"When you go into these places. I often ask myself 'how do you find these people who can manage all of these things at once and then still make everything happen?"
Yet, Houser has done the very thing that fascinates him for over 40 years!
At Dayton.com, we were astounded when we learned that Houser's solo-run company was cited as one of the most "generous companies" in the area which has produced some of the highest grossing fundraising events in the area, according to the Dayton Business Journal.
This info, coupled with his delightful pride in Dayton, Ohio make him the perfect Daytoninan of the Week:
What do you do in Dayton?
Houser: About 50 percent of what I do in Dayton is non-for-profit related, and the other 50 percent is essentially things that I enjoy doing, like getting out in Dayton and socializing with people. I am in the office at 5 in the morning every morning. I stay in the office until around 10 at night. I am there from Monday through Friday. When I get off, the evening becomes a charity or non-for-profit event until around 11 and then back in the office at 5 in the morning. It's a very exciting day.
My most fulfilling part of the weekday is ensuring that the business is running smoothly. This has become the routine for me.
I am the operations manager so that's a function of scheduling all of my crews. That's between 15 and 20 crews out there each day. So, each morning I schedule all of these crews. I dispatch them to locations, once everyone is out, the rest of the day is about printing out flyers and monitoring the job sites and managing the overall operation.
While I have people helping me, it all comes back to my lap so it is a constant flow of responsibility.
My favorite thing about the job is when the sun goes down and the day has gone smoothly, and I am not rescheduling a bunch of different things. also like that my job gets you into the employees and the customers. I have employees that have stuck buy me and been with the company for 20 and 30 years. It's nice to have all that comfort because they know their jobs.
How did you get started?
Houser: When I went to UC I met a guy whose father owns Clark Oil Company. I had Thanksgiving dinner with them and he asked me what I was doing when I graduate, and I said 'I have no clue.' He asked me 'how would you like to go to work for me?' I asked him what he did for a living. He said 'why don't you give me your Christmas break, work for me and if it works out then I will hire you forever. That Christmas break I worked for him for three weeks and loved it and it worked out beautifully.
Label yourself:
Houser: I'm energetic and enthusiastic. I love Dayton Ohio—the center of the universe—I just love this place. I try to help everyone make Dayton what it is.
What do you love about life in Dayton?
Houser: If you tell me that there isn't any night that you don't know what to do, you just don't read the paper or get on the Internet. There is just so much going on, that sometimes the hard part is in picking which thing to do, because there are so many options—whether it's music, or the arts, theater or anything, there are just things to do nonstop. Some people just don't know that.
Where do you go for a good time?
Houser: When I eat out, it's almost always in the Oregon District. Every place is a good place to eat and drink and have a good time. Downtown has become so vital.
What would you change?
Houser: I think that with our current Mayor, everything is going so well and in the right direction. I really do feel like she is a large reason why Dayton is the way it is, along with a lot of other collaborative people. The direction of Dayton is exactly where it needs to be headed. I think it is wonderful. The change is already happening as you can see in the housing and in neighborhoods.
What should people know?
Houser: It's interesting. I met a person who transferred here to a major corporation here. They are in their 60's. I asked them where they chose to move. They told me that it is either going to be downtown Dayton, or the Greene. I said 'really,' my wife and I like to eat drink party and carry on and I really did not expect that answer at all. They chose to live downtown and I was very impressed by that because they lived all over the place—all over the world actually and they chose downtown so I thought that was really nice.
About the Author