Ekberg a dynamo with a good sense of humor

Rotary Club of Scenic 7 president Lisa Carey presents Lacey Ekberg with The Cranky Bear, a book to be given to Jessieville School in Ekberg's name.

Lacey Ekberg, the new Chamber executive director.

Lacey Ekberg has been the HSV Chamber of Commerce executive director and heading up new efforts of advertising and promotions for about a month now.

According to Ekberg her first 30 days have not been easy. She laughingly told members of the Rotary Club of Scenic 7 about a woman in a handicap cart chasing her across the WalMart parking lot screaming that Ekberg was the Antichrist for wanting to bring a younger group of people to the Village. The reality is the Village is getting younger. There are more and more families moving in to enjoy the security of a gated community. If the Village does not continue the trend of bringing families to the Village, the Village will stagnate and offer less amenities because it will have less income. Very few persons are guaranteed pensions that afford luxury living in retirement anymore. The Village has to own up to the times and they are a-changing.

New residents moving to the Village are active and love the amenities such as the trails, the recreation center and the safety factor. Many of them are computer savvy and still working in the cyberworld. Many are part of the workforce offering great medical care and therapies in the immediate area. More families guarantee the availability of varied and up-to-date health care.

Ekberg is spearheading an effort to work with Hot Springs and Little Rock to enhance cooperation with the existing tourist industry. Recently, she was able to acquire a three day conference in the Village through the Arlington Hotel. We were able to extend the use of our amenities to enhance a conference package bringing more income to our area.

Ekberg has been very busy in her first month. Her list of accomplishments and goals include the following.

A new website/domain name has been purchased, http://www.visithotspringsvillage.com/. The website should be up and running by January 1. It will not include information from POA or Chamber websites, but will contain links to both. This will be a marketing piece only, promoting the Village amenities. It will have separate pages for each golf course, event center, tennis center and more.

An electronic newsletter was started two weeks ago. It has run an events calendar and Chamber news as a pilot. The e-news will continue to add more information as necessary. Ekberg started with 522 e-mail addresses, now she has over 1,000 due to residents and members forwarding the letter to family and friends.

Leads and referrals from advertising, numbers are down for October from last year because no advertising has been done in the last few transitional months. Last year there were 2,209 contacts, this year there were only 760. All e-mail addresses are now being saved and the Chamber will start a separate newsletter/tickler to potential members listing events, specials, packages and more.

The Chamber has a new ad appearing in the Hot Springs Vacation Guide. There will also be ads placed in the Hot Springs Relocation Guide and the Hotel Guide.

The HSV Chamber will now work closely with the Arkansas Chamber to promote this area.

The Chamber is getting referrals for golf packages from the Hot Springs Chamber and the Convention Center.

At the end of this month/beginning of December a writer from Where to Retire magazine is coming to the Village to write an article. The writer will be in the Village for several days conducting interviews and taking pictures.

Webcams for local weather on the Arkansas television stations are being pursued.

Ekberg looks at her most urgent need at this time as a visitor center at the gates with information to promote the Village and to answer questions about the mystery of a gated community.

Ekberg has produced a whirlwind of activity since she started her position a month ago.

The Rotary Club of Scenic 7 meets Thursdays at noon at Molly O'Brien's on Highway 7. There is no meeting this Thursday as it is Thanksgiving.