Woodbury businessman to appear on "The Apprentice"

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A 1995 graduate of Woodbury High School, Wade Hanson is a contestant on the new season of Donald Trump’s “The Apprentice."

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For four weeks this summer, Wade Hanson received a business opportunity of a lifetime. And America will get to see it unfold in primetime.

The Woodbury resident and real estate agent was one of 16 people from across the country to be chosen for the latest installment of the Donald Trump-run television reality series “The Apprentice.” The fall season will debut Sept. 16 on NBC, and Hanson, a 1995 Woodbury High School graduate, said the local buzz about his appearance as a contestant on the show is growing.

“I have run into a few people around town who tell me they’ve heard I’m going to be on the show,” said Hanson, who works for Re/Max Results in Woodbury. “It’s starting to get pretty exciting as it gets closer to airing.”

The outcome of the contest is already in the bag as the show was filmed in June (Hanson said he hasn’t even old his wife how it all turned out), but the Woodbury resident did say that just being in the presence of “The Donald,” was a thrill and a learning experience.

“(Trump) is an icon in the real estate industry,” Hanson said. “He’s a well respected entrepreneur, so just being in the presence of the Trump organization and in his famed Trump Tower, it was a priceless experience.”

Hanson, who has two elementary school-aged children with his wife Michelle, said he decided to apply to be a contestant on “The Apprentice” earlier this year.

The theme of the new season, which focuses on creating opportunities in an economic recession, was one that inspired Hanson to see if he could make it onto the famed reality series as he’s one of many in the real-estate business looking to “get back on track.”

“Back on the first of this year, I woke up and said ‘I’m gonna get back to where I was in this business before the recession,’” he said. “And the next thing I know I was getting a callback in March from the producers of ‘The Apprentice.’”

He eventually flew out to New York City and after a series of lengthy interviews was told he would be one of 16 contestants on the show.

This season will be the 10th for “The Apprentice,” which debuted in 2004. It will be the first time since the 2006-2007 season that the show will return to its original format of casting non-celebrities.

“It’s a pretty exciting experience,” Hanson said. “You are put in this unique situation, where you are competing with people you’ve just met for the same thing.”

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