Sensel Family Ventures was born from Karen Sensel’s decision to turn family inheritance into lasting community impact. Years after receiving the proceeds of her parents’ estate, Karen chose to deploy those resources not for comfort or consumption, but to build something that could live beyond her: a venture rooted in legacy, family, and the economic life of Dayton.

 

The values behind Sensel Family Ventures—solve real problems, invest in people, and leave things better than you found them—are the same ones that shaped Karen’s own journey.

 

In the late 1970s, while raising children and studying accounting part-time, Karen spotted a persistent problem: her husband’s growing business was getting its timesheets too late in the day to process payroll. Her solution was Early Express Mail Services, a one-woman morning pickup service that allowed her to deliver mail before heading to class.

 

It didn’t stay small. Customers kept asking for more—bank deposit runs, junk mail sorting, envelope stuffing, and eventually large-scale print and fulfillment. Karen’s company grew steadily into a professional service operation that still exists today, now in its third generation of family leadership.

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Karen wasn’t driven by ego or flash. She was perceptive, capable, and relentless about doing things well. As a business owner, board chair, and volunteer, she led with quiet conviction. When asked where her entrepreneurial instincts came from, she put it simply: "We’re just problem solvers."

 

Frank’s story is deeply intertwined with hers. A banker by training, he launched Crown Services of Dayton in 1971, a staffing company that provided workforce solutions to major employers across the region. With no prior sales experience, he enrolled in Dale Carnegie courses and hit the pavement. Frank grew the business with integrity and grit, eventually selling it to his leadership team and stepping into a new season of life—one focused on service, family, and investing in others.

 

Together, Karen and Frank built two enduring businesses—both family-involved, both mission-driven. But the heart of this venture is Karen’s choice: to take what they built, and what she inherited, and reinvest it—patiently, locally, and with intention.

 

Sensel Family Ventures carries forward her legacy by backing the kinds of entrepreneurs she once was: resourceful, grounded, and problem-solving.