History
The company's heritage goes back to 1946, when Fred Gooding decided to move from Philadelphia to Lancaster to pursue his dream of starting a roofing company. A true entrepreneur, he sold his vehicle to pay for the materials for his first job and hitchhiked to the jobsite! A short time later Bill Simpson was welcomed into the new venture since he had a truck to contribute. Fritz Mackes was the next to join the crew and bring his skills as a sheet metal mechanic ... thus the roofing company "Gooding, Simpson & Mackes" was born.
In 1974, Jim Towers became head of the small sheet metal division when Fritz Mackes passed away unexpectedly. In 1983, the growing sheet metal division became a separate entity (GSM Industrial) as it began to expand into non-roofing related metal fabrication projects.
In the late 1980's Gooding, Simpson & Mackes was doing a lot of work in the Delaware market. John Gooding (Fred's son) opened a second roofing branch in Newark, DE - Gooding Delaware.
The year of 2009 proved to be one of many changes. Gooding Delaware made a short move across the Maryland border into Elkton. Along with the move came a new name for the entire roofing organization - GSM Roofing.
With locations in Ephrata, PA and Elkton, MD, GSM Roofing is one of the largest and most respected roofing contractors in South Central & South Eastern Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey and Delaware. The third generation of the Gooding family is now firmly planted in the business.
Today, GSM Industrial is a full-scale operation handling large and small steel fabrication and installation projects. Together with Gooding, Simpson & Mackes, located in Ephrata, PA and Elkton, MD, these two companies make up The Gooding Group. Owned by two families, GSM Industrial has been led by the Towers family for more than 35 years, and Gooding, Simpson & Mackes has been led by the Gooding family for more than 60 years.
25 Year Club
At GSM one of the aspects that we are most proud of is our loyal employees. These employees have been with us through three generations of Gooding family ownership and many have dedicated their entire working careers to GSM. There have been over 43 employees that have been with the company for over 25 years. There are an additional 14 members at GSM Industrial. Each year we celebrate this group and continue to watch the numbers grow. We even have two people in our unofficial 50 Year Club!!!
The Gooding Group Foundation
The Gooding Group Foundation was founded in 1988 to assure that not-for-profit agencies would benefit from the philanthropic values of the Gooding family. The Foundation primarily supports non-profits in the geographic areas that surround GSM Roofing and GSM Industrial, including South Central and South Eastern PA, and into Northern MD and DE.
In addition to charitable contributions made by the Foundation, two other programs are supported by the Foundation to honor GSM employees. The first is a Matching Gift Program in which employees may submit receipts to be matched to their favorite charities. The second is a Scholarship Program that benefits employees’ dependents ages 17 – 21 by awarding them a scholarship to either a two-year or four-year college. These awards are given for a maximum of four years to college students who maintain a C average or better in the college of their choice.
John Gooding Chairman GSM Roofing
800-532-ROOF
