Blue Collar Conservative
- Details
- Category: Park Site
- Published on Friday, 22 March 2013 00:20
- Written by Administrator
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Rob Roark was born on October 23rd, 1965 in Oak Park, Illinois, the youngest of five children. His father, Melvin Roark, was a Supply Service Chief for the Veterans Health Administration, so during Rob's childhood the Roark family lived all over the eastern United States, including Michigan, Pennsylvania and Maine. The Roark family eventually made his way to Columbia, South Carolina, where Rob graduated from High School in 1983. Rob had a knack for leadership, and a year later was running a startup DJ service, coordinating as many as twenty events each night all across South Carolina.
In 1990, Rob took a position with VLSI, a leading-edge integrated-circuit company. Rob worked hard and received multiple promotions, and in 1995 moved to San Antonio, Texas to take over a new project as the Test Floor Supervisor, which involved leading multiple engineering teams to increase efficiency and throughput.
In 1999, VLSI was acquired by Phillips, which itself was in the process of moving its production overseas. By 2002, the jobs Rob had helped to create were outsourced to Taiwan and China. Rob then took a position with Bridgepoint Austin, preparing electronics upgrades for the NASA Space Shuttle, but more and more of our tech jobs were being outsourced, and Rob was forced to look for employment in other industries. From 2005 to 2007, Rob was self-employed, working in the vending and resale business in the San Marcos-Lockhart-Kyle area. In 2007, he took a position with New Braunfels-based Senior Flexonics Pathway, as a QC inspector for expansion joints used in the oil, gas, and nuclear industries.
Rob has a history of leadership in his community and in grassroots politics. Since 2005 Rob has been a weekly volunteer with the Hays County Food Bank. Rob has organized the San Marcos Tax Day Rally yearly since 2009 and has been involved in multiple campaigns, including Jason Isaac’s campaign for State Representative, and Bert Cobb’s campaign for Hays County Judge. In August, 2010 Rob launched We The People: San Marcos, a community interest and activism program that broadcasts weekly on smtx.tv. By the end of 2010, We The People was the most-watched program on the station. Rob is member of numerous organizations, including the San Marcos 9/12 Patriots, San Marcos Area Republican Texan Group, and the Texas Liberty Campaign.
Rob was married in 1985 and divorced in 2003. He has two children; Rebecca Roark, who pursued work in welding after graduating High School and now lives in South Dakota, and Matthew Roark, a freshman Rattler and member of the San Marcos High School Debate Team and Junior Statesman of America.