Mike has been an active member of IFMA since 1989. He was a member of the Philadelphia Chapter of IFMA Board since 1991, and served as IFMA Philadelphia Chapter President from 2000-2002.
Mike is currently employed at WSFS Bank as Vice President, Corporate Facilities Manager. Past employment experience includes 12 years as Facilities & Property Manager for JLL, 11 years as Regional Facilities Manager for the McKesson Corporation, and 11 years as a Facilities Coordinator at Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company.
Mike has a Bachelor of Business Administration from Temple University. Present Licenses & Certifications include Certified Facility Manager (since 1998) and LEED Green Associate.
How did you get into Facility Management?
Completely by accident. In 1989, my position in another department was eliminated due to internal restructuring, but I was given the opportunity to apply for a new Facilities Assistant position. I’d never even heard of Facilities Management before, but I quickly found that I enjoyed the unique challenges of the FM world—a fast paced environment, opportunities for problem solving and learning new skills, and the dual excitement/challenge of facing something new every day.
Tell us about a favorite project.
It would have to be my involvement in getting one of my facilities ready for the Pope’s 2015 visit to Philadelphia. The building is located across the street from Independence Mall, which was Ground Zero for the Pope’s speech. With the city deciding to close the streets in a 10 block radius around the Park to all traffic, we had to figure how to keep a 24/7 facility operating for a 3 day period. It was a multi team project that required collaboration with both internal stakeholders and outside groups as disparate as the Mayor’s office, the Secret Service, and Homeland Security. Despite almost weekly changes in the plan from the city, we managed to keep operations working smoothly during the event.
Tell us about a challenge or obstacle that you faced in the Facilities field and how you overcame it.
The greatest challenge is an ongoing one, and that’s keeping information about our facilities up to date. In my current role, I have a portfolio made of properties acquired through past mergers and acquisitions. Because of this, nothing is standardized, and many important documents are missing or out of date. I haven’t solved this problem, but I think the first step is digitizing all paper documents and saving on a shared drive so that they are accessible from anyone’s computer.
What is something that most people do not know about you?
In my mid 20s I was a non-singing extra in the Houston Grand Opera’s production of Boris Godunov.
What learning experience would you pass onto future FM’s?
Always ask questions, and never be afraid to say “I don’t know, but I’ll find out.”
Mike has been an active member of IFMA since 1989. He was a member of the Philadelphia Chapter of IFMA Board since 1991, and served as IFMA Philadelphia Chapter President from 2000-2002.
Mike is currently employed at WSFS Bank as Vice President, Corporate Facilities Manager. Past employment experience includes 12 years as Facilities & Property Manager for JLL, 11 years as Regional Facilities Manager for the McKesson Corporation, and 11 years as a Facilities Coordinator at Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company.
Mike has a Bachelor of Business Administration from Temple University. Present Licenses & Certifications include Certified Facility Manager (since 1998) and LEED Green Associate.
How did you get into Facility Management?
Completely by accident. In 1989, my position in another department was eliminated due to internal restructuring, but I was given the opportunity to apply for a new Facilities Assistant position. I’d never even heard of Facilities Management before, but I quickly found that I enjoyed the unique challenges of the FM world—a fast paced environment, opportunities for problem solving and learning new skills, and the dual excitement/challenge of facing something new every day.
Tell us about a favorite project.
It would have to be my involvement in getting one of my facilities ready for the Pope’s 2015 visit to Philadelphia. The building is located across the street from Independence Mall, which was Ground Zero for the Pope’s speech. With the city deciding to close the streets in a 10 block radius around the Park to all traffic, we had to figure how to keep a 24/7 facility operating for a 3 day period. It was a multi team project that required collaboration with both internal stakeholders and outside groups as disparate as the Mayor’s office, the Secret Service, and Homeland Security. Despite almost weekly changes in the plan from the city, we managed to keep operations working smoothly during the event.
Tell us about a challenge or obstacle that you faced in the Facilities field and how you overcame it.
The greatest challenge is an ongoing one, and that’s keeping information about our facilities up to date. In my current role, I have a portfolio made of properties acquired through past mergers and acquisitions. Because of this, nothing is standardized, and many important documents are missing or out of date. I haven’t solved this problem, but I think the first step is digitizing all paper documents and saving on a shared drive so that they are accessible from anyone’s computer.
What is something that most people do not know about you?
In my mid 20s I was a non-singing extra in the Houston Grand Opera’s production of Boris Godunov.
What learning experience would you pass onto future FM’s?
Always ask questions, and never be afraid to say “I don’t know, but I’ll find out.”
Past Event Highlights, Upcoming Events, Learning Opportunities, FM Spotlight Highlights, and much, much more! Click on image to view newsletter!
Past Event Highlights, Upcoming Events, Learning Opportunities, FM Spotlight Highlights, and much, much more! Click on image to view newsletter!
In 2024, IFMA Philadelphia is introducing the Project of the Year Awards – Facility/Building projects that showcase excellence and innovation in any of the 11
