Greg Houtteman

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During my thirty plus year career I've had the good fortune to work in a variety of technology-related fields.  I started my career at the tender age of fifteen working as the after-hours computer operator for Parda Federal Credit Union which serviced all Warner-Lambert employees.  While there I did everything from backups, system updates, ran all of the financial reports, and produced monthly statements.  Yep, my parents had to drive me back and forth to the Parke-Davis complex in downtown Detroit until I got my driver’s license.  These were the days of room-filling computers with refrigerator-sized hard drives that were 1/1000th the capacity of the card you put in your camera today.

This early opportunity reinforced a passion for computers and technology that was fostered in 8th grade when I entered an experimental computer programming curriculum and has lasted my entire life.  I pursued a Computer Science degree at Eastern Michigan University (EMU); to help pay for school I enlisted in the US Army (70th Training Division, Army Reserves) after winning an Army merit scholarship which allowed me to serve and attend University simultaneously.

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Tom Greenberg

Tom GreenbergMy sister says I was born with the "boat gene", and I have definitely tried to spend my life on or near the water.  At age 5, I went on my first fishing trip; nailing monster perch (at least to me…they were probably really 6” long) on Hubbard Lake, near Alpena.  By age 9, I was a veteran of many fishing trips to Ontario.  Growing up on an inland lake near Detroit, I used to beg to drive the family boat alone.  Before agreeing, my dad made me swim across the entire width of our lake (about 1/2 mile) to prove that I could make it to shore in case of an accident.  Passing the test, I was driving the boat solo at age 12.

After college in Ann Arbor, I spent 8 years working in retail as a salesman and a store manager for consumer electronics giant, Tech HiFi.  I managed 5 different stores during my Tech HiFi years, and gained a lot of experience dealing with the public. Tiring of the retail grind, I moved into the professional audio market and spent 12 years as General Manager of Hy James, a dealer of broadcast and recording equipment.  During this period, I moved back to the same house on the lake where I grew up (and immediately acquired a bunch of boats), and lived there for the next 25 years.

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