I was a mechanical engineering student at SUNY Maritime College, and switched over to the facilities engineering program. Maritime College trains merchant mariners, and it was known as the "shipping out degree," for students that just wanted to work on ships.
In my Facilities Design Class, someone asked the professor "why we need to learn how to design a building, if we're all going to be shipping out?" After a quick conversation, the professor learned what we had been told about the degree and what we thought our career path would have to be. He spoke to us about how we would be the ones running buildings, stadiums, and all kinds of locations around the world. Later that semester, the Professor had a networking event between us and IFMA. It was my first exposure to the FM world.
I graduated in 2007 and joined Con Edison, the local power company. I worked in three different plants until making the move into Facilities. I love it. I manage two locations, and I have a team the works well together. I use a combination of vendors in addition to my own in-house staff. I'm working on a few NYC licenses and credentials, in addition to my FMP, and hope to continue to move up.
I have my eyes set on being the facilities manager of our corporate headquarters, a 27 story building in union square. ::fingers crossed::
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Daniel Pego
Operating Supervisor
Consolidated Edison of NY
Brooklyn NY
6468327100
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Original Message:
Sent: 10-25-2017 09:41
From: Laura Svitak
Subject: #futureFM
Thrilled to have an IFMA Engage Group where we can connect with fellow YPs! This will be a helpful resource for us to share ideas, innovations and best practices and tackle challenges together.
I stumbled into FM in my early 20s and instinctively knew I'd found my career of choice. New projects and challenges each day, opportunities to collaborate with many colleagues and teams throughout our organization, but most importantly - I enjoyed my work and the skills came naturally. What brought you to facilities management? College track? A mentor? Serendipity? Share your #futureFM story!
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Laura Svitak, FMP
Volunteer, IFMA's Young Professional Group
Administrative Services Manager
Cleveland Foundation
Cleveland OH
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