Erlandson steps in at Community Ed.
Posted on: Sep 24, 2021
In terms of experience, new Delano Community Education Director Eric Erlandson draws from a deep well.
He has previously worked for or directed Community Education programs in five different communities. He also managed the financials of one district as a business manager, and has the licenses to be a school superintendent or a K-12 principal.
That might look like a full resume, but there’s more.
When his father became ill about 13 years ago, he left education to help with a family business ‒ a distributor of specialty tools and fasteners for the commercial construction industry. Erlandson eventually bought the business from his father, owned it and drove substantial growth for 10 years, and finally sold it to return to the world of Community Education.
“My love and passion has always been in education,” said Erlandson. “The chance to take over a family business and grow it and expand it was really a big draw. But I didn’t go to school for that. It wasn’t necessarily my dream.”
So when he started preparing to sell the business, Erlandson went back to school to ensure his licenses were up-to-date and began investigating his potential options. Delano was an attractive opportunity.
“I’m familiar with the size of the district and the location,” said Erlandson, who now resides in Albertville. “But a lot of the decision is about who you are going to work for and who you are going to work with. Talking with colleagues in other districts, their feedback and what they said about Delano was pivotal as to why I pursued this position. It was all really positive.”
Entering Community Education
Erlandson is replacing former director Diane Johnson, who retired over the summer after 17 years in Delano. He graduated from Monticello High School and attended Mayville State University in North Dakota, where he played shortstop on the school’s perennial conference champion baseball team.
“I played baseball all the way through college, and Monticello Community Education contacted me about running their summer baseball program. So that’s how I got connected with Community Ed.,” said Erlandson, who was planning to major in physical education at Mayville. “I worked weekends and summers for them, and after getting that taste I realized that I really enjoyed it. I liked the diversity of it. So that’s when I kind of got drawn in.”
Erlandson eventually switched to St. Cloud State University, where he finished his undergraduate degree in sports management, and then took a job as a coordinator in the Waconia Community Education program in 1998.
“That job was more about adult classes, handling facilities and running their community theater. Those were areas that I had not been exposed to before,” said Erlandson.
He soon decided that he would like to become a director and pursued a master’s degree from St. Thomas. In 2001 he took his first Community Ed. director’s position in Albany, where he worked for three years before moving to take over the Annandale-Maple Lake program.
When the business manager position opened in the Annandale district office, Erlandson was encouraged by the superintendent and school board members to switch gears and run the overall district’s finances, which he did until for a year until leaving to help with his family’s business.
Business owner
While the private sector business world was new territory, Erlandson embraced the opportunity.
“I would say it was critical for my personal development, because it was a more of a sink-or-swim situation,” he said.
The company, Action Fastenings, flourished under Erlandson’s leadership, but after a decade he began planning a transition back to the education field.
“My perception of things certainly is broader” because of time spent in the business world, Erlandson said. “But I still look at things from an organizational perspective and I don’t think it’s dramatically different in education vs. business. You really start to understand how good organizations run, and that’s universal. I think, for the most part, people want the same things. They want a clear vision. They want feedback. They want structure so they know how to do their jobs. And those things are universal regardless of the industry.”
Return to education
As he begins a new chapter in Delano, Erlandson said his initial goals are to align the organization’s structure and establish connections.
“A key part of leadership, regardless of private sector or education, is building relationships with people,” Erlandson said. “If you’re not continuing to build relationships, you’re not going to be successful.”
There have also been some early hurdles to clear as far as program management.
“I was hoping, maybe naively, that COVID would be done at this point,” said Erlandson. “Well, it’s still here. So there are challenges that maybe I didn’t anticipate, but all sectors are facing those challenges.”
Overall, Erlandson said he hopes to synthesize Community Education efforts with district goals.
“Sometimes it’s easy to de-emphasize Community Education as a separate entity, but when you have such a strong preschool program, like we do, that in particular is such a clear link,” Erlandson said. “These kids become kindergartners in a few months. So we want to make sure we have a curriculum that aligns with kindergarten.
“Overall, I want to make sure that the areas I lead are striving toward the mission of the district as a whole. I think if we continue to do that, then not only will we be successful in the Community Education portion, but we will play a role in the success of the district as a whole.”
* Outside of work, Erlandson enjoys family time and his children’s activities. He has a sophomore son, Luke, and identical twin daughters, Ayda and Jillian, in seventh grade.
“The girls ride horses and Luke plays lacrosse on a more national level, so that is my free time right now. I love every minute of it, but I don’t do much else,” Erlandson said with a laugh.
His wife Alyssa is a veterinarian and partner at the Buffalo Companion Animal Clinic.
Post Categories: Community Education