Christopher Andersch

Background

About Christopher Andersch

I started with Charlotte County Public Works in March of 1987 as a laborer, and after being exposed to heavy equipment for the first time, I discovered that I had a talent for running it, and with time, I progressed up through the ranks becoming an Equipment Operator 1, 2, and 3. I always loved when someone told me that I could not do something, and then I did it right in front of them, I was very confident in my ability to run any heavy equipment. But that all changed in October of 2006 when I was promoted to supervisor, and the in-house supervisor training program had been suspended for budgetary reasons. I was told when the budget allowed, the training program would be re-instated. Until that time, my only options were to draw upon my own past experiences, observe other supervisors, and trial and error. And after six years of waiting for the in-house training program to be re-instated, and making lots of mistakes, my self-confidence was shattered, I began to ask myself “Is this all that there is, is there nothing more?”, When I could not come up with a good answer, I began to start thinking about leaving my chosen profession, To look for another. Then when i was at my lowest, I picked up my July 2012 copy of the APWA Reporter, and ran across an ad that said “You’ve spent time in the public works trenches, now make the move to a desk!”, It was like that ad was written just for me; I read the entire ad, then visited the DCS website and became immediately intrigued. The next day I showed the information to my director, and with his permission, I signed up for the, PWS program and that program gave me back my self-confidence, the same kind that I had when running heavy equipment, and that is a debt that I can never repay.