Mike Parker, IFMA Philadelphia, Current Treasurer. Member of IFMA Philadelphia for over 20 years supporting various activities and events. Mike is a Commercial Real Estate Management leader with more than 25 years of experience supporting global companies in the logistics, engineering, architectural, financial, and hospitality industries.
Corporate Positions Held: Link Logistics Real Estate, Corporate Facilities Director. STV Inc. Corporate Real Estate Director. DLL, De Lage Landen Financial Services, Wayne, PA. VP of Facilities and Real Estate. Tokai Financial Services, Berwyn, PA. Director of Facilities and Corporate Services.
Property honors include: USGBC- LEED Gold Certification, BOMA Office Building of the Year, Healthy Workplace and Best Places to Work Awards. Community involvement participation includes support of Make-a-Wish, JDRF, and Habitat for Humanity.
Mike holds a Pennsylvania Real Estate Salesperson license a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Penn State University and a Bachelor’s degree from Concord University. and resides in West Chester, PA.
How did you get into Facility Management?
I started my career in the hotel business and then transitioned into the corporate facilities world with an intent to bring hospitality values into corporate offices. Such as always having someone on staff after normal hours, food and fitness centers, the best AV / technology, immediate service on requests, satisfaction surveys and improvement measurement.
Tell us about a favorite project.
On a corporate relocation I had empowerment to build the ideal workplace as a top goal with the budget being secondary. By hiring the top architect/design team, building an internal facilities team complimented by the best project management group the project was a giant success. In the end, it actually was completed at a reasonable cost!
What is your greatest success story?
Creating a holiday bonus program for contract workers such as cleaning, security, food service, mail, express and office supply delivery relationships. The program generated higher levels of communication, trust and performance. Coincidentally we became the first stop on delivery routes.
Tell us about a challenge or obstacle that you faced in the Facilities field and how you overcame it.
Request by management to lay off and/or terminate staff and validating a staff increase need: Both of these issues will occur in a facilities management career. Utilize tools to track all occupant requests, staff activities, follow ups and performance. Use the data to validate proper staffing levels and compare to IFMA and other sources for benchmarking. In our industry others assume that if everything is going good you may be overstaffed. You will be challenged to validate and demonstrate the need for proper staffing as well as appropriate compensation in our profession. Be ready!
What is something that most people do not know about you?
Although I don’t play an instrument, I enjoy concerts and have seen many entertainers, has anyone else seen Elvis? Our family started this year with Katy Perry in Las Vegas !
What learning experience would you pass onto future FM’s?
Communicate, stop spending your day on emails and call and talk to people! Participate in networking opportunities with IFMA peers and bring someone along. Challenge vendors and employees with annual goals, yes its ok to ask a vendor “what are your companies 2022 goals”? Be creative with work environments and celebrate success!
Mike Parker, IFMA Philadelphia, Current Treasurer. Member of IFMA Philadelphia for over 20 years supporting various activities and events. Mike is a Commercial Real Estate Management leader with more than 25 years of experience supporting global companies in the logistics, engineering, architectural, financial, and hospitality industries.
Corporate Positions Held: Link Logistics Real Estate, Corporate Facilities Director. STV Inc. Corporate Real Estate Director. DLL, De Lage Landen Financial Services, Wayne, PA. VP of Facilities and Real Estate. Tokai Financial Services, Berwyn, PA. Director of Facilities and Corporate Services.
Property honors include: USGBC- LEED Gold Certification, BOMA Office Building of the Year, Healthy Workplace and Best Places to Work Awards. Community involvement participation includes support of Make-a-Wish, JDRF, and Habitat for Humanity.
Mike holds a Pennsylvania Real Estate Salesperson license a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Penn State University and a Bachelor’s degree from Concord University. and resides in West Chester, PA.
How did you get into Facility Management?
I started my career in the hotel business and then transitioned into the corporate facilities world with an intent to bring hospitality values into corporate offices. Such as always having someone on staff after normal hours, food and fitness centers, the best AV / technology, immediate service on requests, satisfaction surveys and improvement measurement.
Tell us about a favorite project.
On a corporate relocation I had empowerment to build the ideal workplace as a top goal with the budget being secondary. By hiring the top architect/design team, building an internal facilities team complimented by the best project management group the project was a giant success. In the end, it actually was completed at a reasonable cost!
What is your greatest success story?
Creating a holiday bonus program for contract workers such as cleaning, security, food service, mail, express and office supply delivery relationships. The program generated higher levels of communication, trust and performance. Coincidentally we became the first stop on delivery routes.
Tell us about a challenge or obstacle that you faced in the Facilities field and how you overcame it.
Request by management to lay off and/or terminate staff and validating a staff increase need: Both of these issues will occur in a facilities management career. Utilize tools to track all occupant requests, staff activities, follow ups and performance. Use the data to validate proper staffing levels and compare to IFMA and other sources for benchmarking. In our industry others assume that if everything is going good you may be overstaffed. You will be challenged to validate and demonstrate the need for proper staffing as well as appropriate compensation in our profession. Be ready!
What is something that most people do not know about you?
Although I don’t play an instrument, I enjoy concerts and have seen many entertainers, has anyone else seen Elvis? Our family started this year with Katy Perry in Las Vegas !
What learning experience would you pass onto future FM’s?
Communicate, stop spending your day on emails and call and talk to people! Participate in networking opportunities with IFMA peers and bring someone along. Challenge vendors and employees with annual goals, yes its ok to ask a vendor “what are your companies 2022 goals”? Be creative with work environments and celebrate success!
IFMA Philly Newsletter Winter 2025 Upcoming Events, Past Event Highlights, New Members, and much, much more! Click on the image below to view newsletter.
IFMA Philly Newsletter Fall 2024 Past Event Highlights, Upcoming Events, Learning Opportunities, FM Spotlight Highlights, and much, much more! Click on image to view newsletter!
IFMA Philly Newsletter Summer 2024 Past Event Highlights, Upcoming Events, Learning Opportunities, FM Spotlight Highlights, and much, much more! Click on image to view newsletter!
