During the 2026 International Roofing Expo® in Las Vegas, NRCA announced Dennis Runyan, former owner of Dryspace Inc., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, as the recipient of the John Bradford Volunteer Award. Runyan received the award Jan. 21 during NRCA’s Industry Awards and Reception.
The John Bradford Volunteer Award is presented to an individual in the roofing industry who has consistently demonstrated outstanding acts of volunteerism. Volunteerism takes many forms—some demonstrated locally and others nationally, such as the volunteer work performed at NRCA.
Runyan started working in construction while attending college at the University of Iowa. Before going to class each day, he worked mornings as a carpenter, mason, plumber or other construction-related job he found on the school’s message board. After leaving school, Runyan joined the construction industry full-time at Iowa Falls Roofing Company, Cedar Rapids, as a laborer. He worked his way up from estimator and project manager to general manager in 1987. Two years later, Runyan purchased the assets of the roofing company and renamed it DrySpace.
During his nearly 60 years in the roofing industry, Runyan has generously volunteered his time. He served on the board of the Iowa Roofing Contractors Association for several years and was elected president in 1991. Runyan also served on the board of the Midwest Roofing Contractors Association for 16 years and was elected president in 2005. He served in various roles in both organizations, but his passion has always been on the technical side of things.
In addition to serving on MRCA’s Technical and Research Committee for 13 years, he chaired the initial CERTA committee, which was responsible for the program’s paperwork. More than 20 years later, Runyan continues to be involved and helped with the most recent revisions. In recognition for his outstanding service to MRCA and the roofing industry, in 2010, MRCA awarded Runyan its highest honor—the James Q. McCawley Award.
Runyan has served on several NRCA technical committees, including the NRCA/MRCA CERTA Task Force and Technical Operations Committee. He often took on additional work from the various task forces he served on, such as Quality Control Guidelines and Vegetative Roof Manual, and served as chair of the Technical Operations Committee twice.
The John Bradford Volunteer Award is named after John Bradford, who served as NRCA’s president from 1982-83 and was a past president of the Midwest Roofing Contractors Association. He was instrumental in the development of the Montana Roofing Contractors Association, served on many boards throughout his roofing career and enjoyed civic involvements.
