Company Name: Van Horn, Hoover & Associates, Inc.
Employee Name and Role: Dan Stone, Owner and President
By Sarah Mayle
How long have you worked here, what do you do, and what do you enjoy about working here?
In his role as a civil engineer and surveyor with Van Horn, Hoover & Associates, Dan Stone has had the opportunity to complete hundreds of projects – commercial buildings, medical campuses, neighborhoods, playgrounds, even park shelters and walking paths – that have shaped the Findlay landscape as we know it today. It’s an impactful legacy created over 27 years that is not lost on him – each holds its own story, and he’s grateful for each one.
Dan Stone, owner and president of Van Horn, Hoover & Associates.
“Every little kid has a dream of what they want to do – once you get past the ideas of the multi-millionaire who doesn’t have to do anything and the professional football player – you have to come to a reality,” Stone said. “You have to figure out what you really want to do and I’m grateful I found it. One of the most fulfilling things for me is to drive around with our co-ops and be able to say, ‘I did that, or ‘I played a part in that.’ There are fulfilling things that happen every day and I truly still enjoy coming to work. I enjoy my job.”
Stone, who moved up the ranks and is now owner and president of Van Horn, Hoover & Associates, left his first job in Columbus to start in 1998 as a surveyor and civil engineer for the company. He is originally from Northwood, Ohio and attributes his interest in the field to hours spent working with his dad, who was a professional surveyor. He attended Ohio Northern University yet fondly remembers a co-op during high school that, following the engineering side of things, led him into a role where he got to direct his father and his crew for a project.
“My dad was actually somewhat working for me, so this was a whole different capacity than me working for him,” Stone said, chuckling. “His crew guys did not let him live that down. It was a really interesting project to say the least.”
On any given day, Stone could be surveying a property, presenting a project on behalf of a company to City of Findlay Planning Commission, drawing up drainage plans, coordinating stakeholders who need to align before taking the next step in a project, giving a seminar, calculating financing, or designing a building. He loves the variety in his work.
“No two projects are the same, each has its own unique characteristics, things you need to work on and think outside of the box to figure out,” Stone said. “Being an engineer and a surveyor, you see the whole project through, from the initial conception to the final product. And then when it’s finished, it’s satisfying – you can drive by and say, ‘That looks pretty good.’ It’s very fulfilling.”
What is your founding story?
VHHA was founded by Larry Hoover and Ed Van Horn in 1986. The company started out primarily doing surveying work, but in time began to offer engineering capabilities. In 1992, Paul Schmelzer, a friend of Stone’s from college, became a civil engineer at the company.
Schmelzer worked his way into a partner role, dividing ownership with Van Horn and Hoover, and in 1998 offered Stone a position as engineer and surveyor. Through retirements and the other owners taking on different roles, Stone became part owner, then sole owner in 2016.
“It was a pleasure working with those guys and I think we really built something special,” Stone said. “And it means a lot to me – when I came to Van Horn and Hoover as a young engineer, it was in part because I wanted to own my own company, and I thought there might be a path here. We worked hard to get the company where it is today and I’m grateful to be able to continue that.”
What is produced / created / services offered by the company?
Van Horn, Hoover & Associates’ services can be broken into four categories: Engineering, surveying, land use planning and professional services. Their staff of 12 can work with any client on any type of project.
“We don’t restrict ourselves in size of project or geography,” Stone said. “We’ll work with an individual homeowner, or help someone with a parking lot, or a fence, all the way to a commercial property on 500 acres. We have completed numerous very large corporate projects, worked with companies overseas – big or small, we take it all.”
Stone is licensed as a professional engineer in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina and South Carolina, and as a professional surveyor in Ohio and North Carolina. Most of the company’s projects are in Ohio, but they’re happy to work with clients anywhere.
Van Horn, Hoover and Associates surveyed and designed Somerset Park residential community.
VHHA can do anything and everything that would fall under “general land surveying,” whether it’s an industrial, residential or commercial project and then take it through to design on the engineering side.
“It all starts out with laying everything out on the property – the size of the building, the number of parking spaces, where your sidewalks and everything will go,” Stone said. “Once you get that two-dimensional picture from the sky, that’s when you get into the engineering aspect, for example following drainage regulations and sometimes designing ponds. In the process, we’re working with the client, architects, the developer, community officials – people in planning, zoning, engineering – we’re working with them all through the whole project.”
Once the final product is complete, it is submitted for review and approval.
“Understanding the rules and regulations of a project prior to doing any real work is critical,” Stone said. “We do a lot of pre-planning with clients – you definitely need to understand and adhere to the city, county, state and Federal regulations on anything that you do. But once it’s approved, the developer can take the project to contractors where they start building the building, putting in the drainage, sidewalks, trees, scoping out the parking lot and getting everything to the proper elevations.”
The office also does a lot of flood work, Stone said, surveying and gathering information for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to remove homeowners from the need to obtain flood insurance.
VHHA surveyed and designed the Lakeview Park residential development in Findlay.
What makes you stand out?
VHHA has completed hundreds of projects in the Findlay area that have shaped the community, accomplishing client goals through excellence in planning, taking the time to thoroughly listen, and with an emphasis on collaboration. They also offer a personal touch that many larger companies cannot match, with Stone himself always available to touch base with clients.
“I still interact with all of the clients,” Stone said. “They know they can call me and I’m there for them.”
A handful of VHHA’s highlighted projects include the Lakeview Park, Somerset and Hunter’s Creek residential developments; the Orthopaedic Institute of Ohio and NWO Orthopedics & Sports Medicine main campuses; and McLane Company, Inc. and Home Depot Distribution Center’s buildings and sites. The company collaborated with others to complete the track at Findlay High School; Fort Findlay Playground at Emory Adams Park; Brugeman Lodge and other shelters at Riverbend Recreational Area, as well as trails and the K-9 Field of Dreams Dog Park; Miracle Park ball diamond and all-inclusive playground at the Flag City Sports Complex; and the 22-mile Heritage Trail, which runs through Hancock County.
“We work with our clients so they can achieve what they want to do,” Stone said. “Not only that, but when we say something is going to get done, we do it, and we do it right the first time.”
While hesitant to talk about it, Stone makes it a priority to support the local community, often donating services to local non-profits. VHHA has supported Habitat for Humanity for about 10 years, with Stone currently serving on its board of directors. The company works with churches and schools, and Stone serves on the Van Buren School District and Findlay Country Club facilities committees.
“You see these homes at the start for Habitat and then it’s so nice, when they’re completed, to see the people who need them move in,” Stone said. “I think it’s important to support your local community, so it’s just something we do.”
A rendering of the McLane Company, Inc. site, a project by VHHA.
What has been your involvement with the ED office?
Van Horn, Hoover & Associates has been a member of the Findlay-Hancock County Economic Development Council since 2007. It’s a membership that makes sense, Stone said, because, simply put, he wants to see the community continue to grow and thrive.
“I want to make sure Hancock County continues to move forward, so if I can help anyone understand codes or the restrictions on a property, or as a member learn more about what’s coming in, it’s a great place to be,” Stone said. “It’s all related – we want to be able to continue attracting large companies that bring in a large tax base and people. That domino effect trickles down to help the smaller companies thrive and have the chance to expand, supports the schools, and brings in more people and residential development.
“When the core development around the community is thriving, it helps everybody.”
If there were one take-away you would want people to have about your company, what would it be?
“We are local. We want to stay local, and we want to see the local community thrive. Whatever we can do to assist, whether it’s completing your project, supporting economic development or supporting the community, that’s my primary objective.”
To Learn More
VHHA’s plans for the Orthopaedic Institute of Ohio.
