Aanenson retires from 50-year career with McClure Electric

Al Aanenson has been working to keep Rock County electrified for over 50 years, wiring everything from grain bins on farms to lighting in stores and office buildings.

During that time, he built a reputation among hundreds of loyal customers, many of whom are also good friends.

Now, he’s selling the McClure Electric business in Luverne to his son-in-law, Tim Banck, and is learning a new trade — retirement.

“Dixie and I go to our lake home in Alexandria quite a bit,” he said, adding that those visits often include grandchildren Tucker and Anna Banck and Charlie, Oliver and Arthur Aanenson.

Career nudge

Aanenson grew up on a farm near Hardwick on a quarter section of land.

He attended Hardwick grade school through seventh grade and was a junior in Luverne High School when he started considering his future.

“I wasn’t that interested in farming, and college really wasn’t on my radar,” Aanenson said. “My sister, Carol (Hatting), was working down here and got me to go into electrical work.”

She had been working with Les and Frank McClure at MClure Electric and Plumbing since 1967 as secretary, helping with billing and payroll.

“She told me, ‘Why don’t you go to school to be an electrician? They do fairly well.’ That’s how I got into this,” Aanenson said. “If it hadn’t been for Carol, I probably wouldn’t have gone into this.”

He graduated from Luverne High School in 1973 and two years later completed the electrical program at Jackson Vocational Technical College.

On Aug. 12, 1975, he walked through the front door of 121 North Cedar Street where he accepted a job offer from Les McClure at $4.50 per hour. He was 19 years old.

“I’ve been in that same building my whole career,” Aanenson said. “It’s the only place I ever worked out of.”

‘It’s time for you to take this place over’

At the time, brothers Les and Frank McClure had been operating McClure Electric and Plumbing in both levels of the building since 1927.

In 1979 the McClures sold the plumbing business to Jerry Buss, who operated in the basement (until moving to the new McClure Plumbing and Heating building on South Highway 75) while Les continued electric work upstairs.

In 1985 Aanenson, at age 29, bought the McClure Electric business from Les McClure who was 82.

“I didn’t have a choice,” Aanenson said. “Les came up to me one day when I was working in the back and he said, ‘It’s time for you to take this place over.’”

He remembers going to Luverne Attorney Mort Skewes to sign paperwork.

“Mort said to me, ‘Where’s Les?’ and I said, ‘Les is in Florida.’ And he said, ‘I can sure see that he’s worried about you,’” Aanenson laughed, recalling the day.

He said McClure made the transition to ownership easy.

“He took care of everything; I didn’t have to go to the bank or anything,” he said. “I bought it, but I didn’t have to go to the bank for money. He did the same thing for me that I did for Tim.  … Might as well be the banker.”

He said he was grateful for that, because Dixie was at home with their small children, Michael and Rebecca, at the time.

“When I started, I didn’t have money,” Aanenson said. “He gave me the money to get started.”

Responsibilities

By this time, McClure Electric was a sizeable business.

“We made it all work … we put in a lot of Saturdays, and I missed a lot of the kids’ stuff. That’s all part of owning a business,” Aanenson said. “Tim’s finding that out now.”

The business employed seven workers in the 1990s and early 2000s.

“Back then, our two biggest customers were Land O’Lakes and Tri-State Insurance,” Aanenson said. “We did all the electrical maintenance and wiring on those properties.”

He said McClure Electric worked mostly with commercial customers like Centennial Apartments, Blue Mound Towers and Gold’n Plump and also agriculture electric work, such as farm bins, feed mills (the Farm Store) and area co-op grain elevators.

“Virgil Christensen was a big player in town, and I did some big projects with Virgil,” Aanenson said, mentioning the hospital and clinic remodeling in 1982, the Rock County Library and others. “I was working for McClure then, but Virgil told Les, ‘You’ve got your new owner right here.’ So, that was kind of nice.”

Aanenson also worked on projects with Randy Creeger when Creeger Coat Company had stores in Luverne, Mankato, Willmar, and St. Cloud.

“I was at all of them back in the ’80s doing store lighting,” Aanenson said. “Randy came in here one time, and he said, ‘Al, I want to tell you something. You’re always so appreciative. Whenever we get done with a project, you always tell me thank you.’”

Aanenson said that resonated with him through his career.

“Those are the two most important words in the world: Thank you,” he said. “Tell people you appreciate it.”

Technology

Through his 50-year career, Aanenson said improved technology made his work easier.

“We have power tools now – battery operated power tools, for drills, saws, you name it,” he said.

“You don’t have to worry about cords anymore.”

He said technology has improved how electricity works and has made it safer.

For example, variable frequency drives made motors more efficiently.

“If you have a pump that’s only using half speed, you can slow that big 50-horse motor down to half speed; that saves a lot of energy,” Aanenson said.

Also, breaker panels replaced fuse boxes, making wiring safer and easier to work with.

Meanwhile, the McClure Electric shop on Cedar Street mostly appears just as it did 50 years ago.

“We did some tuckpointing on the outside of the building about 10 years ago, but otherwise it’s pretty much the same,” Aanenson said.

A tour of the 125-foot-long building reveals vintage products and equipment in a large room with dusty wood floors and walls lined with bins and drawers containing hundreds of electrical parts.

“This would be a great place to have a bar,” Aanenson said. “Look at this neat old floor.”

He said his daughter sent him a photograph of a cash register she spotted at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. “Look familiar, Dad?” she asked in the text.

It was a cash register exactly the same as one stored in the back room of the McClure shop.

Computers

Aanenson said he’s appreciated the fact that his sister stayed with him through the years, handling paperwork for the company.

“We never made the transition to computers. Carol never did either. That’s why she kept on here for so long,” he said. “She didn’t want anything to do with computers.”

He said workers brought job sheets to Hatting who entered the information in a ledger book, priced everything and then sent statements at the end of the month.

Since Banck took over in May, he transitioned the business to computers, and Hatting retired.

“We’ve had people notice there are new owners because they’re not getting those nice handwritten statements anymore,” he said.

“Carol really did have nice penmanship. … As a brother and sister we worked real well together.”

Transitioning to retirement

Aanenson officially retired May 1, but he still spends time at the shop.

“I come down here for something to do … I answer the phones,” he said. “The transition takes a bit after that many years. But it was a smooth transition. And I don’t have any regrets.”

Mostly, he said he enjoys the fact that work is optional.

“It has relieved a lot of responsibility … you know, stress,” Aanenson said.

“I was really good about staying calm about things. But now I don’t have to worry about jobs for the guys to go after. If someone calls in sick, I don’t have to try to make up for it or find a spot for them to go.”

And retirement has given him a chance to reflect on what he enjoyed about his career.

“I’ve had a lot of really good customers through the years, I really have,” he said. “I’ve always tried to take care of the customers as good as I could.”