Hot Springs Village Industry

I read through all of the attachment from Wayne P. Miller, UofA Department of Agriculture Professor. I must say, I am rather astounded. It is an impressive write up and description of Hot Springs Village. I would be looking for property here if I wasn’t ALREADY a property owner.

But, with that said, it makes me wonder why the POA office is not flooded with new people moving here. Could it be, because almost nobody in what should be our target market has heard of us in the past ten or so years?

What in the world was wrong with our marketing department? Did we even have a one? (I learned today that the POA just hired a Marketing Manager last Friday 25 October, 2019). Was it staffed with knowledgeable marketing professionals? It appears the previous 11 years of GMs and board members either didn’t know what they were doing or were unable to figure out how to do it.

From what I have seen of the Hot Springs Village politics from 11 years ago, being on the Board was status motivated rather than help motivated. It seemed more like a High School Student Body President election than a serious business position. This is just MY OPINION, but the results sure indicate there was something seriously lacking within the POA.

Some people say that Cooper deserted us because he finished up and left the Village during the 2007 – 2009 US financial recession. Of COURSE he did! He had to trim down business expenses just like EVERY OTHER BUSINESS in the US did until the recession blew over. So what? When he saw we were having problems last year he came back. He still has a very large vested interest in the Village. He still owns a significant amount of property. He still knows more about the Village than anyone else. We should be thanking him for stepping up to help us.

The big thing I take from all this is, and I hate to keep harping on it, we need a MARKETING team that knows what they are doing.

From what I have seen of the POA operation since moving here, I believe we need to get rid of the CEO position and hire a really good General Manager responsible for overall maintenance of EVERYTHING in the Village. Each Department should have a Director responsible for managing their piece of the business as a profit center and accounting records should be kept accordingly.

The General Manager should be over each of the other Directors and measure each Department’s effectiveness.

Turn each of the Golf Courses into regular profit centers, including related restaurants, golf carts, and all other assets that go along with each course.

Maintenance for the Golf Courses, Lakes, roads & streets, hiking trails, POA administration buildings, swimming pools, parks, and all other maintenance should come under the appropriate Director who should be measured against his/her objectives for the year. Each of the objectives should contain a budget objective and should support the overall POA objectives. The overall POA objectives should be written by the General Manager and approved by the Board of Directors.

I could continue but you get the idea.

Nalley has said that we should not be marketed as a retirement community because that will exclude the new Millennials. I have news for her; we already ARE a retirement community. The average age in 2016 of the Village residents was 68.84 years of age, and an amazing 78% of Village households receive Social Security. Our largest market is people of retirement age and that is where our strongest marketing efforts need to be applied! Some other retirement communities include age restrictions but not Hot Springs Village. We welcome families who are still in the job market into the Village but the area just doesn’t provide a lot of jobs. If we want to attract younger families we need to overcome this lack of opportunity.

The POA has looked into providing high speed internet for the Village but it was deemed not possible due to the terrain. It is very expensive to trench through solid limestone rock and that is the predominant situation here. So the POA deemed it impossible to provide such a service or amenity. That happened due to a lack of knowledge if not a lack of interest. One cable vendor cannot provide the desired high speed service but a mixture of two or three ISPs (Internet Service Providers) could provide coverage for well over 90 percent of the Village by utilizing 2 or 3 different types of service such as Broadband Cable, Broadband Wireless, or Broadband Fiber optic Cable. Did the POA solicit input from Suddenlink, Verizon, AT&T or others when making this decision?

The POA needs to rework their protective covenants to make landlords responsible for their Village properties meeting all building codes, and Village protective covenants. The POA also needs the horsepower to enforce it. There are way too many landlords who tell their tenants that THEY are responsible for maintaining the rented building or condominium.

The Village is short on rental units. Houses occupied by renters make up only 9% of the total residents in the Village yet the national average of renters in the US is 35%. The reason for this may be the age demographics where most people want to “own” their home instead of renting when they retire. Even so I am sure there is a need for several more rental units in the Village. Is that what the POA is trying to do with their “Pocket Neighborhoods”?

One would think if HSV is so important to the economy of the state that politicians might pay some attention the current situation where we are going downhill fast due to the absolute insanity of the board and “ceo”.

Keep in mind the data addressed in this article is from 2015 and published in 2016. Back in that timeframe, we didn’t have the charged environment we have today. Not sure politicians even want to touch situations the likes of ours.

What may not have come across in my article was my intent to reflect that the Village was and is a retirement community and it is that condition that makes us unique in the State of Arkansas. Knowing this only supports that we should continue to target this market as our short-term objective, while not ignoring any other age groups.

We are a community of all age groups but the recognition of what retirement income means to both this community and the State is a key factor in deciding how and where we spend our marketing dollars.