Lyon doing his part to help Giltner grow

Ross Lyon chose Giltner as a place to move his family when he was working as a drug investigator with the Nebraska State Patrol in 2013, and 11 years later he is doing his part to help the community grow by building much-needed housing.
Lyon Pride Roofing, a company he founded while still working with the NSP, has expanded itself over that time span. He now has five full-time employees and seasonal part-time staffers helping simultaneously grow the company and his adopted hometown of Giltner.
“My daughters graduated from Centura and we just felt like we wanted something different for our boys to finish out their school years,” recalled Lyon, a native of Nebraska City who lived in the Grand Island area throughout his tenure with the State Patrol. “We started doing a lot of research and really liked what we found out about Giltner, so that’s why we moved here.”
Lyon retired from NSP seven years ago, ending a 28-year career in law enforcement. By that time his construction business was already up and running, which made his transition into a second career somewhat seamless.
“While I was working for the patrol I also started my business and built it at the same time, so there were a lot of years I worked two full-time jobs,” he explained. “When I retired I just really dove into my construction business. It originally started out as a roofing company, Lyon Pride Roofing, and it’s just grown to where we’re doing so much more now, including building houses.”
Lyon has built four houses over the years for his own family, including the place they now call home on Tonya Drive. He built two houses next door and had both sold before the basement walls were poured. His latest project involves two duplexes on nearby Commercial Avenue, which are scheduled for completion this spring or summer.
“I know that we have a lot of option-in kids and families to our school district and we just do not have enough housing,” said Lyon, who is in his second four-year term on the Giltner School Board and now serving as president. “I wanted to do my part and build some houses to get some of these younger families in here. The two families living next to us have been wonderful neighbors. They bought from me because they wanted to move to a small town and get into a small community as well.”
Lyon is excited about the duplex project his company is working on now, feeling like that will add additional inventory to the local housing inventory.
“I had this plan for putting in a couple nicer duplexes on Commercial,” he said. “We need housing for older folks if they want to get off the farm, so to speak, and move into town. These are three-bedroom duplexes with an open floor plan, double-car attached garage, and we are planning on providing everything for those as far as yard, snow, all that kind of stuff.”
Lyon plans to keep the duplexes as an investment, part of a separate LLC he named Lyon Pride Properties.
“I have some properties in Hall County as well,” he noted. “I’m hoping to finish up the duplexes in a couple of months and get them rented out. We see this as an opportunity and are just running with it, you know. I hope to get renters in and get them established, then I’m going to look for another couple of proprieties. There are some for sale around, but price has a lot to do with it, making things cashflow and what have you.”
Asked what his vision is for the housing phase of his business, he said “Right now it’s just one at a time.”
“Housing is such a big issue,” he continued. “When you have people that are constantly saying, ‘Hey, we have kids in your school and we would love to move to your community,’ that means something. I keep hearing that people are asking what’s going to happen about housing and I guess I just felt compelled to do something. You know, I knew I could make some money off it as well, but the greater good was how can we get these families here to help our community, help maintain it, and then help grow it.”
Lyon shared a personal example of learning how tight the local housing market is when his daughter, Cacia Barnes, told him that she had accepted a job with Giltner Public Schools.
“She said, ‘Hey Dad, I actually got a position to teach at Giltner and now I need a house.’ I told her there were only two houses for sale in town and one I wouldn’t live in, so it was very limited. I knew the people that own the other house, so that ended up working out.”
In closing, Lyon said he is excited for the future as he sees Hamilton County as a place where people want to be.
“There are a lot of good things going on here, you know,” he said. “The taxes are very reasonable, there are great services, great schools in Giltner, Hampton and Aurora, our law enforcement and rescue, it’s all top notch. I think that says a lot about Hamilton County people doing a whole lot with maybe not as much as far as resources and taxes. That appeals to me and I think that appeals to a lot of other people as well.”
Lyon and his wife, Cassondra who sells health products from home, have four children and five grandchildren.