On Aug. 18, 2020, Art Harre, chief sales officer of Haviland, announced he will be stepping into a new role that will transition him into retirement. His message below provides further details on his decision:
Pool Industry Family,
I wanted to personally announce the beginning of the next phase of my career. As everyone knows I have always said the one constant in life is change. Now that we are in a pandemic the change is not only massive but we are changing every day, by the hour.
I made it clear to Haviland’s board of directors quite a while ago that my plan was to retire at 62. This year I turned 60 and I feel now is a good time to transition the pool business to its next generation of leaders.
To clarify, I will be working through the rest of this year and will then enter into a two year consultant agreement until the end of 2022, supporting Dave O’Brien, John Bokor and their teams to smoothly transition key customers and suppliers. I’m confident that we have the right team to take the business to the next level, and I’m excited to watch the success of the entire Haviland team in the future. The opportunity for the pool industry going forward is massive.
To state the obvious, I will miss you all. I started working in the pool industry in 1983 and at Haviland in 1993. I couldn’t have asked for a more rewarding way to spend the last four decades.
Above all else, I’m grateful for the people I met and the relationships I made – our customers, suppliers, competitors, the pool dealers and my Haviland family. I consider all of you my lifelong friends and I hope you will still hit me up for happy hour and a round of golf.
I’m looking forward to transitioning towards retirement and spending more time with family, friends and grandkids who call me “Poppy”. I wish everyone the best of luck, and please stay in touch. My contact information will stay the same for the immediate future.
All the best,
Art Harre