by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewsleaders.com
Jerry Lang of Sauk Rapids has been honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Aggregate and Ready Mix Association of Minnesota.
He was given the award at the Renaissance Hotel in Minneapolis during ARM’s annual convention.
“I had no idea they were going to make such a big deal out of this award,” Lang said about the ceremony.
He received round after round of applause and the highest of praises from his colleagues at the convention.
“Jerry Lang has been a well-respected leader in this industry in Minnesota, and a driving force behind the growth and success of ARM and its members,” said Fred Corrigan, executive director of ARM. “Add to all of that his work in service of our country, and his decades of volunteer work in his community, and Jerry is well deserving of this salute.”
Lang began his long career as a ready-mix shop foreman with Bauerly Broather, east St. Cloud, in 1976. He spent 25 years with that company and remained with it when it was purchased by Knife River in 2001. He was a general manager with Knife River for more than 10 years before being promoted to his current position as vice president of ready-mix operations of Knife River’s North Central Regional Office, Sauk Rapids, in 2014.
One of Lang’s accomplishments is developing training programs and teaching them in the company’s certification program. That kind of state-of-the-art teaching has brought the Minnesota read-mix industry to the very top echelons of envy and respect nationwide.
Among his other achievements:
- Served on the ARM Board of Directors and was its president in 2014.
- Served as chairman of the ARM Technical Committee for a dozen years and developed the first ARM brochures on curing, sealing, pop-outs and durable concrete.
- Served as chairman of ARM’s Project Awards for 15 years, developing the award criteria, judging criteria and application worksheets, in addition to creating a cross section of impartial selection-committee members.
- Served as ARM ACI/MNDOT Training and Certification coordinator for 13 years. Lang was successful in helping develop and implement a MNDOT Plant Certification program, which became a model for the nation. Lane had traveled to other states to train them in on Minnesota’s program.
Interesting life
As if Lang’s intrepid work for the industry he loves were not enough, he manages to find time for so many other hobbies and pursuits, so much so people who know him wonder if he gets more hours in a day than the average person.
Lang served in the Army Reserve for more than 40 years, retiring with the rank of major general, having served tours of duty in Bosnia/Herzegovina in 2003-04 and as part of the NATO Stabilization Force in Iraq in 2009-10 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
He has also been a long-time volunteer with many organizations in central Minnesota. Altogether, he did eight deployments in Iraq. During the past 10 years, Lang spent an average of 45 weekends on National Guard duties.
“I give full credit to my company and my wife because without them I could not have done my Guard service,” he told the Sauk Rapids/Rice Newsleader in a recent interview.
Lang has also taught vocational courses at Milaca High School.
Born and raised in Milaca, Lang grew up on a dairy farm. Highly intelligent and a quick learner, he earned a degree in business administration from St. Cloud State University and later a master’s degree in strategic leadership from the U.S. Army War College.
Lang moved to Sauk Rapids in 2007 and lives right behind his work office.
He enjoys telling the story about how he met his wife-to-be, a Swedish woman named Ingrid. Her father had long-lost relatives living in the Milaca area. One day, Lang was working at a body shop, which happened to be right across the road from relatives that Ingrid was visiting. He was impressed by the beautiful Swedish blonde and decided to ask her for a dinner date to a Mexican restaurant near Mille Lacs. They got along famously, and when she returned to Sweden a long correspondence began.
Ingrid was a journalist from a town in Sweden called Eksjo. She traveled throughout the United States in 1974 and even lived on an Israeli kibbutz for a time. Then she returned to Sweden. It took her 11 months to get a U.S. visa to come to America to be with Lang, and they both almost gave up because of the long needlessly bureaucratic headaches. But, finally, she was able to come back and became for a time editor of the Mille Lacs County Times. She also worked for a magazine called Independent Power, dedicated to alternate power sources, but that job ended when the magazine relocated to Oklahoma.
Ingrid then went to nursing school and became an LPN at the St. Cloud Hospital, working for many years until she retired last year.
She and Jerry have two daughters – Linnea, 36; and Erika, 32. Erika is married to Bas Kuis, a man from South Africa. They live in Milwaukee and have two children – Lucia and Nova.
Lang is very proud of his family.
“I’ve been so busy for the last 40 years, and I have to give credit to my company and my wife because they allowed me to be gone, including overseas, so many times.”
Jerry Lang
Jerry Lang’s wife, daughter and son-in-law hook up while skydiving recently. From left to right are Erika Kuis, Ingrid Lang and Bas Kuis.
The Jerry Lang family includes (left to right) Jerry, wife Ingrid, daughter Linnea, daughter Erika Kuis and her husband, Bas Kuis.
Jerry Lang (right) smiles with his proud wife and daughter after receiving a prestigious honor from Knife River (formerly Bauerly Brothers), where Lang has worked for many years. With Lang are his wife, Ingrid (middle) and daughter Linnea.
