The Village of Callaway recently brought a new employee on board, and the board is proud to introduce Amber Harrison as the new Economic Development Director.

Amber is a native of Colorado, born and raised in Littleton, where she lived until about the age of 25. She said then, as is common with many young adults, she began traveling the countryside trying to figure out where she wanted to be and what she wanted to do with her life.

“I started traveling around the Pacific Northwest in my van. I lived in Washington state for two months then in Idaho for three years,” she said.

Amber said family ties to Nebraska enticed her to give the area a try for herself. Her mom was born and raised in Sargent, but raised Amber in Colorado. Eight years ago, her mom moved to Callaway with Amber’s younger brother and sister.

“When both of them went off to college I decided to come back and help my mom, Carol. She has MS so I help take care of her. I have been in Callaway now for three years,” Amber said. “I love the outdoors and small towns.”

She said she has worked in several different jobs over the years, but has never done anything with economic development until now. “I was the assistant manager for a rental car business, the assistant manager for an indoor jungle gym for kids, and I have worked retail a lot. When I first moved to Callaway I worked at the market for about two years or so,” said Amber.

Amber also worked at the daycare, where she continues to fill in when needed, helps out part-time at Henry’s Bar, and bartends at One Box Convention Center once or twice a month for special events.

The economic development position in Callaway is just part-time.

“I am really passionate about making sure that this is a good community where people want to live,” Amber responded when asked what made her want to try her hand at economic development. “I really like small communities and the businesses, and I think it is really important to make sure we continue building these little communities for small town America.

When I was a kid my mom used to talk about how many people used to live in Sargent when she was growing up there and how the town has dwindled.”

Those stories, she said, motivate her to do all she can to help build up Callaway.

Communication is something she sees as a very important element to achieving that goal, as well as investing in childcare and early childhood education. Amber said the former economic developer completed a project under her tenure that helped enhance the community by adding broadband.

“We were one of the first communities to receive full fiber optic broadband internet,” said Amber. “Now we have that running through town and that is a really big draw for those who work remotely; and the cost of living is lower here. They can make a bigger and better life for themselves here.”

Amber just began her new job in August and dove headfirst into working on potential grants and programs to assist with daycare, rural workforce housing, and other issues.

She can be found in the new Economic Development Office location at 105 S.

Grand Ave. - the southernmost door at the brick building across from the market - on Monday mornings and Thursday afternoons, or by appointment.

Contact Ellen Mortensen at ellen@syndicatepub.com