Q: What do you like most about being an INW service technician?

Nate: The autonomy. You’re out here, it’s on you to solve it. You can ask for help when you need it, but a lot of the time you’re the one making the call and getting it done.

Q: What does a day in the field actually look like?

Nate: A lot of it is diagnostics, chasing issues, and then trying to carve out enough time to do the work the right way. You can get pulled in different directions thinking you’ve got a few hours to make progress, then something else pops up.

In the INW, the distances between sites can be a lot so there’s a good amount of windshield time. It’s not like Seattle where everything is 30 minutes away. Over here you could be in Moses Lake, you could be anywhere, and need to get somewhere that is two to three hours away.

Q: When you’re troubleshooting, what’s going through your head?

Nate: You’re trying to get the best information you can without turning it into a huge teardown. Like, you’d love to monitor certain temperatures right on the copper lines, but sometimes that means removing an entire fan assembly which would be too much. So, you work with what you can access and still make the right call.

Q: What do people not understand about service work?

Nate: It can look like you’re “just doing maintenance,” but you’re constantly balancing: what can I check quickly, what needs a deeper dive, and what can I realistically finish today? Sometimes you were already at another site, and you know you’re not going to get everything done at your second stop. Then you’re deciding what makes sense first: clean coils, do the mechanical, whatever gives you the best results for the customer.

Q: How connected do you feel to this region and the work you do?

Nate: I’m from out here. I was born in Prosser. I worked at a dairy farm for four years throughout high school in Zillah. This is home, so being in this zone is just part of who I am. I have a brother in the trades, he’s kind of what got me into it.

I really enjoy the work. You’re always going to need the human beings keeping everything running and I enjoy gaining more and more experience to take on any challenge across the difference systems we see.