm, then that lets the homeowner take that vacation that they haven’t taken in five years, or pay for their child’s college tuition,” McLaughlin explains.

“Those are the human aspects of this business that don’t get talked about enough, and so for us to be able to enrich people’s lives through what we do is really what Bold North Roofing is all about.”

More concretely, Bold North Roofing distinguishes themselves from other roofing companies by having an in-house employee at every job.

“We don’t just send a crew to your home and hope the roof replacement goes well,” McLaughlin emphasizes. 

“Instead, we have a W-2 employee on-site for every roof that we do, and we do that in order to facilitate an effective project, and a memorable experience for the homeowner.”

For reference, Bold North Roofing is also a local company.

They are not owned and operated by private equity, meaning when homeowners partner with Bold North Roofing, they are supporting a business with employees who live and work in the Twin Cities. 

“We are local, and we’re very involved at every level of a roofing project,” McLaughlin states. 

“That’s important because sometimes things go wrong on a roofing job, and when they do, we want our customers to know that we stand behind our work, and that we are supporting them at every step of a process that can be very stressful if not handled appropriately.”

Adds McLaughlin:

“We are not going to leave homeowners high and dry. If a shingle falls off, or if we break a window during a job, we are going to replace that at no cost because it’s the right thing to do.”

With an excellent rating on over 500 Google reviews, it’s clear that Bold North Roofing didn’t accidentally become a five-figure powerhouse.

“We are protective of the reputation we have built,” McLaughlin assures me as we talk in his Bloomington office.

“Everyone who works for our company embodies our core values and is committed to making a positive impact on the community.”

As for the future, Bold North Roofing will be expanding geographically, both into Wisconsin and North Dakota. 

“We want to grow our brand across the Midwest,” says McLaughlin, who in addition to expansion also is seeking to impact as many lives as possible.

“Our first sales rep is now our Director of Operations, and that’s because we like to promote from within and give people an opportunity to not just have a job, but to also build a sustainable career.” QS

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Get out of accounting jail!