• Home
• News
• Local

KEARNEY - A year after the Workforce Development office in Kearney closed, one of its longtime employees is enjoying his retirement.

The closing was a surprise to Mark Balcomb, 56, a Workforce Development employment counselor. "It was a shock," Balcomb said. "I was just stunned and in disbelief. There was no hint or rumor."

For 33 years Balcomb helped people find jobs, change jobs or keep jobs. Now it was his turn to take a new career path.

Balcomb and five other Workforce Coordinators were given a week to decide if they would accept a transfer to the Grand Island office.

"That was hard, too," Balcomb said. "The whole process was pretty overwhelming and shocking. We had such a short time to decide what we were going to do."

He said he always told his clients, "When God shuts one door, he always opens another."

With the support of his wife, Mary, he took retirement and followed his dream to build children's furniture. "It was something we talked about a lot, and we were both good with it," he said.

Mary is his marketing director and Web master. She has worked at the Kearney Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center for the past 13 years. Before her career there, she received a degree from UNK at 43, after encouragement from her husband.

Balcomb is accustomed to seeing his advice pay off. Almost every day he sees someone in the community he's counseled. "People stop and thank me for helping them," he said. "They thank me for what we did. It's an ongoing reward."

Balcomb wanted to do something with his time that would be equally rewarding.

Growing up in Cozad, Balcomb learned woodworking skills from his father, Charles.

Balcomb started by making tables and chairs for his grandchildren. "That's why I love it," he said. "I make every piece of furniture as if I'm making it for my own grandkids. I have fun at it, and that's the main thing." He puts almost as many hours in working on children's furniture as he did working as a career counselor.

When Balcomb worked at the employment agency, he helped first-time job seekers who had never been in the work force before. He also worked with people who had been at the same job for years.

During a typical day he might counsel someone with a doctorate degree and then someone with a third-grade education.

What he misses most about working for Workforce Development is interaction with his clients.

He said the secret to his success was compassion. His clients "wanted someone to listen to them, and to understand them, and to support them, and be there for them."

He always emphasized the importance of a positive attitude and hope.

"We dealt with people who were upset, even angry," he said. "I had people who would cry at my desk, and even people I wasn't sure wouldn't take a swing at me. They just needed to vent, and we needed to be there to let them release that."

He helped many of those individuals start the process of changing their attitude and focus on the future.

A sign on his desk read "worry ends where hope begins." He listened to his own advice.

"I felt it didn't do any good to dwell on, or try to change, something I couldn't. It was time to make something good from that," Balcomb said.

e-mail to:

kevin.hervert@kearneyhub.com