Mayor Shelly Carlson presented the January MoorHeart Award to Kevin Hanson, Gate City Bank CEO and long-time member of the Metropolitan Area Transit board. Nominator Lori Van Beek is at right. (Photo/Nancy Hanson.)

Kevin Hanson, who served on the MATBUS board for 17 years, was honored at Monday’s Moorhead City Council meeting with the city’s MoorHeart Award. He is president and CEO of Gate City Bank.
Hanson was nominated by Lori Van Beek, who retired last month after 34 years of managing Moorhead’s public transportation. She wrote, “Kevin has helped to guide MATBUS through many changes over the years. The MAT board was originally formed to oversee the development of a joint maintenance and storage facility, as well as the transition of each city’s transit department into what is now a unified entity. In 2007, the service (then known as Metro Area Transit) moved into the jointly owned Metro Transit Garage in Fargo. This allowed staff to manage the system together, providing a seamless and reliable experience for passengers.”
Many milestones were reached during his tenure, including his years as president of the board. Van Beek cited the allocation of millions of federal dollars for capital improvements through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act; rebranding the system to MATBUS; expanding service into southeast Moorhead and increasing evening and Saturday frequencies; and guiding the Transit Reorganization Study that would ultimately dissolve the MAT Board.”
Presenter Lisa Bode added, “We would also like to thank Kevin and the Gate City Bank organization for the many other contributions to our residents, businesses and the city of Moorhead, including partnership on the Neighborhood Impact Program and community-oriented business and residential lending.”
Information on how to nominate individuals and organizations for the monthly Moorheart Award is available at cityof moorhead.com.