Bobby Hooks started a roofing company with two friends as a means to make money while still in college. Nearly five decades later he’s built a business legacy that rivals any competitor in his market, and fostered an extended family of loyal employees still getting it done on a daily basis — continuing to make Graham Roofing Inc. (GRI) one of strongest commercial and industrial roofing firms in the Deep South.
While it may not have been the original plan he had in mind when he entered Mississippi State University in 1968, roofing turned out to be the best avenue for Hooks to put his long-standing work ethic and years studying at MSU’s College of Business and Industry to the test. After college, the trio continued to work on the business and officially incorporated in 1971, a few years before the EPDM explosion and other product advancements revolutionized commercial roofing across the country.