Celebrating his first year at Noble REMC this month, System Engineer Everett Stangland has already found his footing in the variety that the job brings.
It’s his job to help maintain the reliability of our electric distribution. Stangland creates long-term strategies by analyzing data and also visits job sites to improve our equipment.
A native of Wolf Lake, let’s learn more about Stangland:
HOW DID YOU GET INTO THIS LINE OF WORK? WHAT MOTIVATED YOU TO WORK HERE SPECIFICALLY?
I graduated college with my bachelor’s degree. After that, I started grad school, still trying to figure out what career field I wanted to go into with electrical engineering. Then, I saw this position. I came in and talked with Doug (Dickmeyer). He described what it would be like, and, to me, it was kind of a new field. I never had any experience with it, so it’s an educational opportunity to learn about the electric industry.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE PART OF YOUR JOB?
It’s got a lot of variety. I can come in on any day and think I’m going to work on one thing, then be faced with a different situation. There’s a lot of long-term projects that you pick up and put down throughout the months. If you need a change of pace and it’s a nice day outside, you can go work out on the system.
HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN WHAT YOU DO FOR THE CO-OP?
In the simplest terms, it’s seeing what needs improved on with the system and looking through data and putting together a list of where we need to upgrade to maintain system reliability. For example, places where there are a lot of outages. Also upgrading our equipment due to evolving technology. There’s new stuff out on the market that’s better than 20 years ago.
WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO WITH YOUR SPARE TIME?
I play a lot of disc golf. It keeps me active. I like hanging out with friends and family. Other than that, I enjoy being outside if it’s a nice day.
WHERE DO YOU PLAY DISC GOLF?
Hidden Diamonds is the closest place. I probably play there the most, but there are a bunch of courses in Fort Wayne. There’s actually a club there I’m part of. They have a quite a few courses there, and they’re pretty good for the area.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND AND FAMILY.
I grew up in Wolf Lake. My family’s lived here for as long as I can remember. I’ve stayed in this area my whole life. I’ve got three siblings, one older brother and two older sisters. I’m the youngest.
WHAT MOVIE HAVE YOU WATCHED THE MOST?
I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite movie, but probably the movie “Heavyweights.” We had a VHS tape at my grandma’s house, so we would watch that very frequently when we were kids. I still watch it occasionally when I get in the mood for a laugh.
IF YOU COULD ONLY LISTEN TO ONE SONG ON REPEAT FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
This is going to take a second to think about because there are songs that are good like short-term but like for the rest of my life, I don’t know. This is a hard one to answer.
I’ve got an artist. I used to listen to him all the time. Zac Brown. He’s kind of the bridge between the old classic country and the early 2000s country.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LOCAL RESTAURANT?
I like going to Coney Island. You can’t mess up with coney dogs. I like everything on it.
