Kevin Salinas was living in Joplin, Missouri, in 2011 when a devastating tornado moved through the city and destroyed a large portion of it. But seeing the tragedy also seeded a passion in Salinas: construction and roofing.
“We were out of school and basically everything was destroyed, so we started helping each other and building,” Salinas said. “I didn’t have anything to do, so I was like, ‘Hey, let’s start roofing.”
Salinas is the owner of Salinas Exteriors, a construction company located in Toledo, Ohio. Established in 2020, the company specializes in providing roofing, siding, windows, doors and gutters for homeowners and businesses. With dozens of team members, Salinas Exteriors has grown into a notable presence within the Toledo community.
Originally born in Honduras before moving to the United States as a child, Salinas followed a winding path to Toledo. After the tornado in Joplin, Salinas found himself traveling across the country, honing his craft by working in different environments and rebuilding communities after storms. Eventually, though, he became interested in settling down and putting his skills to use in a more stable environment.
Toledo fit all his prerequisites: it was a mid-sized metro area that was growing, didn’t require a storm to have work and had a good return on investments for properties. By 2018, he had moved to Toledo and by 2020, had officially established Salinas Exteriors. The company quickly took off as the need for home improvement services increased during the pandemic, but Salinas credits their long-term success to the company’s commitment to their values.
“People ask me all the time, ‘Oh, what’s your secret? What did you do?’ And that was it. There’s no secret recipe to success, but to show up, do good work, treat people right. And not just customers, right? Treat your employees right, everybody in the company right,” Salinas said. “At the end of the day, it’s a partnership and an understanding and an agreement.
Salinas Exteriors has been involved in many charitable efforts around the Toledo area since its inception. The company supports efforts to remediate lead poisoning within Toledo area homes and works with Owens Corning and Purple Heart to provide a roof to a veteran every year. They also partner with the University of Toledo and ProMedica and provide funds to important events or causes that help others. Salinas himself works with Toledo area newspaper La Prensa to inform the area’s Spanish-speaking community of events, among other things.
“For me, how I think about giving back to the community is, this is the same community that’s also shaped my success — my personal success, but also the business success,” Salinas said. “I tell my team and I tell anybody that’s in my life [that] I live a life I feel like I wasn’t supposed to live.”
For the future, Salinas hopes to continue growing his company and following the values that have made it so successful: doing good work and treating people with respect. Salinas Exteriors is always looking for new ways to help the community and support charitable causes across the Toledo area.
“If I were to die today or tomorrow, I would want people to say, ‘You know, this kid, he’s not around anymore, but he helped my family personally. Maybe he never knew me or whatever, but he helped an organization that helped my family,’” Salinas said. “That’s what it’s all about, just planting good seeds around Toledo and changing lives however you can.”
