Doing all the good he can

Sep 9, 2009

San Marcos Daily Record

San Marcos — “Do all the good you can….”

Day in, day out, that motto reflects the attitude and commitment of Keith McCollum, employer specialist at Workforce Solutions, Rural Capital Area.

And not just in his 8-5 job, but in his life as well.

“After Hurricane Ike, we went down there to 'ground zero' and met the people whose homes and businesses had just been destroyed,” McCollum said. “I was impressed at how close knit the community was, everyone helping each other. That inspired me to come back here and get even more involved.”

McCollum was already active in the Rotary Club and serving on the Business Development Committee of the San Marcos Chamber of Commerce as well as the Business Industry Council at Gary Jobs Corps. Now he is taking that community involvement a step farther as mission director at Staples United Methodist Church.

“I think the motto sums up what living a meaningful life is all about,” McCollum said.

“It says, 'Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can!”

“For me, it's about helping people. In my daily job I work with employers to bring in workers, and for many in this economy it's about retraining and pursuing new careers,” McCollum said.

The Houston native first came to San Marcos in 1986 to attend what is now Texas State University. Majoring in psychology and social work, McCollum worked at the San Marcos Treatment Center before coming to Workforce Solutions right after 9/11. Perhaps one of the most rewarding programs McCollum has been involved in has been the just completed summer youth program using federal stimulus money.

“We were able to place 100 kids, ages 16-22 years old, in this program which put them in a real work environment. There was no cost to employers as the stimulus money picked up 100 percent of the kids’ salaries,” McCollum said. “It was a win-win situation for everyone. The kids got job exposure and education, the employers got extra labor at no cost to the business and the community benefits from the dollars earned staying right here in our community.”

McCollum sees first hand daily the desire of people to find jobs. One employer that just opened under a year ago used Workforce Solutions to accept and screen applicants and received more than 2,000 applications for barely 200 actual jobs.

Another program that has met with success locally is one that provides on-the-job training to adults with a 50/50 split on salary costs to employers. Running three months, or 520 hours, the program allows employers to bring in new workers and give them the necessary training and skills, while absorbing only half the salary costs during the initial phase. It also gives both the employer and worker a chance to see how the match is working.

“The goal is to get the unemployed back to being employed, and to do so we work both with individuals seeking a job as well as the employers who need workers. The system is free to employers, and for workers we provide things like mock interview classes, copiers, faxes, access to computers for job searches and resume development,” McCollum said.

Retraining has become a focal point in the current economy as many jobs have “disappeared” and workers are having to turn to new careers. To that end, McCollum says they have programs that assist with retraining into careers that are in demand in this area. Some of those are short term training like truck driving, while others like LVN and RN can take up to two years.

Even on his “quiet time” McCollum is about service to the community. Many weekends are spent peacefully kayaking the San Marcos River with his family, all the while filling trash bags with debris left behind by others ... doing all the good he can, as long as ever he can.