Staff writer
Many in Marion are used to seeing Rick Burcky out and about as he collects trash around town, but few know that you may also see his work elsewhere, on the World Wide Web.
Burcky has been developing websites for the last 25 years since the “early” days of the Internet, he said.
“I’ve actually been using the Internet since the days when it was strictly for military/university use,” he said. “I’ve always been interested in computers.”
The Air Force sent him to programing classes for FORTRAN and COBOL while he was in its service, and he took a few college classes on his own.
“Shortly after I got out of the Air Force the Internet boom started, and I jumped in with both feet,” he said.
Burcky has been going strong ever since, researching new techniques to keep up with the ever changing world of the Internet.
The biggest change Burcky has seen is the emergence of streaming video and the popularity of social media, even though social media is not his favorite.
“I haven’t gone into it full time because I would have to charge way more than I do now to stay afloat,” he said. “Unlike most businesses, I would rather make a decent profit from several customers than make a killing off one or two.”
Burcky said the sites he has developed keep him busy. They range from small business to government and government organizations. Burcky has around 20 sites so far that he is proud to have designed.