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Case Study

The Lake County Veterans Service Office Improves Efficiency

Lake County Veterans Services partnered with EO Johnson to digitize 35 boxes of paper records, enabling secure, backed-up access from both office locations and improving responsiveness to Veterans and their families.


Service Provided

Secure Document Digitization

  • 36

    Boxes of Veteran Records Scanned

  • 114416

    Completed Images

  • 32

    Square Feet of Space Reclaimed

  • 3

    Weeks to Complete the Project

About the Lake County, MN Veterans Service Office

The mission of the Lake County Veterans Service Office, located in the Arrowhead Region of Northern Minnesota, is to honor and serve those who have served our nation by providing comprehensive support, advocacy, and assistance to Veterans, their families, survivors, and caregivers.

image of a veteran shaking hand with a VSO

  • The Challenge

    Lake County Veterans Services had a goal to become as near-paperless as possible. They found it was easy to reduce the amount of paper being generated but didn’t have a clear plan for the paper documents they had already accumulated. “The real challenge was what to do with the nearly 80 years of existing paper files,” said Brad Anderson, Lake County Veterans Service Officer. “I was looking to increase efficiency resulting in an improved customer service for our Veterans.”

    Adding to the complexity, Lake County Veterans Services has two office locations with their satellite office in Silver Bay, MN, but the paper files were only accessible at one office. “To call them accessible even in our main office might be a stretch, as the files resided on a different floor,” said Anderson. “The manual process of retrieving paper files negatively impacted our ability to effectively service our Veterans and their families.” It could take multiple days for Lake County to provide services to Veterans at their secondary location because of the paper files.

    After starting a document scanning project on their own, Lake County had only been able to scan about 10% of the files in four years. Anderson knew he needed help to complete the document digitization successfully and in a timely manner.

  • The Solution

    In collaboration with EO Johnson’s document scanning experts, Anderson established the following goals and outcomes for a formal document scanning project.

    • Improved efficiency and accessibility. Eliminate the inefficiency of the current paper-based system and file retrieval restrictions. Streamline access, enabling faster response times and an improved customer experience.
    • Enhanced security and compliance. Simplify compliance with privacy and security regulations through the management and storage of digital files.
    • Risk mitigation. Eliminate vulnerabilities related to the loss, damage, and destruction of paper files.
    • Space utilization. Repurpose the physical storage space being used to hold the paper files. 

    EO Johnson conducted a thorough site survey and provided a proposal. “EO Johnson demonstrated a comprehensive understanding of the complexities associated with scanning irreplaceable Veteran records,” said Anderson. “They completed a site survey when other vendors didn’t take the time to do so and had great attention to detail.”

From Paper to Purpose

Stronger Service Through Smarter Records

Digitization gave this Veterans organization the tools to serve faster, safer, and smarter - while honoring the people who matter most.

  • Improved Accessibility

    “We now have near-instant access to all Veterans files from any work location.”

  • Better Customer Experience

    “We have improved our customer service and response time now that we can perform text searches instead of manually searching through paper files.”

  • Enhanced Document Security

    “All our Veterans’ information is securely stored and backed up, allowing us to easily audit and retain files.”

  • Risk Mitigation

    "We have removed the inherent disaster risks associated with storing and maintaining paper files.”

  • “EO Johnson not only met but exceeded my requirements - overseeing every phase of the project, including secure transport, document prep, scanning, storage, transfer, and document destruction. Plus, we were able to continue serving our Veterans while the project was being completed.”

    Brad Anderson
    Lake County Veterans Service Officer

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