Most people in Eagle Grove know Chase Quintus as the plucky young man who ran for city council at just 20 years old. Quintus served on the council as the Ward Three Councilman from 2020 until 2023, when he moved out of his ward.
Others know Quintus as the grandson of Jane Solis, owner of the Smoke Shop bar & grill (a local institution). Still others know him as brother to firefighter and former police Sergeant Garrett Quintus.
The Student Body President of 2018, his classmates in the Eagle Grove High School remember him as ambitious and involved. As a child growing up in Eagle Grove, Quintus remembers growing up here fondly.
Being involved in the events at the school was a big part of my life that I enjoyed growing up,” Quintus said, as well as, “just hanging with my friends.”
In those rare times Quintus wasn’t working on something school related, he could usually be found hanging out at home. “I just always really enjoyed hanging at home with friends and family,” Quintus said, “though I did keep busy.”
Quintus met his wife, then Hannah Geer, originally of Renwick, a graduate of Nashua-Plainfield High School, in 2020, in the early months of the COVID pandemic. Geer was in her first year as a sixth grade teacher at Clay Central Everly school of Royal Iowa, just at the beginning of the COVID pandemic.
That first year the pair dated long distance, at a time when all of society was social distancing. But distance couldn’t keep love from blossoming. After a year kept apart, the couple moved in together, and a year later Quintus wasted no time in proposing. The couple was married in October of 2023.
Hannah took a job as a teacher at Gilmore City Bradgate Elementary School in 2021, and the couple moved to nearby Humboldt in the spring of 2023. With Chase taking a position with the Fort Dodge school district, in the administration office.
But it didn’t take long for Quintus to miss Eagle Grove, and so he started looking for work back in town. Megan Larsen, the Eagle’s designer and Quintus’ classmate and friend recommended he apply at the newspaper.
At his first interview, Quintus expressed a broad interest in the newspaper business, and a desire to learn every aspect of newspaper operations. Not content to work just in sales, or office administration, or journalism, or design, Quintus expressed interest in a hybrid role. And after a second interview with Matt Grohe, CEO of Mid America Publishing, Grohe decided to give the hybrid role a shot – customizing the position specifically for Quintus.
“I knew Chase would be a good fit here because he’s such a ‘people person’,” Larsen said. Noting how well known in town Quintus is, Larsen observed that since Quintus started with the paper, “the majority of people who come into the office say ‘I didn’t know you started working here!’,” and are excited to see him.
Two months in, and Quintus is handling sales, reception, some journalism tasks, and some design. With an eye for interior design, Quintus has also rearranged the Eagle’s office, making the space both more welcoming, and more efficient. And he has been so successful in his hybrid role that the company is now seeking to replicate that success by hiring others in similar roles, at other Mid America offices.
“I find the work very interesting so far,” Quintus said, “it’s a new industry for me. I’ve been in education and banking previously, so journalism is a whole new ballgame. I’ve learned that you’ve got to be incredibly accurate with your work. In a way it takes you back to high school, using what you learned, citing sources, and so on.”
“Locally, I feel like it’s important to keep the citizens informed and updated on accurate and important information. Because really, I feel like it’s their paper. I feel it is important too that local people be informed more broadly about important happenings outside of Eagle Grove. And not everyone goes on online.” And speaking of the internet, Quintus noted, “you can’t believe everything people post online. You’ve got to be careful.”
Quintus can be reached by email at info@eaglegroveeagle.com, and advertisers can reach him at sales@eaglegroveeagle.com or sales@wrightcountymonitor.com, depending on which they wish to advertise in. He can also be reached by text message or phone at (515) 832-0604.
