— from Suzanne Olson, OPALCO —
Engineers Dan Vekved, Ed Lago, Russell Guerry and Alan Smith at the annual meeting on the ferry
Ed Lago came to OPALCO in 2008 after working as a mortgage broker in the community. His background includes banking, retail and hospitality. He is the father of five beautiful children. He and his wife Keri have lived on Orcas since 2005.
Q: How did you leap from banking to engineering?
A: When I first got hired, I didn’t know anything about staking – or the utility world. I’ve been lucky to have some great mentors at OPALCO and a lot of training – in the office, in the field and through outside classes and conferences. Never in a million years did I imagine I’d be an engineer – but now I don’t want to do anything else.
Q: What does a “staking tech” do?
A: I figure out how to get power from the nearest connection to serve our members – for new service. I also do the design for conversions from overhead to underground service. I spend about half of my time in the office working on design and paperwork, and half the time in the field. I love being outside.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: I love working with our members to help them realize their vision – getting power to raw land and building a home. It’s rewarding to see the completed projects and know I’m contributing to the community good.
Q: What have you found most challenging?
A: Math. I had to relearn a lot of math – but what made it easy is the tangible applications in my work. Also, you become a community figure – everyone associates you with OPALCO – so, you know, I have to keep that in mind at the grocery store, on the ferry – everywhere I go.
Q: What skills or qualities should a person have coming into the job?
A: OPALCO will train you for the engineering work, but you have to be ready to work hard, drive for success – and you have to like working with people. There’s a lot of problem solving in the job. I’ve learned how to listen and how to be more tolerant of all kinds of people.
In addition to work, keeping up with the kids, coaching baseball and teaching fitness classes, Ed is an amazing artist. You’ve seen his work on some of OPALCO’s publications, in the murals at Sequel (the clothing store in Eastsound, owned by his wife) and on the windows at OPALCO’s headquarters in Eastsound during the holidays. “That’s one of the things I really like about my work,” said Ed. “I get to wear a lot of different hats – and I feel appreciated for whatever I can bring to the team effort.”
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