diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 5137776..70942a3 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -24,3 +24,4 @@ tmp*
 coverage.html
 coverage.out
 .DS_Store
+dist
diff --git a/.goreleaser.yaml b/.goreleaser.yaml
index e7d72f2..c0590f8 100644
--- a/.goreleaser.yaml
+++ b/.goreleaser.yaml
@@ -2,11 +2,17 @@
 #
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
+version: 2
 builds:
-  -
-    goos:
+  - goos:
       - linux
     goarch:
       - amd64
       - arm
       - arm64
+
+archives:
+  - name_template: '{{ .ProjectName }}_{{ .Os }}_{{ .Arch }}'
+    files:
+      - src: ./exporter/templates/*
+        dst: templates
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f0854c9..6d197c4 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -147,12 +147,13 @@ $ curl localhost:9092/metrics | grep "# HELP"
 ### Exporter Env Var Docs
 
 Env vars can be sepcified in a `.env` file, while using the `just`
-| Var           | Default Value | Purpose                                                                     |
-|---------------|---------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
-| POLL_LIMIT    | 10            | # of seconds to wait before polling slurmctl again (client-side throttling)  |
-| LOGLEVEL      | info          | Log Level: debug, info, warn, error                                         |
-| CLI_TIMEOUT   | 10.           | # seconds before the exporter terminates command.                           |
+| Var             | Default Value | Purpose                                                                     |
+|-----------------|---------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
+| POLL_LIMIT      | 10            | # of seconds to wait before polling slurmctl again (client-side throttling) |
+| LOGLEVEL        | info          | Log Level: debug, info, warn, error                                         |
+| CLI_TIMEOUT     | 10.           | # seconds before the exporter terminates command.                           |
+| TRACE_ROOT_PATH | "cwd"         | path to ./templates directory where html files are located                  |
 
 
 ### Future work
-Add scheduler info, slurmrestd support, package binary into apt, rpm packages, and docker
+slurmrestd support
diff --git a/exporter/trace.go b/exporter/trace.go
index 642acaa..227b8b3 100644
--- a/exporter/trace.go
+++ b/exporter/trace.go
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 	"io/fs"
 	"log"
 	"net/http"
+	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"sync"
 	"text/template"
@@ -106,8 +107,13 @@ type TraceCollector struct {
 
 func NewTraceCollector(config *Config) *TraceCollector {
 	traceConfig := config.TraceConf
+	templateRootDir := "."
+	// path to look for the /templates directory. Defaults to cwd
+	if path, ok := os.LookupEnv("TRACE_ROOT_PATH"); ok {
+		templateRootDir = path
+	}
 	traceDir := ""
-	err := filepath.WalkDir(".", func(path string, d fs.DirEntry, err error) error {
+	err := filepath.WalkDir(templateRootDir, func(path string, d fs.DirEntry, err error) error {
 		if err == nil && d.IsDir() && d.Name() == templateDirName {
 			traceDir = path
 			return nil