Joann	Jeff	Dian
Sharon & Wes	Rebecca	Kelli & Nancy

William L. Houghton
Bill Houghton began his print career in 1987 when a small local business forms distributor was willing to hire him as an account executive without a college degree. He had been in Las Vegas for six months and hadn't yet found what he felt was employment worthy of a long term commitment.

Silver State Computer Forms hired him at an hourly wage of $5. He knew nothing about the industry, but thought the title 'account executive' sounded good. Looking much younger than his 21 years, he was referred to as the 'Doogie Howser' of the print trade in downtown Las Vegas' glitter gulch. Bill actually earned the first of his stripes by calling on each hotel/casino in downtown Las Vegas every Thursday morning for more than 4 years, without fail.

Beginning in 1988 he transitioned to a commission only sales representative and continued to learn the industry rapidly by selling business forms, printing, checks and computer forms. The 5 years Bill spent in this capacity taught him much about selling in a very competitive market and demonstrated the very human side of the buyer/seller relationship. This, more than anything, is what drives Bill. He enjoys the challenges of the industry but he thrives on the opportunity to work with people and accomplish the possible and the impossible for his clients. This is what he truly enjoys the most about his industry and his profession.

1992 found Bill and his former boss leaving Silver State Computer Forms and opening Horizon Business Systems in a 1400 sq. ft. office warehouse in the rather blush colored 'red' district of Las Vegas. His most vibrant memories of their auspicious opening were the non-functioning phones for three days and the raid on the 'adult' store across the alley way - all that same week.

Having a good name and reputation in Las Vegas carried a great deal of weight then as now and their client retention percentage followed their move to the new company and remained close to 100%. They completed their first full year with about $500,000 in business and one employee. That employee was receptionist, office manager, bookkeeper, filing clerk, janitor and a nursing mother all rolled into one amazing individual and Bill is proud to announce she was recently promoted to VP of Finance. She has been working shoulder to shoulder with Bill since the beginning and he gives her much of the credit for any successes the company has experienced.

On the other hand, business partners are at best, a mixed blessing. While realizing he needed the three years in partnership as a chance to view the business from a personal liability/asset perspective, he also realized his partner had a greater tolerance for risk. In 1995 Bill initiated, negotiated and completed a buyout of his partner's interest and client base with gross sales remaining around $600,000 yearly.

This was the same year his 7 year volunteer career as a member of the organizing committee for The Las Vegas Jaycee State Fair culminated with his run as Chairman of the project. With a budget of $750,000 and 73,000 attendees, his was a formidable task even without the additional personal challenge of the recent buyout of his business partner. It was during this same event that he met his bride to be, Jenifer Grace, who was completing her reign as the 1994 Jaycee State Fair Queen. They married the following spring and are now the joy filled parents of four amazing children, Rosie - age 7, Cooper - age 5 Peyton Grace born the summer of 2003 and Paige, born on her daddy's birthday, Jan 2005.

Through the mid 90s, the market began changing rapidly as the quality of laser printers improved and replaced the need for continuous forms printers. Horizon Business Systems' core competency - continuous forms, the largest product line in their company, started to decline rapidly in use worldwide. What used to be very large orders for invoices became blank paper orders - IF we were lucky.

An overall company transformation and direction was necessary for survival so Horizon Business Systems changed their byline from 'A Business Forms Company' to A Printed Products Company'. They educated themselves on and began offering more than two dozen new product lines during the mid to late 90s. Labels, promotional products, binders, tab sets, attire and executive gifts are examples of the additional product lines they became skilled at offering. The 90s represented an aggressive growth pattern; averaging 28% yearly and Bill credits their expansion into additional product lines as the primary cause.

It was during the late 90s when Bill determined 'services' was the direction to pursue if he wanted to retain a competitive advantage. Presenting clients with offerings such as the production and fulfillment of online product catalogs, external data processing services and warehousing seemed the logical choices to direct their efforts. These tools were a concrete demonstration to Horizon Business Systems' clients of the continuing desire and commitment to be a business solutions provider.

In 1995, Bill's commitment to the Jaycee organization and his efforts as the Las Vegas Jaycee State Fair Chairman earned him a lifetime membership in Junior Chamber International. He served on over half dozen different board positions in the local and state Jaycee organizations and had the opportunity to travel throughout the state and nation on their behalf throughout his Jaycee career.

He has held a position of responsibility in many different volunteer capacities over the years and credits his grandfather, Big Bill, who inspired him to always help others. Bill's grandfather, with whom he shared a birthday, brought Christmas to a few hundred children in their hometown, every year, for decades. Most years, Grandma and Grandpa were too tired to join them for Christmas after completing their work at The Kris Kringle project for the VFW Cottam Hafen post. But, Bill learned from his Grandfather that community participation and volunteerism is a wonderful way to reap the richness of life through sharing and giving.

While Bill derives a great deal of satisfaction through his work to improve the print industry and his community, he most enjoys his family time. He and his family travel often to nearby cities for 3 or 4 day retreats and have 'family day' almost every week. His other interests include reading (biographies are his favorite), traveling, hiking, camping and golf. He is a member of numerous organizations including the Young Entrepreneurs Organization, Junior Chamber International, Nevada JCI Senate, Greater Las Vegas Jaycees, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation - Nevada Chapter and the Las Vegas Senior Citizens Mobile Home Community Foundation.

Sharon Andersen
Vice President of Finance,

Sharon has been in the print industry since 1990 when she started as the Office Manager for Silver State Computer Forms. Sharon followed Bill when he opened Horizon Business Systems in 1992 and has been the backbone of his company. She brings extreme attention to detail within Horizon's data and systems integrity. Her former military background readied her to prepare and organize for the intense scrutiny of her systems and processes. That training has served her well through government, internal and external audits and we continue to flourish under her organization.
In her current role, she continues her commitment to excellence, ensuring the financial integrity of our company so we have access to any financial resources required to properly service the increasingly demanding needs of doing business competitively.

Michele Thelen - 18 years industry experience
Vice President of Operations

Michele spent 10 years as an independent industry consultant prior to coming on board with Horizon Business Systems early in 2005. Michele's eye for continued improvement and her intelligent perspective on business processes were only two of the many reasons she was chosen amongst many peers as Horizon Business Systems primary business consultant for 6 years prior to joining the HBS team full time.

Her experience in the printed products distribution industry stems back to 1987 with her family business in Chicago IL.

Michele's years of experience brings laser sharp focus on process improvement to Horizon Business Systems team. She is committed to continuously improving upon our capacities to design, value, produce and distribute the thousands of client projects that we produce for our clients annually.

Her friendly approachable demeanor makes her a friend to internal and external clients alike.

Kelli Vaz - 8 years industry experience
Client Service Manager

Kelli's career in the printed products history began when she was only 19 years old. She worked for a west coast envelopes wholesaler for 6 years prior to coming on board at Horizon Business Systems. Her ability to initiate, process, manage, prioritize and understand printed product projects indicated to her supervisors that she was prepared to manage the entire Client Services Dept. She assumed full title of Client Services Mgr at her two year anniversary in Aug 2005.

Her ability to appreciate our client's mission critical criteria in her intelligent management of their tasks is a tremendous solution to our clients. Melissa Bonner, Vendor Relationship Specialist for Business Bank of Nevada says what many other clients have indicated, "Kelli is awesome, I love working with her".

JoAnn Stafford - 7 years industry experience
Account Manager

JoAnn has such a friendly, sweet manner about her that it almost comes as a shock when clients truly appreciate how deeply intelligent and sincere she is about servicing client tasks. From tracking down very hard to find items to managing huge projects with dozens of orders, such as the renowned CineVegas Film Festival, where Horizon Business Systems supplies over $65,000 worth of branded merchandise, JoAnn is who comes to mind when we suggest that we deliver intelligent solutions. She brought five years prior experience to Horizon Business Systems when she started in the summer of 2003. She loves being part of the Horizon team and considers it the best job that she has ever had. Her clients are very glad to know this, because her approach to client service coupled with Horizon's robust tools and capacities makes JoAnn a huge solution to all her clients.

Wes Stubblefield - 7 years industry experience
Warehouse/Inventory Manager

Wes started as Horizon Business Systems delivery driver in 1998. After the difficult task of managing inventory in 6 different locations, he was relieved more than anyone when we moved into our current facility of almost 9,000 square feet. His rapport with our clients and their needs as they pertain to his area of product management, shipping, labeling, reporting, etc allows Horizon Business Systems to shine all the way through the conclusion of the projects that we manage. Wes's commitment to and support of the company he works for is inspirational and humbling. He is a bright easy-going guy with an eye out for client required detail and extraordinary service opportunities. Wes will always do everything necessary for our clients to feel well taken care of.

Client Service Staff

Our team of client service professionals process inbound quote s and orders, address client questions, artwork issues, special requests and any of the additional requirements faced daily in making our goal of , "ease of transaction" for the client, a reality.

We understand clients cannot be concerned with equipment failures, paper stock, shipping errors, electronic file difficulties or any of the dozens of challenges existing in our industry. Clients want their product when needed, and they want it accurate the first time. Our client service staff handles these issues and shields the client from dealing with any difficulties arising and they prevent those challenges from affecting the positive project outcome.

We answer every call into our office, during business hours, with a live person. The client service representative fielding the inbound call handles the project from start to finish, unless the client requests a specific person. All are well trained and experienced in the industry and they are friendly, responsive and ready to assist with all requests; large and small.

Horizon Business Systems - The People

Warehouse & Inventory Control

Our team of warehouse and inventory professionals can spend more time at their computers than moving freight. Every item, in every warehouse, either at our Las Vegas offices or out of state, is accounted for, sorted into specific holding areas and managed with the same level of integrity as the production process. Monthly spot inventory checks and quarterly complete physical inventory counts ensure every product, whether company owned or client owned, is ready and available to provide to the client in a timely manner.

Our 'external' commitment to clients of shipping out within 48 hours is actually second to our first, 'internal' goal of shipping within 24 hours on existing inventory items. Requests for proof of delivery, delivery status and inventory counts are processed within hours. Inventoried products whose count drops below par level cause an immediate alert to the inside client service staff and the client, either electronically or by telephone, however the client prefers.