Service Beyond the Ballot

Kyle Houston opened his Allstate agency, Houston Insurance Agency, in January 2017. Within two years it had grown to two Statesville locations and nine local employees, and it was voted the area's Finest Insurance Firm for 2018.

The agency gave back as it grew. In early 2018, after a 9-year-old Statesville girl was wounded in a random shooting, Houston Insurance Agency pledged a donation to her family for every insurance quote it wrote that spring. The agency also earned an Allstate Foundation Helping Hands grant for a local ministry, and Houston spoke to Career Management classes at Statesville High School about building a career.

His service ran deepest at the Greater Statesville Rotary Club, where he climbed the full officer ladder: Sergeant at Arms in 2017 to 2018, President-Elect in 2018 to 2019, president for the 2019 to 2020 year, then Past President, and the club recognized him as a Distinguished Rotarian along the way. Under his presidency the club founded its CATS Scholarship Program in 2019, awarding scholarships to five local students in its first spring. The club called him back as President-Elect for 2022 to 2023 before he stepped away from the leadership track in March 2023.

The service ran wider than one club. He held a seat on the board of the Greater Statesville Chamber of Commerce and a director's chair at the Iredell Concert Association, which under its Performing Arts Live of Iredell banner has brought national talent to local stages, from The Temptations to Billy Dean and the Hall Sisters. His agency sponsored an anti-bullying assembly at a Statesville elementary school.

Across the radio booth and the boardroom, the through line stayed the same: show up for the community, and put its people first.