Pi Kappa Alpha - University of Texas

The Beta Mu Review "Relationships and Hard Work are Keys to Success in Life" Alumni Spotlight on Steve Winter '82 S teve Winter '82 fondly recalls his Pike days at U.T. In responding to The Beta Mu Review's interview request, Steve reminisced on a flood of memories, including "Swamp, street parties, living at the house my senior year, pledgeship, being vice president of my pledge class, football games, parties with the AM/FM Band, Silver Spurs, Schlitterbahn trips, serving as rush captain, summer rush parties, and graduating!"   Steve came to know Pike through his older brother, Mark '78. The brothers grew up in north Dallas, attending W.T. White High School. Steve and Mark were both known as leaders and athletes during their Pike days. Steve's pledge brother, Steve Glasgow '82, who today is an Austin developer and Beta Mu Alumni Advisory Board member, recalls Steve's drive on the basketball court and their service as Silver Spurs. "During our days in the fraternity, on campus and today, Steve was a popular leader and someone you wanted alongside you, be it for a difficult class or as a wingman for a football weekend, or today as a partner on the golf course."      Steve notes many of his pledge brothers remain close and gather every other year, most recently at Glasgow's Fredericksburg-area ranch. "It is a fun, diverse group.  Tom Breedlove '82, Chris Bull '82, Steve Glasgow '82, Alex Glasscock '82, Adam Guttmann '82, Jeff Kocurek '82, Bill Lakenmacher '82, Bruce McDonald '82, Keith Novy '82 and Jimmy Walsdorf '82 have all remained close," Steve recalled. "The group includes several attorneys, a physician, a dentist, business owners—we were all similarly motivated for balanced lives of fun and hard work hopefully leading to success." Steve's big brother was Scott  Parkinson '80  and little brother was Brant Bousquet '84.   His early career included being a manufacturing representative and property manager. Later, while he earned his MBA from the University of Houston, he was the regional sales manager for  a The Winter family enjoyed the August 2012 Pike Houston alumni event featuring BEVO XIV at the home of John Wallace '78. corporate image company working with Fortune 500 companies. This experience taught him consultative selling, which led to the founding of ERGOS Technology, an IT outsourcing/consulting firm he started in May of 1997 with a partner. In 2003, Steve bought out his partner and reset the direction of the company from an IT staffing company to an outsourced IT consulting  company. Under Steve's leadership, ERGOS grew to 100 employees and $12 million in revenue. Steve sold the company in June 2010 and left the company in April 2013. "Since exiting ERGOS, I am having fun, enjoying my hobby which is the purchasing, remodeling and selling or leasing of high-end homes and commercial properties in a great Houston real estate market." Steve's reflections on his fraternity experiences are good advice for today's Pikes. Steve says, "Relationships are key to success in life. The fraternity, much like your church and networking groups later in life, become your community. It makes the world feel smaller with a sense of community. The other thing I have learned is that if you work hard early, life is easy. If you take it easy early in life, life becomes much harder." "Relationships are key to success in life. The fraternity, much like your church and networking groups later in life, become your community. Steve Winter '82 and David Zdunkewicz '81 reconnecting at the October 2013 Houston-area Pike alumni reception at The Palm. Steve supports Beta Mu's alumni activities and says, "The fraternity has continued to sustain itself with strong brotherhood, structure and sense of community for the many men who have followed us and will follow today's Pikes in the days ahead."  You can contact Steve at stevewinter1@me.com and Mark Winter '78 at markwinter22@gmail.com. 2 www.texaspikes.com

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