Wells resident Shannon Savick is drawing on her successes in office as she campaigns toward a second term in the Minnesota House of Representatives.

Savick, 74, will face off against challengers Peggy Bennett, R-Albert Lea, 56, and Tom Price, IP-Alden, 56, in the Nov. 4 general election.

Savick has lived in Wells for about eight years, previously living in Indianola, Iowa. She has family in the Kiester area.

The former mayor of Wells in 2009 and 2010, Savick served on the Wells City Council for two years prior. She said she lived in the city for less than a year before she was elected.

She has a degree in math and physics from Mankato State University and a Master of Business Administration from Clark University in Massachusetts and is retired from the high-tech computer industry.

This weekend, Savick will receive an award from the state fire chief’s association for her role in creating a pilot program to help recruit and retain firefighters and other first responders in Greater Minnesota.

Under the program, every volunteer firefighter, first responder and emergency medical technician will receive a $500 stipend from the state for three years. Fourteen counties — including Freeborn and Faribault counties — are included in the program.

Savick in 2013 received an award for economic development from the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities.

Some of her other highlights in office have been helping get funding for several local projects, including $7.5 million to dredge Fountain Lake, $433,000 to extend the Blazing Star Trail from Myre-Big Island State Park to Hayward and $700,000 for the installation of a fish barrier on the Albert Lea Lake dam.

Riverland Community College also received $1.7 million, Blooming Prairie received $230,000 and Albert Lea Lake received $172,000.

Previously selling million-dollar computers to companies for a living, she said she knows how to sell things.

“I’m using that experience in selling these projects to the other representatives,” Savick said.

Looking ahead, she would like to see the firefighter stipend expand to include all of Greater Minnesota and continue additional work with the firefighters association.

From having her husband in a nursing home, she said she has seen how Minnesota treats its seniors in long-term care, and she wants to help the state figure out how to better serve them and help them pay for their care.

She cited an article she recently read in the Wall Street Journal that 60 percent of 55-year-olds have saved less than $100,000 for their retirement, and 24 percent have less than $1,000.

“We’re going to have a major problem in the next few years,” Savick said.

She said she thinks Minnesota needs to set up a system similar to Medicare on the state level, but right now she is unsure how to fund it.

Regarding education, she said the state made some big accomplishments this year but there is still more to be done.

The DFL-controlled Legislature this past session approved funding for all-day kindergarten for the whole state, increased the per student funding $949 per student in Albert Lea and froze tuition for community colleges and universities.

She said the state should continue to look for ways to reduce education costs and consider converting education loans to have lower interest rates. She noted there’s also talk about giving a grant or forgiving a portion of an education loan for people who take vital jobs in Greater Minnesota.

She thanked the people in the community who have shown her support during her first term in office and hopes she can continue another term.

“I’m enjoying being their state representative, and I feel I’m doing a good job,” Savick said.