The Clear Take on Water and Wastewater Today

Employees in Virginia, Minnesota take teamwork to another level

Virginia water towerVirginia, Minnesota, is known as the “Queen City of the North.” A group of PeopleService employees based out of Virginia deserve the royal treatment for the work they’ve done over the past year, said Northern Minnesota Regional Manager, Paul Christensen.

Virginia employees Carol Ross, David Huppler, Michael Reinsch and Paul Moe have all chipped in to make sure projects continue to run smoothly and on time in nearby Keewatin, Minnesota, after that location’s one full-time employee left the company a year ago, followed by its lone part-time employee six months later. “It’s been a great example of teamwork,” Christensen said. “I’m very proud of them.”

Ross has stepped in to manage daily operations for the Keewatin hub of projects. Moe has ensured that Keewatin’s required monthly discharge monitoring reports are filed with the state. Huppler assisted with maintenance and repairs at the Keewatin plant. Reinsch has helped out – no questions asked – whenever necessary. They’ve taken on these “other duties as assigned” while never missing a beat with their jobs in Virginia.

“They’ve all worked together to get all the work done. No one let projects suffer because they were helping with another project,” said Christensen, who also gave a shout-out to PeopleService employee Jim Thuringer in Duluth, who helps backfill in Virginia whenever necessary.

The positions in Keewatin won’t be filled because the plant is being decommissioned in May, meaning the Virginia crew (and Thuringer) will shoulder the extra work through the spring months. “But they won’t complain,” Christensen said. “To them they’re just getting through another day. They don’t see it as significant, but I sure do.”