Editor’s Note: Wednesday is Administrative Professionals Week. The Republican-Times is celebrating by spotlighting two women who are integral parts of their organizations.
by Ronda Lickteig
R-T News Writer
What makes someone stay with the same job for more than 25 years? For two Trenton women, the answer is obvious – they love what they do!
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Vicki Weaver, executive staff assistant/public relations at North Central Missouri College, and Barb Harris, bookkeeper at People’s Co-Op and Tire, have been with their employers for more than 25 years, changing with the times and keeping things going behind the scenes.
Mrs. Harris started her job in 1985 at Co-Op’s old location at the intersection of Ninth and Monroe streets. A Trenton native who had attended the clerical program at Trenton Junior College, Mrs. Harris had a three-year stint at MFA and then stayed home a short time after the birth of her first child, but then went to Co-Op, where she wears a lot of hats in a day.
In addition to serving as the bookkeeper, she answers the phone, waits on the counter, makes deposits, gets the credit card information off the computer, schedules service appointments and handles the calls for propane and on-the-farm deliveries of gas and diesel fuel.
“I’ve actually gone back and brought oil and grease up when I can carry it. I’ve pumped gas, too, but I don’t like to tell anyone because I don’t want to keep doing it,” she laughed.
And she can be found making and bagging up the popcorn for which Co-Op is known.
When Mrs. Harris began her job, modern technology hadn’t impacted the workplace yet.
“Then, we did everything by hand. We still entered everything into ledger books,” she recalled, noting that she was “computer illiterate.”
Now computer technology is a mainstay of the local business. Prices used to be manually changed on the pumps; now they are changed in the cash register and are automatically changed at the pump. The prices were changed manually on the outdoor sign, as well, something that is also now done by computer.
While technology has made her job easier in some respects, it has had a negative effect on one of her favorite aspects of her job: seeing the people.
“There’s something that has changed: paying with a credit card at the pump” she said, pointing outside the window to a customer. “That lady used to come in all the time, but now she hardly ever comes in because she just pays at the pump.”
Yes, working with the people – her fellow employees and the customers – is her favorite part of the job.
“That’s probably what I like best, just being with the public – a least most of the time,” she laughed. “I like seeing the people and visiting with them.”
While she works in a male-dominated environment, she said that has not been a problem.
“Actually, when I have an irate customer, the men defend me.”
She also likes the flexibility her job has offered, especially now that she is enjoying her grandchildren. She and her husband, Claude, a farmer, have two sons, Zach and his wife, Jewell and their children, Spencer, Isaac and Jenna, and Cliff and his wife, Kristi, who are expecting their first child in August.
Like Mrs. Harris, Mrs. Weaver feels fortunate to have found a job she loves. She started at NCMC in September 1984 in the student services department and became the assistant to the president when the college and the Trenton R-9 School District separated in 1986. Only one staff member – Connie Spellman – has been at the college longer than she has.
“I’ve watched a lot of people come and go,” she said. “In fact, I was thinking the other day that when I came to work here, I was working with Bill Ausmus. Now I am working with his daughter (Dean of Instruction Dr. Jamie Hooyman).”
In addition to taking care of the president’s appointments and written communication, she serves as secretary of the board of trustees and as the official custodian of records. She took on the job of public relations in 2007, a position she was offered when the college was restructuring its staff. She writes most of the news releases that come from the college and takes and/or distributes photographs to media outlets. Her favorite parts of the job are the variety and the “written” part.
“I knew in high school I wanted to do this,” the THS graduate said. “I liked typing, I liked shorthand – you know, the old shorthand we learned. I knew this was the kind of work I wanted to do.”
She earned a certificate in secretarial science from Trenton Junior College in 1974 and an associate of arts degree in 1984. She then earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Tarkio College in 1989, taking the classes on the NCMC campus.
Again like Mrs. Harris, technology has changed the way she does her job.
“I remember watching Bill Ausmus bringing in the computers,” she recalled. “I hadn’t studied computers in the program and I had to learn it on the job. It was scary!”
Technology has also impacted the number of phone calls into Mrs. Weaver’s office. She recalled how when she was in the college’s secretarial program, located at that time on the second floor of Geyer Hall, there was one week in which all of the college’s phone calls were routed to the students, giving the students practical experience.
“We were all just petrified!” she said.
Between the college’s phone system and email, she said the calls have been cut in about half.
“Everyone just emails now,” she said. “And really, that’s fine with me. If they send an email, there’s a record of it!”
During her time at NCMC, Mrs. Weaver, an Iowa native who moved to Trenton at the age of 16, has raised a family. She and her husband, Kenny, are the parents of two sons, John, of Sedalia, and Jim and his wife, Mackenzie of Maryville, who are the parents of 13-month-old Drake.
Both women appear to be more than content in their current positions. While they obviously don’t stay in their jobs for the recognition, it would be hard to argue with the fact that they certainly deserve some!