PLYMOUTH – A science fiction and history devotee, Mark Patten, an applications engineer in the IT department, laughed at the question of whether he might be a nerd.

“Maybe a sophisticated geek,” said Mark, who confesses his obsession of watching The Curse of Oak Island, a bingeable series on the History Channel involving the endless tease of a buried treasure yet to be discovered.

As the Co-op’s most seasoned application engineer, Mark is our liaison to National Information Solutions Cooperative, the system that essentially touches all aspects of the business, which are used by members and employees alike. The outage map. Personnel and customer information. Payment systems. Financial modules.

“Mark is the man behind the curtain. He’s the guy who makes sure our most important software works the way it should, even if that means working nights, weekends and holidays,” said Seth Wheeler, Senior Communications Specialist and NHEC member who relies on the SmartHub app. “We take for granted that our systems function the way they should and a lot of the credit for that goes to Mark.”

During his 35-year career at the Co-op, Mark has seen the IT department travel through the centuries. Early systems and equipment resembled three large PCs and took up space, needed climate control and were limited in capacity. “Today you could probably do more on your smart watch,” Mark said. Over time, our core system “shrunk and shrunk and shrunk” and now also contain virtual servers within the smaller units themselves, he said.  

An engineer by day – Mark earned an MA in Management and Information Systems IT going to SNHU at night – in his off time, he is wicked avid about skiing. Starting when he was about 10 through programs Bristol offered for young people, Mark skied his way through high school competing in Inter-Lakes annual winter carnivals and placing in slalom and giant slalom competitions. He was his high school’s ski meister, having the highest score for all combined events. In school, Bill Karkheck, Susan’s husband, was one of the team’s co-skiers. And when Bretton Woods held its World Ski Marathon – an event that tested the endurance of the skiers and had doctors on hand checking body temperature vitals – Mark went 48 hours before he got pulled from the course.

Today, Mark and his wife have continued enjoying the slopes with their family. “We thoroughly enjoy Loon as our center because the snowmaking is so fabulous there,” he said.

When he talks about his career, more than the marvel of the machinery, Mark relishes the people he works with at the Co-op.

“The team of people here – when you have an incident that has to be addressed or major outages – everybody comes all hands on like no other place. It’s really fantastic. It’s great having the knowledge that you’ve got other people who have your back to get things resolved pretty quickly because everybody is fully engaged,” he said.