By: Aaron Berman
How did you come to join CB&T in 1998 and what attracted you to facilities management?
During my last year in college, I took a course on the Fundamentals of Real Estate, which sparked a long-term curiosity. I began working at a San Diego brokerage and then moved on to a Property Management and Leasing firm. One of my clients was CB&T’s first CEO. He hired me as VP and facilities manager for Grossmont Bank before its merger with Sumitomo Bank of California. It was a very exciting time filled with change. One of my first assignments when CB&T was formed, was to work with the management team from a facilities perspective to help establish new branches and administrative offices in a few of the markets that we serve. I have always been attracted to the variety of assignments in the world of corporate real estate and facilities.
If you could offer yourself some advice back on your first day at CB&T, what would it be?
I would tell myself to be flexible and open-minded. Be forward thinking and view change as a positive — because the only thing we can always count on is change.
You’re responsible for helping CB&T comply with “green standards.” What are some of the ways your department has done that?
Our staff of 13 is responsible for 96 sites that CB&T either leases or owns. In many of our locations, the department oversees and is responsible for delivering services, such as janitorial, H.V.A.C., landscape maintenance, renovations and maintaining exterior signage to mention a few. Some of the ways we have helped CB&T’s sustainability initiatives have been through facilitating LED lighting retrofits in certain locations, utilizing more drought tolerant plants, purchasing Energy Star rated appliances, eliminating Styrofoam products, recycling carpet when feasible and continuing to replace plastic bottled water with filtered water units. We have also installed one solar system and a pair of electric car chargers.
What were your biggest takeaways from the pandemic?
So many lessons were learned! However, one of the biggest takeaways is that while a lot of work can be done outside an office, there are certain things that happen better and more efficiently in an office setting. One of the department’s jobs has been finding that balance and figuring out ways to optimize our use of the space we have, which is leading us even more in a sustainable direction.
What’s your most prized possession?
Currently, it’s my BMW GS1200 motorcycle. I had bikes throughout high school and college but stopped riding for 25 years because I got married and wanted to focus on my family. Now that my two sons have grown up, I bought myself a bike for my birthday. I love it because you can experience the mountains and the desert all in a day; my riding buddies and I call it "moto-therapy."