Brandon Huston

No one thinks about where all of their dirty water goes until there is a problem. Citizens just want used water to go away. At the Albert Lea Wastewater Treatment Plant, five Riverland Alumni are working to make sure we don't have to worry about polluting the environment. On a recent tour, Superintendent Brandon Huston shared that more than half of their employees attended Riverland.

Fellow alumni Dustin White, Parker Hanna, Travis Rauenhorst, and Matt Larson joined Brandon to reflect back on how Riverland helped prepare them for their roles at the Albert Lea Wastewater Treatment Plant. 

"Matt and I have more than 50 combined years of working for the City of Albert Lea.  I started here in a summer internship in 1998.  I graduated from Riverland in 1999 from the Environmental Technician program and went to work at the Albert Lea Wastewater Treatment Plant full-time.  Riverland really helped build my confidence.  I had a skill, and I felt like I was prepared to work in any lab environment,” according to Brandon.

“I went to Riverland after I left the military,” Matthew Larson shared.  “I was married and had a child. I wasn't thinking about the Environmental Technician program, but I loved it. I did an internship at the Owatonna Waste Treatment facility-it gave me a great jump-start for my career. I have been here almost 25 years."

Dustin White began in Riverland's construction electrician program. He remembers, "While I was in the program, I realized I was more interested in electrical maintenance. I liked the troubleshooting. Working with the faculty was great, especially Steve and John.  I remember that I felt really prepared from my education."

Parker Hanna went to Riverland part-time, taking 3 years instead of two. "At Riverland, I was able to structure my classes around my work. I enrolled in the industrial maintenance program and took a mix of day and night classes. The scheduling worked well, and I was able to focus on my classes and work and still not be too stressed," says Parker.

Travis Rauenhorst also graduated from the industrial maintenance program, "Growing up with farm kids, I always liked the "hands-on" portion of everything. My brother had done the Industrial Maintenance program, and the sheer variety of what you learn drove me to that program. In Industrial Maintenance, you get hydraulics, pneumatics, welding, machining, and you can go anywhere we that." Travis continued, "One of the things in that program is learning how to solve problems, troubleshooting, breaking problems down into simple things and solving one more problem at a time. I felt Riverland's Industrial Maintenance program really prepared me."

Brandon summarized, "I think we are all proud to be Riverland graduates. My daughter is taking PSEO classes, and we all have family who have also attended Riverland. There are a lot of leaders in our community who attended Riverland, and it’s kind of cool to know that."