Executive Leadership
Erik Hansen
Chief Executive Officer
Erik grew up on an Iowa farm and then moved to Colorado where he worked in marketing roles in the private sector and served as a County Commissioner, Mayor, and Councilmember in the Denver suburbs. Erik moved back the Midwest to take a position as a City Administrator and has been CEO since June of 2023.
He completed his MBA from the University of Denver and BA from Truman State University. Erik lives in Chanhassen; he enjoys spending time with his two college-age kids, is an avid skier, and spends way too much time on Zillow trolling homes and dreaming of his next home improvement project.
Erica Schulte King
Chief Operating Officer
Erica joined the SouthWest Transit team in March 2024 as Director of Marketing. In early 2025, she transitioned to Director of Brand Management before stepping into her current role as Chief Operating Officer in September 2025. She brings more than 25 years’ experience in strategic marketing, public relations, communications, and community engagement in the organic food and energy industries. Having worked at both the grassroots and senior leadership levels, Erica joins SouthWest Transit with a focus on service to the community, sustainability, and brand growth. In addition, Erica served on the Climate Collaborative Advisory Committee and was a founding Board Member of Citizens for the Minnehaha Creek Corridor. In 2022, Erica founded Kookaburra Meets aka "Minnesota Women", an organization committed to supporting women as well as local, independent businesses in the community. A graduate of the University of Connecticut, Erica moved from coastal Connecticut to landlocked Minnesota and raised her children among the lakes and parks of urban Minneapolis. Now a resident of Orono, Erica spends her time reading, walking, listening to podcasts, spending time on Lake Minnetonka with her husband, and anxiously awaiting texts from her grown children.