2005 GS Leader of the Year Award

Memoir about Jim Houck

If you are old and crafty, and I claim to be both, you learn how to take advantage of other people to help your business grow. When this magazine (then named GSE Today) was founded in 1993 I found myself, the Editorial Director, high on the learning curve. How to get down quickly? Find folks who know it all and ask them to share. Who better than Jim Houck?

I do not remember when we first met, but from the early days I knew that Jim was an innovator, a leader and someone who was willing to share information that could improve the safety level and efficiency of all GSE operators. His smiling picture first appeared in the August 1994 issue of the magazine as the recipient of our Smart Fixer award. The article explained the system that Continental had developed for safely jump-starting vehicles. Helping others.

Jim is a very modest and self-effacing guy. Some others in the business were always anxious to tell us how smart they were. With Jim you had to listen to him tell you that it was a team effort and that credit is due elsewhere. I listened to that line when I toured one of his major accomplishments, the electrification of the ramp at Continental's hub at Houston's Bush Intercontinental. I heard the same line when he accepted the LEADER OF THE YEAR AWARD. Others might say those words, but Jim means them.

It has been a privilege and a pleasure to know Jim and to work with him over these years. I look forward to taking advantage of him for many more.

George Prill