Heather Anderson has been named as the new general manager at the KBEW radio station in Blue Earth.

With the start of the new year, there has been a big change made in the management at KBEW radio in Blue Earth.

Heather Anderson officially took over as the radio station general manager on Sunday, Jan. 1. She takes over for Ron Revere, who has been the manager at the station since August of 2020.

Anderson has been at KBEW since January of 2018, when she was hired as an account executive, selling radio advertising.

“I grew up south of Blue Earth and graduated from Blue Earth Area High School,” Anderson says. “In 1999 I married Jake Anderson and I have lived in Frost ever since then.”

Even though she has now become the general manager, Anderson says one of her duties is still to sell advertising, since they are still short one advertising account exec. But her main focus will be to run the day to day operations of the station.

“I am very excited to move into this position,” she says. “And, I am very blessed to have such a great staff here to work with.”

One of those staff members is pretty new to the position, just like Anderson is.

“Our new news director is Staci Huntington,” Anderson says. “We are so excited to have her join our team. She was hired as an advertising account executive, but then the news director position opened up and Staci moved into that position.”

Anderson says it is very nice to have all local people working at the station, as they have a real feel for what is going on locally.

The staff right now is composed of herself, Randy Travis, Staci Huntington, Chris Elzinga and Royce Murra as full-time, and three part-timer, including Norm Hall, who fills in once in a while.

Anderson explains that it was fellow employees like Randy Travis and Norm Hall who explained how everything worked when she first started at the radio station.

“Their showing me everything is part of the reason it will be possible for me to succeed,” she says. “There were so many great mentors for me along the way, like Dave Brock, who was the general manager when I first started.”

She mentions former manager, and part owner, Steve White as another person who helped her to learn “the big picture” of managing a radio station.

“Ron (Revere) has also been integral in getting me ready to move into the position,” Anderson says. “He has helped give me the tools I need to succeed.”

While Revere is retiring from KBEW, he is not truly leaving radio. He is starting his own “Rent a General Manager” business, where he will fill in at radio stations while they look for a full time GM.

Anderson says many people remember her from her previous career: being a waitress at Double Play (now Average Jo’s).

“I worked there on and off for 15 years,” Anderson says. “I liked the flexible schedule, so I could work there with my other job as a mom.”

She and her husband, Jake, who works at Bevcomm, have four children. Eric, 21, is a junior at Winona State University. Brody, 17, is a senior at Blue Earth Area. Ben, 16, is a sophomore at BEA. And, Hadleigh, 13, is an eighth-grader at BEA.

Anderson has been an EMT on the Frost Ambulance Service for 20 years, and finds that work very rewarding.

“As far as the family goes, we like to travel when we can,” she says. “But it is not always easy to find the time to do it. Between work and being an EMT and going to all the kids’ sports and school activities, we are pretty busy.”

Part of Anderson’s job now as the general manager is to keep everything moving forward.

“I am still learning just what I need to do and when,” Anderson says. “But I’m getting into a routine. However, I am also coming up with some new ideas for the station, so keep listening. There’s going to be some new surprises coming.”