Leading UCI
with over 100 years of Telecommunications Experience.
Our management team is among the best in the United States.
Many members of our team have worked together for over fifteen
years. We have a highly-experienced, motivated, and dedicated
management team working to serve you.
Charles S Houser, Chairman (20+ yrs)
Shaler P Houser, Chief Executive Officer (15+
yrs)
Joe Walker, President and Chief Operating Officer
(15+ yrs)
Jack Lovgren, Vice President of Support and
Engineering(20+ yrs)
Kevin Harper, Vice President
of Field Operations (15+ yrs)
Nina Tilley, Vice President of Finance (10+
yrs)
Charles S Houser, Chairman
Mr. Houser has 20 years of telecommunications experience
as an investor, chairman, chief executive officer, chief operating
officer, and senior vice president of seven telecommunications
companies. Mr. Houser is Chairman of Seruus Ventures, LLC
and a member of Seruus Capital Partners, LLC, the general
partner of Seruus Telecom Fund, L.P. He serves on the board
of NuVox Communications, Inc. In addition, Mr. Houser is a
director of Teleco, Inc., a telecom services and interconnect
company. Mr. Houser has been chairman of the Telecommunications
Resellers Association (TRA), which is the largest telecommunications
association in the United States. He has served on the board
of directors of LDDS Communications, Inc. (now MCI WorldCom),
Tel/Man, Inc., SoutherNet, Inc., Advantage Companies, and
CTG, all long distance telecommunications companies. Mr. Houser
was co-recipient of the South Carolina Technology of the Year
award by Inc. Magazine and Ernst and Young, LLP.
Mr. Houser holds a B.S. in Business from the University of
Southern Mississippi.
Shaler P Houser, CEO
Mr. Houser has over 15 years of telecommunications experience
as a chief executive officer and senior officer of, as well
as an investor in, various organizations. Mr. Houser was the
founder, chief executive officer, and senior vice president
of TriVergent Communications (now NuVox Communications, Inc.),
an Integrated Communications Provider (ICP) serving 30 markets
in the United States. At TriVergent, Mr. Houser spearheaded
the company’s growth from formation to over $20 million in
annualized revenues and 250 employees in only 18 months. Additionally,
he helped search out, negotiate, and close on over $135 million
in equity capital and $120 million in senior secured credit.
Mr. Houser helped lead the company from initial development
to the filing for the company’s Initial Public Offering (IPO)
and eventual merger with Gabriel Communications to form NuVox
Communications, one of the United States' leading privately-held
communications companies.
Prior to NuVox Communications, Mr. Houser co-founded Seruus
Ventures, LLC, a venture capital company specializing in the
telecommunications market. Seruus Ventures, one of the original
venture capital "incubators," provided seed capital
for iBasis (NASDAQ: IBAS), NewSouth Communications, and NuVox
Communications, among others.
Prior to co-founding Seruus Ventures, Mr. Houser served in
various management roles with Corporate Telemanagement Group
(CTG) and LCI International (now Qwest Communications).
Mr. Houser serves as the Managing Partner of Magnolia Partners,
LLC, a privately- held investment company focusing on early-stage
technology investments such as Sandcherry Networks, 10Best,
NewSouth Communications, and Media1st. Mr. Houser also serves
on the Advisory Board of First Base Ventures, a business-to-business
incubator, and as General Partner of Seruus Telecom Fund,
L.P.
Mr. Houser received a B.A. from the Citadel in 1991.
Joe Walker, COO
Mr. Walker has 15+ years of operational, engineering and
sales experience in the telecommunications industry. Prior
to UCI Communications, Mr. Walker held various positions with
ST & T, UniversalCom, and NewSouth Communications, proving
himself a leader in each post.
Mr. Walker’s career began in 1993 with ST & T. He joined
the S T & T team as a Technician Specialist in the Mobile,
Alabama office before being promoted to Manager of Operations
and Sales over that same branch. ST&T was acquired by
UniversalCom in 1998.
After UniversalCom’s October 2000 merger with NewSouth Communications,
Mr. Walker was promoted to Regional Director of Systems Operations.
His responsibilities were to oversee the day-to-day operations
of six branch locations in the systems division, which included
working as a liaison between the operations and sales side
of the business. In October of 2002, Mr. Walker was named
Director of Systems Sales for NewSouth Communications. His
expansive sales and hands-on operations experience allowed
him to offer an invaluable perspective to the era of the telecommunications
business at NewSouth. His proven track record of bringing
a high level of service—whether it be to the small entrepreneurial
company or to the major corporation—was very useful in driving
the financial profit of the business. The philosophy that
Mr. Walker has brought to each of these companies has been
instrumental in bringing tremendous financial results in each
division he has managed.
When NewSouth sold its Systems Division to UCI Communications
in February of 2002, Mr. Walker was asked to spearhead UCI’s
Systems Sales Division. He possesses the expertise and experience
that uniquely qualify him to build—and lead—a successful sales
team for UCI Communications.
Jack Lovgren, VP of Support and Engineering
Mr. Lovgren has over 20 years of operations and sales experience
in the telecommunications industry.
Prior to joining UCI, Mr. Lovgren held various positions with
Sprint, BellSouth Long Distance, EGI (now Access Point), NuVox,
and Network Telephone Corporation. Mr. Lovgren began his career
with Sprint Communications in 1986 as a circuit design engineer
and later moved into sales as a National Account Manager with
Sprint's wholesale carrier services division. In this role,
he was responsible for the sales and management of Sprint's
largest carrier accounts, including BellSouth.
In 1996, he accepted the role of Senior Manager of Corporate
Communications with BellSouth Long Distance in Atlanta, GA,
a position he held until he co-founded EGI (now Access Point),
a local and long distance service provider, where he was Vice
President of Operations. In 1999 he accepted the role of Executive
Director of Sales Support for NuVox Communications, where
he was responsible for pre-sales technical support and post-sale
order coordination for all sales channels, a position he held
until 2002. From 2002 until accepting his new role at UCI,
Lovgren was the Director of Sales Operations for Network Telephone
Corporation, an integrated communications provider based in
Pensacola, Fl.
Mr. Lovgren received his BBA from the University of Georgia
in 1985.
Kevin Harper, VP of Field Operations
Mr. Harper began his career in communications in 1992 in
the cellular industry where he held various roles in management
until he moved to the CLEC side of the industry as it was
starting in 1998. Initially with a Pensacola based start up
(Network Telephone-now Cavalier) where he held various management
roles including regional vice president of the west region
(MS and LA) then he left there to join Xspedius Communication’s
(now Time-Warner) management team in 2001. There he was RVP
over the central region (MS, AL and LA.) While there he was
involved in and helped manage that company through several
merger/acquisitions allowing them to grow from a 5 state footprint
to 21 states.
He joined UCI communications in 2004 where he too has held
various management roles impacting sales and operations. He
currently is responsible for all of field operations as the
VP of Field Operations where his commitment is to manage processes
and personnel in a manner to deliver a superior level of service
that is unmatched by any of UCI’s competitors.
He graduated with a B.S. degree in Business Administration
from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1992.
Nina Tilley, VP of Finance
Ms. Tilley has over 20 years of experience in the world of
finance and has been with UCI Communications for more than
eleven years. Her responsibilities include managing the company's
accounting staff and monitoring key corporate performance
indicators. Ms. Tilley is also responsible for the day-to-day
financial operations of the organization, including cash management,
invoicing, collections, payroll, and payables.
Ms. Tilley spent the first half of her working life in banking,
where she held many positions, from Customer Service Representative
to Vice-President and Comptroller.
Ms. Tilley is involved in the community of Destin, Florida,
where she lives. She has one son who participates in several
sports, both in and out of the local school system.
Ms. Tilley holds a BS degree from Florida State University,
and BA and MBA degrees from the University of West Florida.
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