Aerial view of the 125,000-square-foot Texoma Medical Center, the largest hospital in the Denison, Texas area.

Aerial view of the magnificent Renaissance Dallas at Plano Legacy West Hotel.

Although many people dream of starting their own business, few pursue it and even fewer succeed after they start. Meet the man who made not one, but two businesses a reality—Jeff Folsom, President of Alpine Roofing Construction.

After beginning his career in investment banking, Folsom joined the founding team of an internet-based leisure travel company in the 1990s. After the dot-com crash, Folsom, inspired by a lifelong friend, transitioned to the roofing construction sector and made Dallas the home of Alpine in 2000.

“I’d reached a crossroads in my life and decided I wanted to go from employee to company owner,” says Folsom. Little did he know that his entrepreneurship would result in his business becoming one of the premier commercial, industrial and residential roofing contractors in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

The road from employee to employer required time, dedication and many mentors, including advisors at Siplast, the original manufacturer of SBS (styrene-butadiene-styrene) modified bitumen roofing. Folsom has learned many skills through experience and is very grateful for all the help he has received.

“I had experienced contacts at Siplast who educated me, gave me every manual and the product specifications to help me on that path—I am a sponge for knowledge,” he says.

In the beginning, Folsom worked as many jobs as possible in the residential roofing sector and then landed his first commercial roofing contract in 2001 for the St. Joseph Catholic School in Richardson, Texas. Mike Steele, Regional Manager at Siplast and the manufacturer’s inspector for that job, has worked with Folsom for nearly 20 years now, but St. Joseph was their first project together. Reflecting on their history, Steele says, “Jeff is such an entrepreneur. He’s dependable, outgoing and always asks for good advice. He is more than a contractor or customer—he’s a guy you want as your friend.”

As Alpine grew from a small business into a roofing powerhouse, Folsom strategically hired individuals with expertise on the technical side of the roofing business and developed a core team that complemented his own business acumen and experience in financing. It was a winning combination. Today, the company has 30 to 100 employees at any given time, depending on workload. Alpine has expanded its reach beyond the Metroplex and delivers services for commercial and industrial projects across Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Alabama. Its roofing portfolio includes various installations—everything from hospitals to premier shopping centers to high-rise hotels.

Texoma Medical Center Hospital

Folsom is particularly proud of his firm’s work on the newest facility for Universal Health Services’ Texoma Medical Center (TMC). In 2009, Alpine worked under Brasfield & Gorrie and HKS, Inc. on the $98-million project, installing a Siplast two-ply, 20-year NDL (no dollar limit) system with custom-fabricated screen wall, scuppers and collector heads. In existence since 1965, TMC is now the largest hospital in the Sherman-Denison, Texas area. With more than 2,400 employees, 250 physicians on staff and over 120 volunteers serving patients from all over North Texas and southern Oklahoma, the hospital sprawls over 125,000 square feet, covered by eight different roofing systems.

The TMC project was the first one with Alpine for Chris Wall, Operations Manager at Brasfield & Gorrie. He continues to work with Folsom to this day. “Here in Dallas he is one of our preferred contractors,” Wall says. “Jeff’s commitment and integrity are outstanding. Not everyone lives up to their commitments like he does. He makes sure we meet our schedules and budgets.”

The Ambassador Town Center

Another key Alpine project is a joint venture by Stirling Properties and CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. The Ambassador Town Center is unique in Louisiana retail development, as most of its retailers are venturing for the first time into Lafayette or Louisiana, or both. The facility boasts roughly 58 acres of development with 430,000 square feet of retail space.

For this enterprise, Alpine installed GAF’s 60-millimeter thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) membrane for its strength, durability and thermal properties, which are well-suited for Louisiana commercial roofing projects.

Completely leased within six months of its grand opening in 2016, the Ambassador Town Center now provides roughly 1,700 permanent jobs for the community in addition to the 2,200 temporary construction jobs created during its development.

“I’d reached a crossroads in my life and decided I wanted to go from employee to company owner.” Jeff Folsom, President, Alpine Roofing Construction

The Renaissance Hotel

Another source of pride for Folsom is Alpine’s work on the Renaissance Dallas at Plano Legacy West Hotel. Framed within the booming commercial and residential mixed-use area of Plano’s $3 billion Legacy West development, the hotel—developed by Sam Moon Group—celebrated its highly anticipated opening in early 2017. Architect HKS designed the landmark hotel and Brasfield & Gorrie managed its construction as general contractor. Alpine joined this all-star team as the roofing contractor, tasked with implementing an effective roofing system for the 15-story, 304-room high-rise, which features a pool deck on the roof over its ballrooms.

Through coordination with Brasfield & Gorrie’s team, Alpine installed a 1.5-inch, ISO/2-inch, ISO/full-tapered system with a 1/4-inch dens deck on 12 separate roof areas, totaling over 60,000 square feet. The tapered roof insulation system not only provides the necessary R-value and support for the roof system, but also extends the life of the roof system by providing ideal drainage. This Energy Star-rated, GAF 60-millimeter TPO roofing system will also provide thermal protection against harsh Dallas-area weather through its energy efficiency.

Several factors made this project exceptional. Folsom comments, “It was a very unique project. It was Sam Moon’s first step into the hospitality realm, combined with a distinctive design by HKS. We are honored to have been involved.”

When the Renaissance Hotel was previously featured in the inaugural Spring 2016 issue of The Who’s Who in Building & Construction, the development was an ambitious plan in the groundbreaking phase. Now, it is a complete, masterful piece of Texas architecture.

Customer Satisfaction Leads to Bright Future

Folsom credits Alpine’s success not only to hard work, but to the company’s broad capabilities. Alpine installs diverse roofing systems (modified bitumen, built-up roofing, TPO, PVC, EPDM, metal roofing, copper roofing and much more) and runs its own custom sheet-metal shop.

Folsom’s belief that attention to detail and high-quality services speak for themselves has proven true time after time. In 2016 and 2017, independent research conducted by Pulse of the City News deemed Alpine worthy of its coveted Star Award for superior construction services combined with outstanding customer focus.

After persevering through almost 20 years of both good and lean times, Alpine is poised for continued success. Folsom describes himself as no different than anyone else, but “someone who went after it and just kept fighting.” Alpine will continue to do the same.