It took Flint, Mich.’s water issues, which rose to a crisis level last year with news of the city’s extensive lead-tainted supply, to catapult sector needs higher on legislative agendas and into the public consciousness.

The Western States Roofing Contractors Association introduced “The Roofing Games” in 2014 at its annual exposition in Las Vegas as a way “to keep contractors on the trade show floor until the close of the show,” says Joel Viera, the group’s director of exposition and events.

No one would mistake the casino hotels overlooking the Las Vegas Convention Center’s exhibit lot for the stately spires of Churchill Downs.