Facilities professionals in counties across the United States face unimaginable challenges. The sheer variety of building types they must maintain and operate – from jails, offices, and courthouses to animal shelters and museums – requires vast knowledge, robust tools, and teams with skills as diverse as their portfolios. These professionals report to duty each day to service as many as 40 county departments and agencies at a time, each with greatly varied needs. And, distance can play a factor, too: In large counties, facilities professionals may sometimes have to drive 2 to 4 hours just to make a service call.
Facilities management teams have perfected the art of doing more with less (in terms of money and staff). As the economy takes its downturn, these government teams – just like corporate facilities managers – feel the squeeze. Each of the counties profiled here is sticking to what it knows best, whether it’s customer outreach or carbon-footprint reduction – and no one is willing to forgo the best practices that got them where they are today.
Even though they’re busy, the facilities professionals that lead these teams credit their people for the successful processes, approaches, and initiatives highlighted in the following articles.
- Employee Accountability & Recognition
- Strategic Facilities Master Planning
- Carbon-Footprint Reduction
- Customer Relationship Management
- Work-Order Management
Jana J. Madsen is a Cedar Rapids, IA-based freelance writer with nine years of experience in writing about the commercial buildings industry.
