I’m going to do a series in my blog this week that I am calling Excellence Behind The Scenes. This series will give you an inside view of some of the City employees here who do excellent work, but because of their positions, don’t get much public exposure. Check out today’s profile of Wayne Estenson and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Enjoy!
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Wayne Estenson
Service with a smile. Okay, so maybe it sounds a little clich�, but it�s a principle being put into practice every day by Wayne Estenson. Wayne is a perfect example of Excellence Behind the Scenes.
Wayne�s official title here at the City of Eden Prairie is �Manager of Customer Relations/Risk Management.� As you can probably imagine from this job title, his responsibilities are diverse to say the least. As far as the �Risk Management� component of his job, he works with City employees on internal matters such as workman�s compensation, DOT regulations, OSHA, EPA and ergonomics. As you see in the picture, he also teaches people how they can help prevent workplace injury through taking the proper safety precautions. Then, he�s also dealing with external matters including property/casualty insurance, vehicle insurance, and medical claims. But that�s just half of his job.
The �Support Services� component entails everything from running the copy center, providing float coverage, and providing people who come into the City Center with their first-impression of the facility through the information desk. Wayne is a team-player who enjoys the people he works with here at the City. �The people I work with are my greatest asset,� says Wayne. �I truly enjoy working with them.�
The five employees that work under Wayne think the same of him. Carol Bowen, pictured with Wayne at the Information Desk, says, �Working with Wayne is fun because he is a great role model. We laugh hard and work hard, and it’s very rewarding to work with him.�
Wayne has been working for the City of Eden Prairie for almost 25 years and has held diverse roles such as park maintenance, safety manager, facilities manager, phone technology coordinator and customer services. When asked what has kept him here for so long, he replies without hesitation, �It�s the constant new challenges which are thrown my way. My job has grown as the City has grown.�
Wayne�s just one of those people who goes the extra mile to make sure the job gets done well, yet he�s generally not in the public spotlight. It takes a lot of work behind the scenes to keep the City of Eden Prairie running in a way that we all can be proud of.
