Interim CEO David Smith will lead the Sparta White County Family YMCA through a leadership transition.
Smith said his focus will be maintaining the organization’s growth and expanding its service to the community. Smith said the decision to accept the position was easy because of his history working with the organization.
“The mission of our facility is to glorify God by empowering our community to reach its fullest potential in mind, body, and spirit,” Smith said. “And that emphasis on on the third word God is really prevalent in this facility. It’s prevalent in this mission, in the staff and our members. And so we try to step foot into that.”
Former CEO Kyle Goff sets to occupy the County Executive’s office. Smith said the application period for the permanent CEO position closed last Friday, and the Board of Directors will now begin the interview and selection process.
Smith said his primary goal during the interim period is to ensure the facility continues the trajectory of substantial growth established by his predecessor. Smith said he intends to evaluate and improve existing programs to better serve the specific needs of the local community.
“I want to keep the work that we as staff had started under Kyle and just keep it going forward,” Smith said. “And then just kind of improve where we can. We have so many different programs and so many different opportunities for our community. I want to take those and see what we can do to make them better and to be able to serve our community better.”
Smith said the role requires balancing high-level strategic planning, such as securing grant funding for childcare, with daily maintenance tasks like changing light bulbs. Smith said the strength of the organization lies in a staff that closely embodies the mission of being a resource for everyone in the community.
“This YMCA is important to me,” Smith said. “It’s kind of where I got started and I kind of found my love for helping people and the love for service. And so when they asked me to lead in the highest role in the organization, it was a no-brainer for me.”
Smith said the YMCA faces challenges regarding its facility, which was originally built in 1948 and has been operated by the YMCA since the 1990s. Smith said he is developing facility readiness plans to address wear and tear while ensuring the building can support long-term growth.
“The YMCA sees a need, develops a strategic plan to fulfill that need and then acts on it,” Smith said. “That’s what I want the YMCA to see. I can go to the YMCA for whatever need I have or what was simple as putting my headphones in and then walking on the treadmill or it could be as, as large as I, I’m needing in, in need of food and I need a resource or I’m in need of clothes, I need a resource. I want people to know that if they have a need that the YMCA is going to be willing to do what they can to help it.”
