USDA Rural Development State Director Bobby Goode announced the selection of the Multi-Family Housing Site Manager and Maintenance Person of the Year for 2015.
“A good manager guarantees the success of any apartment complex,” Goode said. “Beyond managing day-to-day operations, the best managers devote a great deal of their own time to provide tenants with a safe, affordable place to live and help them become a part of the community.”
This year’s awards were presented in two categories: Site Manager of the Year and Maintenance Person of the Year. The selections of 2015 are:
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Tennessee Site Manager of the Year: Paula Fuller from the Winchester Court Apartments, Tullahoma, TN
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Tennessee Maintenance Person of the Year: Jackie Kelly from the Viewmont Apartments, Newport, TN
Fuller has been in property management for 13 years and has been the site manager of Winchester Court Apartments for the past five years. Residents feel she is family. According to Lawrenceburg Multifamily Housing Specialist Beverly Peterson, Fuller “goes above and beyond what is required of her to help tenants get their paperwork submitted for Section 8 vouchers.” Fuller also “checks in on tenants, especially when they are ill.”
Kelly has provided maintenance services for Viewmont Apartments for close to five years. According to one tenant, Kelly is counted on to be “fast and efficient” when there is a problem. Jim Voltmer, Regional Property Manager for Partnership Property Management, says Kelly takes great pride in Viewmont’s appearance and “transferred his metal working skills to the site in the way of fabricating and installing handrails for residents who need them.”
Numerous apartment communities are managed by a small group of on-site individuals who take pride in their communities and consider each resident one of their own extended family members. Each year, RD recognizes the site manager and maintenance person who have set the standard for all other managers and awards them with the title and certificate.
The selections were made based upon tenant satisfaction with the manager/maintenance person and a combination of curb appeal of the property, timeliness and competency of maintenance, accurate and complete recordkeeping with no incidents of noncompliance and actions of the manager consistently above and beyond what is required.
In partnership with private lenders and borrowers, RD provides financing for the purchase of and improvements to affordable apartment complexes in rural areas of Tennessee. These developments meet the housing needs of families, senior citizens and the disabled. RD’s rural rental housing program provides financing with interest rates as low as 1 percent to developers who build or repair affordable multi-family rental housing to meet the demand for housing in rural communities.
USDA Rural Development is moving investments to rural America with housing, business and infrastructure loans and grants to create jobs and strengthen rural economies with an emphasis to assist areas of persistent poverty. Since 2009, the agency has assisted more than $1.5 million Tennessee families and businesses in 230 communities in all 95 counties of Tennessee, investing more than $5.4 billion through affordable loans, loan guarantees and grants.
For more information on USDA Rural Development programs available in Tennessee contact the Tennessee State Office at 615-783-1300 or 800-342-3149. Visit us online at www.rd.usda.gov/TN.