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Good Neighbors
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Luke Nance (left) and Al McNeill (NRCS photo by
Sabrenna Bryant – click to enlarge) |
Many can say they have been with a company for 25 or 30 years, but how many
can say they’ve been with an organization for 40 years? Engineers Al
McNeill and Luke Nance can — both having served 40-plus years with NRCS. So this year, South
Carolina NRCS is celebrating the accomplishments and career milestones of these
two outstanding agency pioneers and their over 80 years of service.
McNeill started working for NRCS as a student trainee during the summer of 1966,
and continued every summer until he graduated from Clemson University. After a
two-year stint in Alaska with the Army, he returned to NRCS, “I was eager to
return after my military service,” he said. “The agency had always been
good to me and I really felt comfortable there.”
He has worked in Greenwood, Anderson, Chester, Florence, Charleston, Walterboro,
and Columbia, South Carolina, as a hydraulic engineer, civil engineer, and a
design engineer. He has absolutely no regrets about the winding path his career
has taken in fact, he feels the diversity and flexibility in positions
and locations kept his job interesting. When asked if retirement was in his
future he said, “I’ll just take one day at a time.”
Like McNeill, Nance also served two years in the Army after graduating from Clemson,
but that’s where the similarity ends. Nance started with the agency in 1967 as a
Planning Engineer where he remained for the next 40 years. “I found my niche. When I started this job, I actually didn’t believe I would be here this long,”
he confessed. “But what can I say ― I love what I do!”
Nance has always worked in the NRCS State Office in Columbia, which was
fine with him. “It’s been a great location for me because I am close to my
family and in an area that I am familiar with. One of my favorite parts of
this job has been meeting the people from different agencies and communities
that we work with. I believe in the partnership approach to conservation, and
South Carolina has been a wonderful place to live and work.” Unlike McNeill,
Nance didn’t hesitate a bit when asked about his retirement plans. “After I
retire,
I want to volunteer with NRCS. I would rather be here doing what I love than
sitting at home twiddling my thumbs trying to figure out something else to do.”
Your contact is Sabrenna Bryant, NRCS public affairs specialist, at
803-765-5419.
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