Mountain Park Ranch Homeowner Association (MPRHOA) is a sprawling desert community nestled beneath the shade of Phoenix South Mountain. A fixture in southern Arizona since the late 80’s, roughly 20,000 people call these 3,000 acres home. The community is handily run by the MPRHOA, which aims to nurture a sense of belonging, facilitate social activities, and provide for the maintenance, preservation and welfare of the community. Without favoring any single demographic, the neighborhood contains a rich tapestry of families, seniors and young adults.
The association is led by Executive Director Jim Welch, (CMCA, AMS, LSM, PCAM), a Michigander whose love of the perennial heat drew him to Arizona in the early aughts. Having weathered his share of frigid Midwestern winters, he set his sights on Phoenix, with the ultimate goal to self-manage a large-scale community one day. Jim came to Mountain Park Ranch equipped with a robust resume of real estate management and investment experience, which now spans more than 25 years.
After fifteen years in his position, Jim prides himself on taking four-mile-long runs through the community in the late afternoon. This allows him to bask in the heat, relieve stress and take stock of the property in one fell swoop. With almost paternal vigilance, he surveys the grounds while enjoying warm exchanges with homeowners on his path. As the face of the HOA, Jim aims to promote unparalleled accessibility, letting members know they can always reach out to him with questions or concerns.
As Executive Director, every day presents Jim with an array of new ideas and challenges. “It’s not a 9-5 type job,” he explains, “It’s a 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week, 365-days-a-year commitment. If someone tells you differently, they may not be managing their community successfully.” He adds with a chuckle. His role can sometimes be that of a mediator – not only between homeowner and HOA, but between homeowner and homeowner. “My goal is to help people come to a win-win situation.” This demands a great deal of empathy, in order to see conflicts with impartial eyes and understand what each party is going through. To Jim, who is also certified in mediation, there’s nothing quite like putting a dispute to bed with a firm handshake, knowing that everyone left the discussion happy with the outcome.
When asked to elaborate on the challenges of running a community of thousands, Jim will be the first to tell you that it comes with incredible mailing demands. Thousands of documents have to go out the door on a monthly basis. Management and mediation already accounted for a massive portion of Jim’s and his team’s day, let alone having to print, pack and address every sheet of paper that needed to land in homeowners’ mailboxes. He was yearning for a solution that could take the pressures of mailing off his plate.
He started his search at the local level and was lucky enough to cross paths with Page Per Page, a printing and mailing company that specializes in the HOA market. Jim reached out to the team himself. “We wanted to find a company that could handle an association our size. They worked very closely with us, and always met our goal as to timing and product.” He says. Mountain Park Ranch has happily called Page Per Page their mailing partner for five years.
Between Jim, his team and their partners, it takes a number of people to run an efficient community with high homeowner satisfaction. Under his watchful eye, the HOA’s staff, partners and members work synergistically to achieve an optimal experience for the entire Mountain Park Ranch community. The end result is a seamlessly run association whose members are kept informed, heard out and above all – cared for.
