BOWLING GREEN, Mo. — North East Community Action Corporation (NECAC) President and Chief Executive Officer Don Patrick has announced the hiring of Howard Sommer of Louisiana as construction supervisor for the NECAC Self-Help Housing Home Rehabilitation program.

Sommer is a 1968 graduate of Francis Howell High School in Weldon Spring and earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1972 from College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout. He has more than 50 years of experience in the building trades, lumber sales and estimating.

Sommer will work with income-qualifying people to provide one-on-one instruction on the skills they need to do renovation work at their homes. Supplies are purchased by the program, but labor is contributed by families or individuals. The program covers Lincoln, Marion, Montgomery, Pike, Ralls, Shelby and Warren counties.

“I can help people,” Sommer said. “I have a lot of knowledge, and I can transfer it to the program participants.”