Staff Profile
David Balberchak, building supervisor
SMCC has dozens of buildings. When the roofs don’t leak, the lights turn on and the water keeps flowing, you can thank David Balberchak and his staff.
As the Building and Trades Supervisor in the Facilities Maintenance Department, Balberchak oversees anything to do with SMCC’s buildings and the staff members who take care of them. He also works with outside contractors who perform work on the buildings.
Before coming to SMCC in 2014, Balberchak worked for nearly 25 years in construction management positions in Boston and later in Albany, N.Y. He also had a 3-year stint teaching hospitality (he has a culinary degree from Johnson & Wales University) at a resort in New York.
When he’s not working, he likes to listen to classical music, do line pencil architectural floor plan drawings, work in his flower gardens and walk Maine’s beaches with his wife.
At work, Balberchak meticulously plans out the various jobs that need doing in SMCC’s many buildings. But it’s his staff that deserves the credit for executing the plans, he says.
“I love putting together spreadsheets and timelines and seeing projects through to fruition. And kudos to my staff. They make what has been laid out come together.”
Alumni Profile
Vickie Morgan, comfortable with the camera
Vickie Morgan is making a go at filmmaking, both in front of and behind the camera.
A native of St. John’s, Newfoundland, Vickie first arrived at SMCC seven years as a part-time student. While balancing family with school, she attended both SMCC and USM, first earning a bachelor’s in communication at USM before earning an associate degree in Liberal Studies-Psychology from SMCC in May.
She previously earned an associate degree in business marketing in Newfoundland and now plans to go after a master’s degree in adult education.
Outside of college, Vickie last year started a video production company (www.mpowermaine.com) and has been producing a show called “Ounce of Prevention” that appears on 27 public access TV stations in Maine and seven other states.
She’s now working on a documentary about how people with opposing political views — in this case, gun control and gun rights — can find common ground using a mindfulness technique. And in the future, she hopes to use her video projects as educational tools.
Vickie credits SMCC, the TRIO program, and faculty and staff with giving her strong support.
“The community college experience at SMCC is worlds apart from anything else I found.”