William “Bud” Oliver is getting ready to embark on a new adventure.

Oliver, who has led the YMCA of Southeast Texas at 6760 Ninth Ave. since June 2015, is heading to the YMCA of the Golden Crescent in Victoria, Texas, thus continuing his already 30-year career with the Y.

He entered that career while in Nebraska and likes to use the old “two truths and a lie” as an icebreaker, inviting the listener to guess which story is false. Sometimes he tells them he has a wife and two kids, which is true. Other times he tells them he has been with the Y for 35 years and people are amazed — this one’s a lie.

“And I tell them that I was in a maximum security prison for 18 months,” Oliver said from his nearly bare office earlier this week. “People think the prison story is the lie and it isn’t. I was an arts and recreation employee with the prison system in Lincoln, Nebraska.”

But this wasn’t here he was destined to stay. A friend told him about a job at a YMCA in town; he interviewed and got the job that week. Oliver stayed there for six years, then had the opportunity to start a Y from scratch. At that time, he said, if a community wanted a Y and could raise at least $250,000 they could get one — so he headed to Blaire, Nebraska.

“I did everything: answered phones, custodial,” he said. “We went from a zero budget to half a million dollar budget.”

But working such a busy job with two young children led to another change in location — this time to a Y in Williamson County, Texas in the Round Rock area. Later he went to Circleville, Ohio — “home of the pumpkin show” and pretty much everything pumpkin related.

“It was a community of about 17,000 and they would see 300,000 to 400,000 that week,” he said of the community’s festival.

He also spent some time in Hilliard, Ohio where he opened the Ray Patch YMCA there. And while he was interviewing for a different location he had one in the back of his mind — Orlando, Florida. He spent seven years at the Florida Y and saw first hand the ups and downs of politics.

There was a developer’s agreement saying the Y in that city would never expand again, which could have put a wrench in the any plans for future development.

His achievement there? He was able to get not one but two capital improvement projects completed.

“Winter Park City Council met on Thursdays at 3:30 p.m. and you’d get there a little early. Some days it wouldn’t get out until 10:30 or 11 p.m.,” he said. “The politics were contentious. It was very stressful but fun.”

To help dispel rumors and inform the residents, Oliver would go door to door and talk to them. That’s how the Y got the OK for a zero entrance splash pool and other projects.

And while in Florida he began looking for a new opportunity, this time in Waco. He didn’t land the Waco position but he did land the Port Arthur one.

 

Port Arthur

Bright colors work to catch the eye both outside and inside the Port Arthur site, where there are a variety of programs for folks of all ages in addition to programs off site. A lot has changed since Oliver took over as CEO.

First, the financial situation wasn’t ideal. The Y had had a contract with Texas Children’s Health Plan for $29,000 a month and when Texas Children’s canceled the contract the Y was left without that revenue. Nonetheless, it still had expenses. Tough decisions were made; some positions were cut and the financial belt tightened.

“There were times we weren’t sure if we could do payroll and thought ‘do we have to close the doors?’ And we had a loan and were paying $10,000 a month,” he said. “There was no trouble with any suppliers and we are able to scratch on by.”

With help from a financial institution, Oliver was able to get the loan refinanced, thus cutting the payment in half and avoiding a balloon payment so they were able to restructure and put money back into the Y.

“We were making progress. We spent 45 days to get back in the good graces with Texas Children’s, then Texas Children’s was hacked and then they had no money even though we had a contract,” he said.

Mark Porterie, who heads the YMCA board and is also superintendent for Port Arthur Independent School District, said he is grateful for the time Oliver served at the local Y.

“Bud came to us at a time when the YMCA was faced with some hard challenges and then on top of those challenges Hurricane Harvey hit our community drastically,” Porterie said. “Bud brought leadership and calmness to a horrible situation. He along with the YMCA staff took on the job of getting our YMCA back on track. These individuals, under the leadership of Mr. Oliver, cleaned the entire building, hung sheetrock, painted and much more.

“I truly believe that God was in the plan when Bud was sent to us. I cannot think of many people who would have taken on such an enormous challenge and stuck with it to the end.

 

Comeback

The recent story of the Port Arthur Y is very much a story of Oliver and his staff. As the financial situation slowly improved and things were looking up, along came Harvey. Hurricane and Tropical Storm Harvey hit in the fall of 2017 and Oliver said it was both a blessing and a curse. He arrived by boat to see the flooded facility and was soon at work.

“We were very, very lucky the gym didn’t get hit,” he said. “I put myself through school by building houses and thought, I cannot wait for contractors. It was me and volunteers.”

Within a week the Y was open and within a month had resumed normal hours. A golf tournament was held in October 2017, right after Harvey, and the board was iffy if they should go forth with it was scheduled. It brought in about $7,000. The second annual golf tournament was held in 2018, the venue moved and it made $73,000.

Fast forward to now. A lot of work has been done, enhancements made, programs added and some were resurrected.

“Currently, the YMCA is in a good place both as a facility and financially. The YMCA board congratulates Mr. Oliver on his upcoming assignment and wishes him and his wife all of the best,” Porterie said. “The board is currently assessing our options as we move forward in the future.

“We want to make sure that our next move is the right move for the YMCA and our community. We appreciate our members and want to increase the membership and provide services that will make the YMCA a fitness center for the entire family.”

 

Houston help

The YMCA of the U.S. wants to have strong Y’s and each site must have a CEO with an organizational leadership certification. With Oliver gone there will be a void so the local Y is in the process of working with a management agreement with Houston.

Houston will help with payroll and other tasks until a new leader is found.

Oliver sees a bright future for the Port Arthur branch.

“I think there’s a lot of opportunity here,” he said. “Membership is coming back, we are adding programs and with the help of Houston I feel, right now, you guys will be fine.”