Allen Sloan leaves behind legacy at S&K Housing Authority

By Lailani Upham

Allen Sloan, SKHA Operation Division Manager is congratulated with a handshake from CKST Tribal Council Ronan Representative Carole Lankford for decades of service to CSKT Housing Authority. (Lailani Upham photo)

PABLO — When Allen Sloan got a job at Salish Kootenai Housing Authority it was the mid-1970’s in the maintenance facility.

He’s been there since.

After 33 years and 3 months he is ready to retire, he said.

With no specific plans yet ahead, one thing Sloan knows is he plans to get things done around the house and spend more time with his grandchildren.

Decades of knowledge, good listening, personnel relations, effective advice, and wisdom will be greatly missed, according to SKHA Director, Jason Adams.

SKHA employs a staff of 70 people with 11 in the Operations department where Sloan has worked since 1986.

Last week, approximately 60 people gathered for a retirement luncheon for Sloan. “I didn’t know how many people I impacted,” Sloan responded when asked how he felt from the heartfelt retirement celebration the department staged on his behalf.

“It’s a good place to work, not that it’s always been good times,” Sloan stated. He said he would unquestionably miss the working relationships and the every day connecting with people.

Sloan is a homegrown Ronan resident, after graduating from Ronan High School he went on to study a trade at Kicking Horse Job Corps. He graduated in the Construction occupation.

After some years of working construction and ranching, Sloan landed a position at SKHA as a maintenance technician.

Sloan continued to ranch and eventually became the Work Project Coordinator in 1983.

In the midst of the entire ladder climbing and ranching, Sloan managed his own bowling alley business in Arlee.

Sloan (right) receives great words and laughs from staff as the retirement festivity wraps up. (Lailani Upham photo)

According to SKHA records, Sloan has been with SKHA since the Tribal reorganization in 1985 when all housing related services were placed under the administration of the Housing Authority. In 1986, Sloan was appointed the Community Housing Services Manager, to follow into his current and last position as Operation Division Manager.

Sloan was on board when there were 13-community water and waste systems on the Flathead Reservation. Presently, there are 26 systems in operation with the possibility of more in the future, according to SKHA records.

Sloan was responsible for the telemetry system installed to control and manage the systems from one central location, according SKHA authorities. Telemetry water management, includes water quality and stream gauging functions, where major applications include automatic meter reading, groundwater monitoring, leak detection in distribution pipelines and equipment surveillance. Bottom line: data is available in almost real time that allows quick reactions to events in the field.

“This has saved a lot of time and wear and tear on vehicles, and benefited the communities by staff being notified of problems before they became an issue for the users,” Sloan explained.

Sloan has seen a lot of changes and improvements along the years. “It’s going to be hard to replace him, someone that knows the ins and outs of every system,” Adams said. If a problem came up, it was quick and easy to ask Sloan, Adams added. “You don’t have to go to data or records to find the answer, he knew the answer,” Adams explained.

The telemetry system was the last project completed and a goal he had while aboard Operations management, according to SKHA officials.

During his service at SKHA Sloan has been active on the Facilities Appropriation Advisory Board for the Billings Area Indian Health Service. He also served as a member at large on the Montana Environmental Training Center Steering Committee.

Sloan and his wife Peggy have two children, Dawn Benson, who resides on the Reservation, and Dustin Sloan, who currently lives in Michigan. The Sloan’s have four grandchildren.