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This story is a look at what appears in Progress 2012, on newsstands now.

Craig Wiste wanted to try something new.

After working as an auto mechanic, one could say he literally took his skills to the next level when he harnessed in and started climbing hundreds of feet to service wind towers.

“It’s pretty untested waters for the most part for everybody in this area,” said Wiste, now a lead technician with Vestas Americas in LeRoy.

Since 2002, companies have erected 253 wind turbines in Mower County, plus hundreds more across Minnesota and Iowa. The job of keeping those turbines producing falls on the shoulders of wind technicians, a job in which most take great pride.

Read the whole story in Progress 2012, on newsstands now.