By Bob Freund
freund@postbulletin.com
Greg Walters, who ended a term as chairman of the Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce last week, recently won a promotion to a statewide job with natural gas utility Aquila.
Walters, 53, was named senior external relations manager for Minnesota after more than nine years as field operations manager for Aquila /Peoples Natural Gas in southeastern Minnesota.
In the newly created position, Walters will supervise three regional external managers and report to Aquila's vice president for operations for Minnesota.
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Stan Shreve, 50, who had been Aquila's natural gas operations manager for northeastern Minnesota, moved south from Cloquet to take Walters' former spot. A 24-year employee with Aquila, Shreve started in Rochester in September.
Walters said Monday he will keep his office in the area headquarters at Rochester, he said Monday. A 30-year veteran with the natural gas company, Walters will oversee media relations, community and economic development programs and charitable activities, as well as some special projects.
Aquila serves 190,000 natural gas customers in 165 Minnesota communities.
Walters' promotion took effect in June, but he primarily continued in his field operations job until Shreve arrived.
Like Walters, Shreve wall be responsible for service to about 68,175 customers in 47 communities in southeastern Minnesota from Zumbrota south to the Iowa state line and from Interstate 35 east to the Wisconsin border.
The local operations are part of Kansas City-based Aquila, operating in seven states .
