Employee Spotlight – Curtis Hanson
Curtis Hanson, Shop Foreman – Agriculture, 10 years, Saskatoon
Curtis Hanson has been working at Redhead Equipment for over 10 years with the Agriculture division. He started out on the road as a Service Technician, and then moved into the position of Lead Hand before taking over the Shop Foreman role a year later, which he has now been in for six or seven years. A day in the life of the Ag Shop Foreman involves working with customers as they come in, fielding phone calls, helping Technicians sort out repairs, looking after equipment services, and lots of paperwork to keep in order and doing everything possible to accommodate customer’s needs. “There are times throughout the year where the Agriculture division can be quite hectic, between seeding in the spring and harvest in the fall it gets really busy and we just have to roll with it and keep everyone and everything running as best we can,” Curtis mentioned about the work he does as the Ag Shop Foreman. He also said that every day is so different and every ten minutes it seems like something changes or there is always something new, it keeps work interesting and enjoyable. 
Curtis works out of the Saskatoon branch and says that the people are awesome to work with, “everyone is friendly and helps each other out and they all get along pretty well”. He has said some of the challenges of the role include finding parts to keep people going, and having enough time to get everything done as quickly as customers would like. On the other hand getting a heartfelt thank you from the appreciative customers when they get back up and running is very rewarding and is a reminder of why we work so hard. Overall Curtis says Redhead Equipment is a good company to work for, employees are treated well, kind of like family, and the environment is generally positive and inviting.
Throughout his time with Redhead, Curtis has had the opportunity to build strong relationships with customers and has even had the chance to attend a Rider Football Game with a couple of whom rely on him and the Redhead team regularly for exceptional service and maintenance to keep their operations running. Curtis says Redhead Equipment and the Heavy Equipment industry is good business to be in, “there will always be some form of construction and trucking, and the Agriculture industry will always be around, and having a good line of equipment has helped contribute to the longevity of the company.” When we asked him if he has ever applied our tagline ‘Whatever it Takes’ he mentioned an experience he had more recently, “I was on call and had a customer call with their machine down on the road, it was a big machine and it was broke down on the highway. Myself and a Technician, borrowed parts off another machine in the yard and then we went out there to fix it, it was around 2am when we got back but the customer was very happy to get back to operations.”
Quick Questions:
What advice do you have for someone starting a career with Redhead Equipment?
Work hard and do the best you can.
Given the chance who would you like to be for a day?
A millionaire, just to see what it’s like have all that money.
What do you find yourself doing in an hour of free time?
Spending time with family or tinkering on stuff, vehicles etc. I always like to keep myself busy.
What did you want to be when you grew up?
A mechanic; I was undecided and spent a lot of time helping dad in the garage and on the farm and decided that’s what I wanted to do.