Bill Hartle is using his 40 years of service in the grocery business in his new position as program director for the White County Aging Program.
Hartle, 68, was hired last month to run the Searcy senior-citizen facility, which has satellite centers in Garner, Griffithville, Pangburn, Bradford and Russell.
“When this job came open, I applied for it,” Hartle said. “I did three interviews. Finally, they called me on a Friday and asked me if I wanted to start work on Monday. That was three weeks ago.”
Hartle worked in the grocery business for 40 years following his graduation from Bald Knob High School in 1968.
Hartle said he was interested in the position with the White County Aging Program because his mother is 88 years old and uses some of the services provided by the program.
“It’s dealing with the elderly-type people,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to help people. I’ve got a mother who is 88. She’s got to have a lot of help and stuff like that. I’ve helped her. I like being with people. I know a little bit about the White County Aging Program. I figured it would be something I could be useful at. I didn’t feel like I wanted to quit working yet.”
Brenda Dunn, chairwoman of the White County Aging Program Board of Directors, said 15 people applied for the position of program director.
“Bill came back for a second interview, and we narrowed it down over a period of time …,” Dunn said. “He was a perfect fit. … He doesn’t get upset about anything. He can handle large numbers. We have a pretty-good-sized budget for the White County Aging Program. He can crunch numbers pretty well.”
Dunn said Hartle’s knowledge of the grocery industry will serve him well in his new job.
“His previous work was related to Sexton Foods in Bald Knob,” she said. “He has a vast amount of knowledge procuring food and food-service equipment. He has worked with a lot of employees, so he’s got good personnel/human-resources skills. He’s real easygoing.”
The biggest service the program provides is meals in the six locations, as well as deliveries to qualified senior citizens.
“We have meals at the centers,” Hartle said. “We also have eight trucks that are on the road that take hot food or frozen meals to people in White County.”
Hartle said not all of the centers in the county are equipped to prepare food, but they are provided meals.
“The ones that don’t cook food, we deliver to those centers, hot meals and frozen ones,” he said. “In our trucks, we deliver all the way to McRae, Beebe, Rose Bud, Pleasant Plains … anywhere in White County. People can call in, and we do deliver.”
Dunn said she is impressed at how Hartle has already visited the other centers for the program.
“He’s already got a knowledge of the other feeding sites, what’s going on at those centers,” she said. “He’s stationed in Searcy, but he’s already gotten out and done a whole lot of visiting and finding out about the program. He asked questions. We’re pleased with him.”
Hartle was born and raised in Missouri. He moved to Marmaduke in northeast Arkansas when he was in the first grade, then moved to Bald Knob in 1965.
“After high school, I was in the grocery business from stocker to produce manager to supervisor to owner,” Hartle said. “I owned five stores after I bought them from Charles Sexton.”
Hartle owned Sexton Foods in Bald Knob and Searcy and also owned grocery stores in Greenbrier, Atkins and Morrilton.
“You get to meet a lot of different kinds of people in the grocery industry,” Hartle said. “It’s just something I fell in love with from all aspects, including working in the produce department, meat department, grocery department and managing people. I just loved it and stayed with it.”
He owned those stores for eight years before selling them in 2012.
At that point, Hartle became certified in safety inspections, working in Florida, Oklahoma and Ohio while still living in Arkansas.
“I just had some experience about it,” Hartle said. “I’ve got a son-in-law who works for Nucor Steel. I went online and spent about six months taking tests and studying up. I got my certification and got some on-the-job training.”
Hartle did that for a few years before needing to stop because of all the walking it involved.
“I had a four-bypass surgery a few years back, and they take the veins out of your legs,” he said. “That hurt my legs a little bit, and I’m not as stout as I used to be. I just had to do a lot of walking, and my legs were giving out on me.”
Hartle said he’s enjoying the job so far.
“It’s going pretty good,” he said. “There’s a lot of paperwork to get oriented to. As far as dealing with people, I fell right in with that. I’ve always been dealing with people. I find out what the seniors need and want. I’ve been checking on that.
“I do know there are a lot of regulations that you have to abide by, and you’ve always got to deal with the government in those situations, even though this is a nonprofit organization. There are certain things you’ve got to make sure are maintained right.”
Hartle said the center also provides bingo and exercise classes among its many activities.
“Since this is a nonprofit organization, we have to try to raise funds by donations and grants,” he said. “We have to do that to get money to keep operating.”
Staff writer Mark Buffalo can be reached at (501) 399-3676 or mbuffalo@arkansasonline.com.