Book Nook: What does a sheet metal worker do? Read this book to find out

For years he scoffed at the idea of writing a book but more recently he wondered; has a sheet metal worker ever published a book about what they do? He did some research and he could not find any books like that-he finally decided it was time to write one of his own.

The result is his book “I Built That! and So Can You” and after he published it he wondered about something that was a lot less familiar to him, how could he get the word out about his new book? So Hoover, a longtime resident of Brookville, began examining the marketing angle.

He sent me an email to inform me he had written this book. I asked him to send me a copy. He did. I anticipated a book about how to build houses or something along those lines. When I began reading it I got a pleasant surprise: Roger Hoover knows how to tell a story and over his long career he has done amazing things.

It isn’t about building houses. Hoover fabricates sheet metal, installing it in buildings throughout our region from General Motors facilities to hotels in Cincinnati and even the tank plant in Lima. He tells some entertaining stories about many different projects and some design challenges that were overcome.

He has been doing this work so long he predated the creation of OSHA which has made his workplaces much safer. He describes how he was once told to go work for a supervisor he didn’t like. He would have usually gone along with the order without objecting. In this case he refused-the worker who got sent in place of him was killed in an accident.

Hoover told me that he really enjoys his work because each day is different. This book is memoir but has another intent; to reveal great jobs are available in the construction industry and the critical shortage of qualified workers to do them.

He breaks out numbers showing how much debt on average a person can incur by going straight from high school into college. Then he compares that situation to a scenario when someone begins an apprenticeship in the building trades. During that period they will be paid well, obtain a free education about the jobs they are actually doing, and after completing the apprenticeship they could have no debt and a healthy bank account.

When Hoover was an apprentice he was ready to quit and get a job pumping gas somewhere. The fellows he was working with had been giving him a hard time and he was fed up. As he was getting ready to walk out he was stopped by a guy who explained something to him: we are giving you a hard time because you are really good at your job, because you have potential. Hoover stayed. Fifty years later he is still doing it.