VISIT THE Fayetteville Public Utilities (FPU) website, and you’ll see that FPU serves 34,330 customers over a system undergirded by $213.3 million in gross plant assets, including 3,071 miles of utility lines. We go about our daily lives, scrolling on our laptops or tablets after a supper cooked on our favorite time-saving appliances. Our morning shower and the hot water for our dishwasher faithfully flow into our homes, all improving our quality of life with little interruptions, thanks to FPU.
Lifetime Fayetteville resident Kim Posey knows numbers and service. As the assistant manager of FPU, Posey is happy to work behind the scenes to positively impact the community she loves.
A career working with numbers was always her goal. She was leaning toward teaching math or becoming an accountant, at least until calculus class. Then the decision was easy, and Posey obtained her bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
Upon graduation, she was hired by Putnam & Hancock CPAs, obtained her certification in public accounting in 1994, and worked with the firm until 1999, when she became the finance director for the City of Fayetteville. In 2007, Posey became the manager of finance and office services at FPU.
“As I learned all about the technical aspects of the utility – and I still don’t know everything there is to know – my responsibilities grew, and in 2018 I got the opportunity to be named assistant manager,” Posey said.
In a traditionally male-dominated industry, Posey appreciates the weight of her position.
“‘I’m definitely humbled and honored that [CEO/General Manager] Mr. Dye and the board have confidence in me to help lead this company. I’ve been fortunate to work for leaders who have valued me for what I know and my abilities, and gender has never been an issue,” she said.
A family person at heart, FPU customers and her co-workers are her extended family. Working with and for that family frames her days, and her time with her husband, Scott, and their adult sons consumes her spare time in positive ways – like the electricity provided to FPU customers.
“When I first went to work at Putnam & Hancock, I was always introduced as Roy and Judy Jones’s daughter, and I was proud of that. People connected me with my parents, who taught me my work ethic and so forth,” Posey said. “And now, I’m Matthew and Nathan’s mama, and I’m proud of that, too.”
Their oldest son, Matthew, and his wife, Morgan, live in Murfreesboro, where Matthew is associate director of creative services in Middle Tennessee State University’s (MTSU) athletic communications department. Nathan is a junior at MTSU and works in the music ministry at Murfreesboro’s Northside Church.
She said, “I try to see them as much as possible when they’re not busy. When Nathan’s singing or playing somewhere, we try to make it, and we go up for Matthew’s sporting events. Keeping up with them while I’m going back to college to get my master’s in business administration has been very time-consuming.”
But thanks to online learning made possible by technology and public utilities, college is more accessible than ever.
“I love my job, and I enjoy coming to work every day. Some days are a challenge, but I truly enjoy the people I work with. I feel like we have a family atmosphere here at work, and it makes it enjoyable to come to work,” said Posey.
And when you’re family, you’re more than a number. GN
