TEAM MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
Dan Hanson wears many hats in the Energy Division of Mid-County Coop
By Mashell Bjorge
Correspondant
Dan Hanson has always had a customer service orientation . Growing up in Glencoe , he was a hard-working , ambitious kid who preferred to be out in the community . He graduated from Glencoe-Silver Lake High School and , right out of high school , started working at a local beer distribution company . He started out as a helper , he said and worked his way up to become a sales team supervisor .
Dan married a girl from Glencoe and chose to stay in his hometown , raising a son , a junior at the high school , and a daughter , a freshman at MSU . After twenty-five years , he left the distribution company to take on a new role with Mid-County Coop . When asked how he made such a decision to take on new challenges after so many years in the same place , he said it was just time . “ The company started out as a small , familyowned company when I first started there . A couple years ago , they sold out to a much larger company . I was just looking for that smaller , family-owned sort of feel again , and I landed here .”
He was ready for new challenges , and stepping into his role with Mid-County has been both challenging and rewarding .
It was a big change for Dan , but he says it ’ s going really well . He spends his days working with people in the community and has always been able to find a good rapport with people . “ It ’ s basically , customer service , talking with current customers about their energy needs , and talking with new customers who are building houses and working through their residential energy needs . Or talking with businesses or farmers . I ’ m usually their first point of contact .”
Being part of the sales and service team feels familiar to Dan , and his abilities , solid people skills , and sales experience were things that make him feel that it ’ s a good fit . “ I think we have a solid base of customer service experience here at the co-op ,” Dan said . “ That ’ s important . There ’ s plenty of competition out there , and you have to stay on top of things . You build relationships with co-op members , and they know that they can trust that you will provide the service you say you ’ ll provide .”
Dan said he ’ ll spend time going out in the community , talking with people building homes who may not have even thought about their energy needs . Especially in rural areas , where propane is such a significant part of the energy source . This summer has been busy for Dan because , on his regular drives throughout the countryside , he ’ s seen a lot of new construction in the area . He enjoys talking with new homebuilders , and sometimes it ’ s a bit of a reality check for families leaving metro or urban areas to go to live in the country . “ People are used to having natural gas readily available through their city services , but being in the country without those service lines is different . We talk about what the costs are , what equipment is needed , what is the responsibility of the co-op and what is the responsibility of the homeowner . It ’ s about customer service , customer retention , new customer acquisition - and a lot of education .”
If a new customer calls , Dan will talk with them and figure out their energy needs and the best way to assist with those needs . For homeowners , many appliances use propane energy , such as furnaces , water heaters , generators , or extra heat sources in the garage or shop . People need to determine what sources they want to use . Dan can help them decide what is most efficient for them and talk through the costs associated with renting or purchasing equipment .
This fall , Dan spends much of his time working with farmers about setting up dryers for their grain bins . “ I spent all day today basically installing tanks at farms to run their grain dryers . A lot of them have somewhat permanent tanks , but some have temporary tanks . We get it all set up for them , and when harvest is over , we pick the tanks back up .”
The job gives Dan the opportunity to work with many others across the co-op . He really appreciates how much the co-op offers to the community and how many services are provided to their members . He wears many hats for Mid-County Coop ’ s Energy division and enjoys them all . You can reach Dan by phone at ( 952 ) 466-3720 or via the website at https :// midcountycoop . com / energy /.
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