Faces of the Diversion: Steve and Vera Roush

Steve Roush: [00:00:15] I’m Project Safety Manager for Ames Construction at the Wild Rice River Project.

Vera Roush: [00:00:24] I am Document Control Manager, Quality Control Alternate, and Safety Alternate for the project.

Steve Roush: [00:00:35] I’d always had an interest in safety. I’m not sure exactly where that comes from. I did lose a close friend just out of high school in a farm accident, and at times I think about that and I think sometimes that may have been part of why I decided to get into safety.

Vera Roush: [00:00:54] How did we get to Fargo?

Steve Roush: [00:00:57] Yeah, so I graduated from the University of Iowa and I took a trip to Florida to visit one of my sisters and met Vera. Her family had a high-end custom kitchen cabinet family business, and Vera was pretty much running the show.

Vera Roush: [00:01:30] I do remember meeting him immediately. I was always the greeter. I came out and met everybody and I was like, “Wow, this guy’s got some energy.” You know, he’s young obviously, and it’s like, I’ve never been that kind of person to kind of… “I think I’ll give him a call,” you know? And then we were married 12-27-87, so this December will be 35 years for us.

Steve Roush: [00:02:01] At times we have had to live apart with our work being in construction. You go to where the work is. So the careers evolved, and the economy in ’08 and ’09 found us on the road getting involved in this construction industry. We found a way for us to be together, but we both had a strong enough construction background to both be a part of the industry.

Vera Roush: [00:02:33] One project we thought we’d be apart for four months and it was three and a half years! Prior to working with Ames, he said, “Don’t take any more jobs, that was that,” and I interviewed with Ames and they hired me for a project in Old Monroe, Missouri, doing a bridge changeover.

Steve Roush: [00:03:02] This was a really great opportunity to get to be together and work together for the same company. We were actually working on separate projects, we were about three miles down the road from each other.

Vera Roush: [00:03:07] I think when you’re building, and every day you come to work, you kind of overlook the fact of what you’re making. Because I’m sure these guys are down there and wind is blowing at 17 miles an hour and it’s cold, and I’m sure they’re not thinking, “Wow, look at what I’m making.” I think they’re thinking, “I gotta get this done because we gotta finish this and these parts need to come in…” to make it all pull together. But I hope they appreciate what they’re building here because they’re the ones really making it happen down there.

Steve Roush: [00:03:54] I know we’ve heard quite a few people speak about it that have been here for many, many years, and just the sandbagging and the work that folks have to do just to survive that moment is a testament to their will. But if we can stop that from happening again, that’ll be great. And those generations to come will not have to endure that, which is really special.