How I Snuck Into the Maintenance Industry
I was twenty when my wife answered an ad looking for an onsite assistant property manager couple. During the interview, they asked if I had experience with plumbing, electrical, HVAC, and general maintenance. I told them I’d helped my dad and grandfather with handyman work around the house.  Apparently, that was good enough.
During my first week, my maintenance manager, Mike, handed me a garbage disposal work order and told me to take care of it on my own.

There was only one problem: I had no idea what a garbage disposal was.  I thought it was one of those trash compactors I’d seen on TV. So when I got to the apartment, I searched the kitchen, pantry, and even the bathrooms before finally calling Mike.  “Mike, this apartment doesn’t have a garbage disposal.”  I exclaimed!   He came over, opened the cabinet beneath the kitchen sink, pointed to it, and asked with a smile: “You’ve never really done much plumbing, have you?” I had officially been caught.
 

But Mike didn’t fire the inexperienced 20-year-old who had somehow snuck his way into maintenance. He invested in me.  For the next six months, he trained me, mentored me, and taught me how to become a maintenance professional. He cared less about what I already knew and more about my willingness to work, learn, and get better.  That opportunity helped shape the rest of my career.  And it’s one of the reasons I started Facilitech.
 

This industry has given me opportunities I never could have imagined at twenty years old. Now I want to help create those opportunities for the next generation—giving people with character, drive, and a willingness to learn the training and mentorship they need to build real skills and meaningful careers. 

Because sometimes the person who doesn’t know what a garbage disposal is today can become the person teaching someone else tomorrow.
— Matt Herren, Founder & CEO