It’s been a very good year already for Kurt Baumgartner.

By profession, Baumgartner is a state licensed hearing aid dispenser in Iowa and Minnesota.

He was licensed in September 2003 and has been working for Beltone for four years.

“Friends told me I had the aptitude to do the job,” Baumgartner said of his introduction to Beltone work. “I have concern for people and I like to try to solve people’s problems. This is a career they thought would be right up my alley.”

Baumgartner’s Beltone Hearing Center office along Fourth Avenue Northeast was acquired by the city of Austin to make way for the new Mower County Jail and Justice Center project in downtown Austin.

Forced to move, he found the ideal place in a complex of buildings in the 500 block of First Street Northwest next to the popular Donut Connection.

Now, he can proudly display two important awards for outstanding service to Beltone customers.

For the second consecutive year he was named Beltone Specialist of the Year award-winner.

Scott and Sarah Larson, owners of the 24 Beltone Hearing Centers in Minnesota, northern Iowa and western Wisconsin ranked Baumgartner’s tops.

In addition, he finished second in the national rankings of Beltone hearing specialists among more than 1,400 locations.

Baumgartner says the honors must be shared by Linda Bloom and Kelly Flatgard, patient care coordinators.

“The owners, Scott and Sarah Larson, look at not only the performance of the specialist, but also the also the entire scope of the hearing centers.”

Baumgartner graduated Austin High School 1982.