FOR 28 years Barry Murphy as watched Challenge Community Services blossom into the thriving business it is today.
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However, the 71-year-old has decided this year will be his last as he will enter retirement before the year's end.
"I'm really lucky because I wake up every morning keen to come to work and not a lot of people can say that," Mr Murphy told the Leader.
"I've always felt like that and I've really enjoyed every minute of my time with Challenge.
"We work in some difficult areas and require specialist staff and I've been very fortunate to work with some great people over the years."
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Mr Murphy said he had enjoyed many highlights during his tenure with Challenge, but the construction of a vital piece of infrastructure is still atop his list.
"I think building the recycling plant, which was one of the first things I did has to be a highlight," he said.
"Just taking over the management of the construction of that plant was overwhelming at first and we struggled to find funding for it.
"People from across the board would come and look at it and say 'our people can't do that', but just look at it now."
Since its inception, the recycling centre has helped hundreds of locals with disabilities find work and give back to their community.
"We've got business services in Muswellbrook, Tamworth and Narrabri, which are helping people into jobs," Mr Murphy said.
"At the moment, both Tamworth and Narrabri with the recycling have been going flat out, while Muswellbrook slowed down a little bit, they're now back at full go.
"Our scanning business has kept going and things are going really well across the board.
"From when I started, we had 70 staff and now we have got about 950 employees."
Despite entering retirement, Mr Murphy said he had no plans to "slow down just yet".
"Look I'll retire, but I don't want to stop working," he said.
"When I was a young bloke and I was working in the TAB, a bloke training us asked everyone what they were going to do when they retired and everyone had an answer except me.
"He then told me: '70 per cent of people who didn't plan their retirement died a lot earlier' and at the time I didn't think much of it.
"However, both my parents retired at 60 and they passed away not much later, at which point I thought he was onto something and I promised myself to keep busy once I retired by still working a couple of days a week."
Challenge has already begun the search for a successor, but Mr Murphy said he would help with the transition process.
"I won't be going until later in the year to make sure everything is good to go," he said.
"My advice for whoever comes next is that it is really important to remember what the organisation is all about, which is people," he said.
"I get really concerned with organisations that are only concerned with spreadsheets, balance sheets and bottom lines.
"While those things are important, they are not as important as the people you provide services to."
