Signal Summer 2017 Newsletter

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Alliance Communications is grateful for his hard work and dedication
JimHanson Retires After 40 Years
Construction Supervisor Jim Hanson
hung up his hardhat this past April
after 40 years of service.
“I’ve been so blessed to work for one
company for 40 years,” Jim said. “Basi-
cally, my job the whole time was getting
service to people, and that’s what I’ve
liked about it.”
Fast Work on a Variety of Projects
Throughout his career, he was heavily
involved in everything from repairing
damaged lines following storms to burying
new lines during Alliance’s conversion to
fiber optics.
Jim was always the first to help after a
cable cut or disaster recovery project,
said Technical Equipment Supervisor
Andy Hulscher.
Andy remembers working with Jim, who
is colorblind, on a large copper cable cut
about 20 years ago. Large cables contain
different colored lines that need to be
matched up and spliced together after a
cable cut occurs.
“He was a really fast and efficient splicer
until you got to a few colors that he would
ask about,” Andy said. “I never thought
much of it, and then it finally dawned
on me. He had a hard time seeing black,
blue and violet colors, which are some
of the primary colors in copper cable. It
never slowed him down much, but he
would always have someone check his
work just in case.”
Over Water and Underground
Jim has experienced a variety of circum-
stances during his tenure. The 2013
bridge reconstruction just west of Baltic
was one of his most challenging projects.
Utility companies often attach their
lines to bridges as an efficient way of
Jim and Dave plow a new line during Alliance’s conversion to fiber optics.
Jim on his last day.