Dalton Johnson is the Operations Manager at GenComm’s Eau Claire location. He’s been on our team since 2016 and has contributed much to our success. We are excited for him to share more about himself in this Employee Spotlight feature.
Can you tell us about some of your past experience?
I have always had a mechanical background and learned a lot from my father. I always had a passion for cars, wiring, audio, etc. Thus, prior to my time at GenComm, I worked in the car audio and remote start industry as an operations manager and installer.
Then I had a conversation with Nate Fuller (GenComm’s Installation Manager), who introduced me to GenComm and then I applied and started working in 2016. I started off as an installer for squad building. After two years I moved to Operations Manager when the new location in Eau Claire opened around 2018. I played the role of the first full-time installer at Eau Claire, but we’ve kept growing and now have three full-time installers in the Eau Claire shop.
What brought you to this industry and specifically GenComm? What do you enjoy most about working at GenComm?
As I mentioned, I’ve always had an interest in vehicles and wiring. I like that you create your own masterpiece. It isn’t repetitive work and there is a lot of satisfaction when building out and upfitting a vehicle. And it is just great to see how happy a customer is when looking at your work. You’ve made that “base” vehicle their own.
I’m passionate about quality work and clean wiring. Right out of high school, I worked with a guy at another company who used zip ties and that drove me nuts. There is a lifetime warrantee on GenComm’s work and so we want to make sure we do it right. You need to be passionate enough about it to ensure there is clean wiring and that you can stand by your work.
Everyone at GenComm has a real passion for how the work is done. We work together and take pride in what we do. Service and install work side-by-side as a team. We are a growing family-owned business and it shows. Everyone cares about it and the owners care about us.
What does a typical day for you as the Operations Manager of the Eau Claire office look like?
Lots of variety! Basically, I touch everything from receiving to install to the shop to shipping products back out. I answer questions about products, show folks how to do stuff and am considered the master tech at Eau Claire. I also serve in the Sales function. I cover from La Crosse to Ashland and from Hudson to Wausau.
I know about every single piece of product that comes through Eau Claire and also handle inventory management, ordering products, etc. I’m often on the road doing a sales call, but will then start working on a vehicle on location. I always have my tools with me just in case.
I like to be busy and don’t like sitting at a desk much so it’s a good fit.
What do you like most about working and living in the Eau Claire area?
Eau Claire is that happy medium between the city and farm/country living. You can get what you need from the city and businesses are within a decent driving distance, but still receive the benefits of living in the country.
You can live in the country and still only have a 15-20-minute commute each day.
What are you most passionate about at work?
Customer satisfaction. Doing everything we can to please the customer is vital to our success. If we hit all their goals, they will come back to us. Many times, we can do it all – top to bottom on a squad. We can be a one-stop shop for upfitting, two-way radios, graphics, video systems, and more.
What activities do you enjoy in your spare time?
The biggest thing is that I like to drag race on just about every weekend – when the weather works out. I drag race the quarter-mile strip. This is also good family time. My parents and sister live close and everyone enjoys the races.
I also enjoy hunting and fishing. My son, Bentley, is 6 years old and just loves being outside so any outdoor activities are good.