Martin Hoover
Founder Emeritus
Empire Heating & Air Conditioning
Martin Hoover is the president emeritus of Empire Heating & Air Conditioning (1985 to 2026), a business he co-founded in 1985 with his wife Gila Ragan Hoover in Decatur Georgia. The company specializes in heating and cooling sales, service, design and installation for residential and light commercial applications.
Co-creator of STEPS for Contractors and new venture starting in January 2027 to support and help develop start up and small contractors.
Over a career spanning more than 50 years, Martin’s work and pride in maintaining compliance with the industry’s latest regulations are evident in the numerous awards he has received. These include: several Lennox, Trane, American Standard, Amana and Daikin Dealer Awards; Contractors 2000 Performance Award; Conditioned Air Association of Georgia Contractor of the Year; and over a decade of consecutive Angie’s List “Super Service” Awards.
Martin has served in several industry leadership positions at the local and state levels in Georgia. He was the president of both the Metropolitan Atlanta Air Conditioning Contractors Association and the Conditioned Air Association of Georgia. He recently completed his term serving on the Board of Directors of ACCA (Air Conditioning Contractors of America and is the organization’s Government Relations Committee Co Chair.
Martin began his HVAC career while still in high school, attended Marietta Cobb Area Vocational Technical School and Georgia State University. In addition, he has: a Class II Boiler Service Certificate; a National Comfort Institute Certification for Performance Contracting; a National Comfort Institute Certification for Carbon Monoxide and Combustion Analysis; and holds licenses in the state of Georgia for Unrestricted Conditioned Air as well as Master Plumbing.