Meet Mike Parker
GPS/RTK/ Journeyman Mechanic
It’s not uncommon to meet an employee at Hanlon’s with over 10 years with the company on their resume, and Mike Parker is one of them. Twelve years ago, he started out as a wash boy, worked his way through the ranks getting his Journeyman Mechanic, and then was selected as the go-to guy for GPS and RTK. Mike says the ability to grow at Hanlon Ag is one of the things he really appreciates about working with the company. “That’s how so many people started here,” said Mike. “It’s a legacy I want to be a part of.”
For the past 7 years Mike has been specializing in the GPS side of things at Hanlon. More recently, in the past 5 years, he has taken on the responsibility of the RTK network. It wasn’t always an easy road, according to Mike. When Hanlon first started the network 5 years ago, there were a lot of hurdles; it was new, and at the time nobody was really doing RTK in the area- especially not on a cellular network.
Mike recalls a lot of trial and error at the time and says it was the customers who really shined through during those early phases. “They believed in us,” he said. “People stuck it out- we were fortunate to have such a strong customer base.”
Mike didn’t have many people he could turn to when he needed answers, which resulted in doing a lot of reading on his own. “Hanlon trusted me with the job,” he said with gratitude. He explains how he was given the freedom to make the decisions he felt were necessary in those early days with the new network. Things are a lot easier for Mike now that the network has been up and running for 5 years, it was a lot of learning in the beginning, but now everything runs fairly seamlessly for him.
Although Mike is a dedicated employee, he does have a life of his own. Him and his wife Amanda married in September of 2017 and welcomed their daughter Eliey into the world seven months ago. Mike and Amanda enjoy exploring the country side together when they can. Mike is also an avid hunter once late summer and fall roll around.
“Hanlon is pretty rad,” said Mike. “It’s like you leave your family at home, and it’s like coming to a whole new family at work. We have our good days and bad days, but you’re never disappointed coming back to work the next day.”
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