Dan Beranek

By Kathi Edwards

BusinessRockford.com

The Eastern Illinois University graduate was hired as general manager of the Stone Quarry Recreation Park, part of the Byron Forest Preserve District. He moved from Charleston six months ago. His responsibilities include implementing new events and programs as well as maintaining and growing successful programs. He also oversees the operations of the facilities and staff.

What’s new with the district or the quarry? Are you hiring? Stone Quarry now offers paintball! We’re sponsoring Winstead Outdoors in an effort to provide open paintball play days for the public from ages 10 and older. We’ve constructed two awesome paintball fields, and we rent out all the necessary equipment: helmets, chest protectors, markers (paintball guns), neckguards and pods. We also accommodate private paintball parties for groups. This is an exciting and inexpensive way to have fun with family and friends. We generally do most of our hiring in the spring, but we’re always accepting applications for seasonal employment.

Who could do your job? This job takes a lot of patience, perseverance and creativity. To be successful, you have to be aggressive. Things aren’t just going to happen; you have to make them happen. The position requires a lot of public interaction, so it is imperative that you maintain yourself in a professional manner regardless of the situation. To do my job, someone should be extroverted, creative and have experience in finance.

What has been your biggest professional struggle? How did you overcome it? Landing a stable position with a good organization/agency in my field. It’s not so much what you know, but who you know in this field. I don’t even know how many different interviews I had all over the Midwest or how many times I was shot down just because my competition for the position had interagency connections. It can be and was very demoralizing at times. It’s all about perseverance and not letting the challenge overcome you.

Other than this job, what was your favorite job and why? In high school and junior college, I worked at the Bull Valley Hunting Club as a duck-, goose- and deer-hunting guide. I basically got paid to hunt. Who wouldn’t love that?

What do you like best about this job? For one, this is an outstanding agency to work for, and I’m very grateful for that. Secondly, it is very rewarding to know that the kids love coming here and participating in our programs. I enjoy being part of something that gives back so much to the community. I also love the flexibility of my work schedule, which lets me keep up with my hobbies.

You would never find me leaving this field to: be a carnival worker. You wouldn’t see me in politics either. Politicians don’t have backbones and don’t seem to follow through with what they say. I have a backbone!

The ideal workday for you would be: Sitting in a tree stand bowhunting, or in a duck blind getting paid to goose-hunt.

The typical workday is: Never the same. One day, it’s total mayhem; the next day, I only see a handful of people. I haven’t really figured it out yet. On an average day at the quarry, I usually do about an hour of paperwork, check e-mails and phone messages. There are days I find myself doing things that definitely weren’t in my job description though. For example, this spring, we had a hen mallard make a nest and lay a dozen eggs in our miniputt course. She weathered some of the busiest days of the spring season without ever being noticed. We discovered her by accident when one of our maintenance guys almost stepped on her nest. I started doing random daily duck checks to make sure she was all right. There were a couple days she really looked stressed out from the traffic and kids walking by. When the eggs finally hatched, she led the ducklings out of the miniputt area and started heading in a direction that yielded no water. So, being the duck whisperer that I am, I rounded them up and walked them across a busy highway, stopping traffic, over a fairway at the golf course across the street, where two golfers getting ready to tee off waved me through, and down to a good-sized pond where the ducklings would have food and water and be safe from predators. That’s the thing about this field: There is no such thing as “a typical workday.”

A business needed in the region? I’m a big fan of mom-and-pop operations. This area needs a good small-town archery shop.

The best way to unwind after work: Three words ... Milwaukee’s Best Light.

Staff writer Kathi Edwards may be reached at 815-987-1364 or kedwards@rrstar.com.