In late 2025, PeopleService acquired Preferred Controls, an automation and controls company serving utilities and municipalities based in Albany, MN. In the months ahead, we’ll be introducing you to members of the Preferred Controls team and the work they do.
When something stops working, Jay Benson likes to be the person who gets it running again.
As Systems Integrator and Office Manager for Preferred Controls’ Minot, North Dakota office, Jay leads a small but highly responsive team serving municipalities and utility clients throughout the state. Since joining Preferred Controls in 2018, he has helped communities troubleshoot system failures, fine-tune equipment and keep critical water and wastewater operations running smoothly — often in some of the harshest winter conditions in the country.
Jay’s path to this work started in the U.S. Air Force, where he spent 11 years working on B-52 aircraft as a radio and navigator equipment mechanic. He left the service in 2016 as a Technical Sergeant, bringing with him deep technical experience and leadership skills that translated naturally into the world of automation, controls and system programming. After leaving the Air Force, he found his way to Preferred Controls, where his curiosity and hands-on mindset quickly made the work a natural fit.
Jay manages a small team responsible for supporting a mix of municipal and utility clients, most of them in water and wastewater. Their work ranges from troubleshooting equipment failures and recalibrating drifting instruments to adjusting programming and responding to urgent service calls — often in extreme winter conditions. Clear communication and understanding the problem before arriving on site, Jay says, are key to resolving issues quickly and effectively.
For Jay, the most rewarding moments come when a system that wasn’t working comes back to life. “When a customer calls with an emergency and we can get them back up and running the same day — and they’re happy — that’s a good day.”