The HSVPOA Board sent out the following eblast to Village Property Owners on December 17, 2021.
NEW GENERAL MANAGER TO ASSUME POSITION Feb. 1, 2022
The Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Kelly Hale has accepted the position of General Manager for the Hot Springs Village POA. The Board interviewed candidates with a wide range of experience and expertise – from City Manager to HOA Manager to Hospitality Manager to Corporate Executive – and Mr. Hale clearly had the background that so well fits the needs of our complex community.
Before retiring in April 2021, during his 36 years with United Parcel Service (UPS), Mr. Hale’s responsibilities continuously grew in scope, giving him a breadth of experience and expertise that, in addition to his BA degree in the Science of Management, more than qualify him to become the Hot Springs Village General Manager. Over the years, Mr. Hale held positions in the following functions – Operations, Security, Airlines, Human Resources and Engineering. As Vice President of the Central Zone before his retirement from UPS, he had the highest degree of responsibility for operations in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas.
Of specific relevance for his new role as HSV General Manager, during his career with UPS Mr. Hale managed various staffs involved in:
- Economic development
- Human resources
- Marketing
- Engineering
- Maintenance
- Fleet
- Operations
- Budget development and cost controls
- Security
Mr. Hale and his wife of 32 years, Mary Ann, moved to HSV in April 2021 and in November moved into their completed home. They are looking forward to settling down in Hot Springs Village after being relocated 7 times over the past 20 years. During that time, they lived in Chicago (2 times), Des Moines, Omaha, Seattle, Dallas, and Indianapolis. Three years ago, they came to HSV to visit Mr. Hale’s mother, and knew this was where they wanted to retire when the time came.
Mr. Hale’s salary as the General Manager will be $192,000 annually plus the use of a POA vehicle. He will be bringing his own benefits provided by UPS as part of his retirement package. Since he is already a resident of HSV, the offer of employment does not include moving or temporary housing expenses. Mr. Hale will be an at-will employee, with no contract involved, and will begin his GM role on February 1, 2022.
The Board and POA staff are working on an informal meet and greet to enable residents to personally welcome their new General Manager. The event will also provide the opportunity to thank John Paul for his commitment to this Village over the many months he served as interim General Manager. The date and details for the event will be provided via the Village Digest.
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Melinda Alvord
12/17/2021 — 8:09 pm
Hallelujah! Great way to start off 2022. Congratulations to the Board and to Kelly Hale. Things are looking very positive for Hot Springs Village going forward.
Jess Jackson
12/17/2021 — 8:25 pm
Mr Kelly, has a strong background in a small segment of the transportation industry, which is highly regulated by both federal and state agencies. I don’t see much financial or cost accounting education or background. I had hoped our new GM, would have a civil engineering knowledge of infrastructure, water, sewage, and street repair and hopefully an HOA, or POA understanding. Mr Kelly has neither. Hopefully, mr Kelly, is a quick learner, and can provide some strong financial leadership. Being a local resident is a plus if all other requirements are equal.
Melinda Alvord
12/17/2021 — 9:32 pm
Our new manager is Kelly Hale, not Mr. Kelly.
Mrs. Katherine Miller
12/18/2021 — 12:12 am
“Mr Jess”, Your preemptive strike is embarrassing. Let’s pray that the Hales are blessed with infinite patience and good humor to tolerate The Village Idiots. UPS is not a small segment of anything. UPS is the largest global courier, operating in over 220 countries. Using his management skills, Mr Hale rose to Vice President over part of it. Obviously, he is a faster learner than you have comprehended … There is no logic in expecting any one person to specialize professionally in both accounting and engineering. We have accountants and engineers for that.
Jess Jackson
12/17/2021 — 8:41 pm
Mr Hale, has spent his career in a small segment of the transportation industry, which is highly regulated by state and federal agencies. He doesn’t have much needed financial background either by education or training that I had hoped for. I had hoped we could have found someone with a civil engineering understanding of infrastructure. I thought we were looking for someone with a HOA,POA, and marketing experience. Guess not. Having a good local person is a positive as long as other qualification are equal. Hope mr Kelly, is a fast learner.
Scott McCord
12/18/2021 — 9:42 am
Congratulations Kelly Hale.
Glad to have you as our new General Manager.
I wish you the best as you assume this challenging position in our community.
LLOYD SHERMAN
12/17/2021 — 9:32 pm
Let’s all wish Kelly Hale success. While his background might not appear to fill the requirements of a General Manager, he deserves the opportunity to leverage upon his 36 years of experience. My largest hope for him is that property owners won’t brutalize him as has been done in the past by some. A General Manager’s job is to direct the resources, not be an engineer, or know exactly how a water treatment plant works. You hire those skills. The GM needs to get everybody rowing in the same direction. I’m pleased to see the decision made and like I said, let’s give him time to get settled in and become familiar with our operations and personnel. Experience tells us that we should know within about 90 days if Kelly has what it takes to run this very complex machine. Good luck Kelly!
Janet Rowe
12/17/2021 — 11:13 pm
Mr. Hale has been doing his homework and learning the ways of the Village, He has attended meetings of all of the Committees in the Village in preparation of learning some of the workings of the Village. He is very personable and easy to get along with. I wish him the best and hope that he is given a chance to settle in with the position.
Marc Bayer
12/18/2021 — 8:34 am
Sounds like he has the background to MANAGE most every aspect of our community other than recreation. As a successful executive he should be able to also manage that aspect of our operation.
He has much more of a skill set than the one other property owner who wanted the job,IMHO.
steve bylow
12/18/2021 — 9:44 am
I am rooting for Kelly Hale to be successful as our new GM.
I am somewhat surprised someone who worked at one deliver company their entire career was selected. UPS is an excellent large for-profit organization but it is very different than a relatively small non-profit like the POA.
My guess is the Board felt the POA has enough subject matter experts to “run the business” and did not need a GM with a more relevant work history.
I think it is great he knows the Village and has held senior management level positions in the past.
I hope he challenges the staff to benchmark other organizations for ways to improve the POA efficiency and effectiveness.
Frank Shears aka Bubba McGillicuty
12/18/2021 — 4:58 pm
Welcome aboard Mr. Hale and thank you for joining our POA management team.
Linda Anderson
12/18/2021 — 5:38 pm
Congratulations Mr. Hale on your New position as GM. I hope you and Mrs. Hale will love the Village for its beautiful nature parklike setting. I am sure everyone will look forward to getting to know you. As Mr. Jackson stated our Village is all about a very complex infrastructure system composed of many divisions that need attention to keep everything running smoothly and maintain its beauty.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
David L. Henderson
12/19/2021 — 6:30 pm
We should all extend our very best wishes and support to our new General Manager, Kelly Hale!
From what’s been reported, two powerful positives to his appointment are immediately obvious.
First, since he’s already completed a very successful career, he won’t likely be using this appointment as a stepping-stone to a more lucrative position elsewhere.
And second, since he is apparently happy with life in the Village as it is, he is likely to favor preserving the many good things we now have, rather than transforming our community into his personal concept of Camelot.
Michael Williams
12/20/2021 — 12:13 pm
Welcome to our new GM and thanks to our departing interim GM, John Paul for doing an excellent job.
Looks like a great hire. The General MANAGER’S job is just that: building and managing a team of professionals. Best of luck to Mr. Hale. Let’s all get behind this guy and help him succeed.
Merry Christmas to all.
Jama Lopez
12/22/2021 — 11:45 pm
Wishing Mr. Hale great success!
LLOYD SHERMAN
12/29/2021 — 8:29 am
I hope Mr. Hale is taking the time to also read posts like I am about to post. While I believe the majority of property owners wish him the best as he steps in as General Manager, I found the article in this weeks Voice at little concerning. He refers to the Village as a Resort. The last thing the Village is, or can be, is a resort. We have nothing that is going to draw the “resort” community to our doors. Many of us have fought for years now to change this “resort” mentality to one of supporting our private community for what it is; not what someone wishes it could be. We have way too many influencers who somehow think we can be a resort draw and it has cost us millions of our assessment dollars. So please Mr. Hale, don’t buy into this ongoing issue and focus on taking care of the private community and the offerings we currently have. Any good GM will focus not only on improving our current operations but will also place an emphasis on growing our top line at the same time. You can’t put a square peg in a round hole and it is time to quit trying. I really wish you the best as you step into this position, but we have now gone through three GM’s who wanted this place to be something it just can’t be and the majority don’t want.
John Szczepaniak
12/29/2021 — 2:32 pm
I wish him good luck. However, we cannot close our eyes to the fact that there certainly will be some major opposition to change. Some people think we can do just fine as closed private community. Can we do that and still maintain the vast amount of outdoor and indoor recreation facilities and still keep assessments low? We all must somehow find a way to compromise. It remains to be seen if that will happen.
Kim Ellen Bailey
01/02/2022 — 5:27 pm
Congratulations Kelly. You are a kind and good man. Bless you and MaryAnne for taking on this endeavor. It is not a small undertaking and We know that you are well able to handle it. Prayers from the Baileys.
Doc & Kim