Ozarks Profile: Jeff Moseley

What is your job?

Jeff Moseley is president of Moseley's Discount Office Products, located at 431 South St. in Springfield.

Please tell us about your business.

Moseley said that his company provides office supplies, office furnishings, and computer and copier supplies to businesses throughout southwest Missouri. "The company was founded in 1941 by my grandfather, Harold Moseley, and the reins were passed to my father, Jim," he said. "Now we're in our third generation. We're a true family business, as my dad and mother, Joanie, still come to the office daily, and my brother Curt is also in the business. Sadly, this is a rare find any more, in the age of chain stores. I have fond memories of the local grocery stores and hardware stores that prospered here when I was a kid."

What prepared you for work in the office supply business?

Moseley said he started in the business at the age of 12, sweeping, dusting, and checking-in merchandise. "I still remember truckloads of used metal office desks that had to be cleaned and unloaded. These were the type that the phone company used back in those days, green or gray and built to last forever."

As an independent businessperson, how do you successfully compete with the large discount houses?

"We succeed by providing real customer service along with excellent pricing on every office product item a business uses," Moseley said. "Our purchasing power is huge thanks to our membership in the world's largest office product dealer-buying- group. That's the National Purchasing Association. With our buying power being equal, we can attack the chain stores' weakest area personal customer service. At Moseley's we know each customer by name and their interests.

What's the best part of your job?

"Meeting and dealing with people," said Moseley. He added that he still spends most of his time in the field calling on customers and "prospecting for new ones."

Can you tell us something about your personal life and family?

Moseley's wife, Donna, is a buyer for Bass Pro Shops. "Our daughter Jacki, 17, is in high school; my stepson Brian is 16 and in high school; and my stepson Jason is 18 and off to college this fall," he said.

Moseley added, "As a recent heart attack survivor, I received a second chance at life and a realization that we are living too fast-paced lives and need to slow down and appreciate the things in life that really matter."

How do you like to spend your leisure time?

"I spend most of my free time fishing various bass tournaments in Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma," Moseley said. "I'm golfing when not on the lake."