Candidate for
Council Member; City of Indian Wells

Biography

Douglas Hanson lives in the Rancho Palmeras Estates of Indian Wells along with his wife Elena and son Matthew, a 10th grade student at Marywood/Palm Valley School in Rancho Mirage.

Mr. Hanson is currently a Realtor with Village Realty located in the Indian Wells Village Shopping Center. He also serves as Chairman of Smart Path Golf, a manufacturer and distributor of Golf Training Devices.

Mr. Hanson has over 40 years of extensive entrepreneurial and business experience, principally in three areas, Telecommunications/ Broadcasting and Real Estate. Doug gained his Real Estate experience with Southern Pacific's Land and Development Company managing and developing commercial and industrial properties throughout Southern California.

Doug merged his Real Estate and Telecommunications experience by conceiving the business strategy of burying fiber optic cable along railroad rights-of-way throughout the US. This idea led to his creation of SP Telecom in 1987. Upon completion of construction of its first nationwide network in 1993, they sold it to IBM for $200 million, and immediately began construction of their second network. The company was moved from San Francisco to Denver in 1993, and changed its corporate name to Qwest Communications. Mr. Hanson served as the first CEO and President of Qwest Communications / SP Telecom from its inception to late 1996. Before leaving Qwest, Doug created the business strategy for the company's initial public offering achieving a market cap in excess of $1 billion.

After a short sabbatical, Doug returned to the telecommunications industry acquiring a controlling interest in Rocky Mountain Internet, Inc. (RMI), an internet start-up in Denver. Through his leadership, RMI grew from a small local internet provider with $4 million in revenue to a nationwide company with over $70 million in revenue in four short years, culminating in a merger with Internet Commerce & Communications.

Throughout his career Doug has been active in community and business organizations serving on numerous boards, including the Metropolitan State College Foundation Board, Colorado Commission on Science and Technology, The Salvation Army Advisory Board and the Competitive Telecommunications Association. Doug is currently a member of the Indian Wells Rotary Club, Indian Wells Historic Preservation Foundation, and the Indian Wells Chamber of Commerce.

Doug was born the son of a coal miner in 1943 in a small coal mining community in West Virginia. Upon graduation from High School, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy, being honorably discharged in 1964. Shortly thereafter, he moved to California attending California State University and Glendale College graduating in 1976, while at the same time working for Southern Pacific.

Mr. Hanson is committed to achieving personal excellence by accepting and meeting challenges and responsibilities, and has displayed the prerequisite leadership qualities in all endeavors. Accordingly, he brings tremendous energy, enthusiasm and a breadth of knowledge, experience, abilities, and professional business credentials which will benefit the City of Indian Wells.