Category: Uncategorized

High schoolers today are more likely than ever to enroll in a university immediately upon graduation. Opportunities and scholarships are readily available for many high school graduates, and student loans have made it possible for those who could not otherwise afford college to receive higher education. While this may seem like a natural next step in career development, there are other options for high schoolers who aren’t sure if college is the best next step. 

Technical college, or trade school, is becoming more popular among high school graduates for many reasons. While students may feel discouraged from only doing two years of college, there are many benefits that should be highlighted when pursuing a trade school degree. You may find that trade school is the right choice for you in numerous ways. 

Lower cost of education. 

Student loans have made it easier for students to obtain Bachelor’s degrees; however, they come with a cost. The average Bachelor’s degree, when financed through student loans, will cost upward of $150,000 if they are paid off within 10 years. By comparison, technical school degrees cost approximately $40,000 when financed through student loans. A savings of over $100,000 cannot be ignored, especially when career success after college is not guaranteed. 

Entering the workforce early. 

While universities are set up to have students graduate within four years, the data shows that over 60% of students take more than four years to complete their degrees. By comparison, most technician school students are able to finish their degrees within two years, meaning they can start earning within their industry much faster. You will not only be earning sooner but will be able to gain real-world experience in your field that is equally valuable as your education in many cases. 

Lower dropout rate. 

A college degree can certainly do wonders for your career, but only if you finish. And unfortunately, the data concluded that for 40% of college students, that is not the reality. Many students drop out before finishing their degrees, leaving them with years lost in workforce experience and thousands of dollars of student loan debt that doesn’t go away. Trade schools, on the other hand, have much lower dropout rates because the time required to complete a degree is much shorter and hands-on experience is much easier to gain. 

Job security. 

Many courses offered in trade schools are jobs with highly stable trajectories. For example, it is nearly impossible to outsource HVAC maintenance, mechanic work, or cosmetology jobs overseas or achieve the same results with technology. These jobs require the human hand and mind, which means they will always be in demand. Unlike the liberal arts or humanities, these jobs are immediately practical and will help you stay employed even during hard times. 

If you’re interested in learning what it’s like to be an HVAC technician, plumber, electrician, or roofer, contact your local MaintenX team today! We employ highly-skilled tradesmen who have a wealth of experience to give to students interested in the trade. At MaintenX, we are always there to help and serve our community.

If you have ever studied economics or statistics, you may be familiar with the term “Pareto distribution.” This natural phenomenon has been used to describe distributions in social, economic, geographic, and financial models across time. Simply put, the Pareto principle asserts that: 

Approximately 80% of a resource will be distributed to 20% of the group that holds it. 

This principle was first used to describe income distributions in America, but the principle has been observed in other settings such as:

• 80% of a population (human or animal) will inhabit 20% of the available territory
• 80% of oil reserves are found in only 20% of known oil fields
• 80% of a video gamer’s time is spent playing only 20% of games owned on Steam (a video game purchasing platform). 

This principle can be observed in the professional setting as well. 80% of your progress or performance comes from 20% of the work you do. This is true for almost every department of your business, including maintenance. Most of the results you achieve from preventative maintenance of a building come from a small fraction of tasks your maintenance team completes on a monthly basis. 

Therefore, it is the job of the facility manager to maximize that 20% and achieve the best results for the facility as a whole. You must thoroughly analyze your expenses, your typical maintenance needs in a month or year, and determine what tasks are contributing the most to reduced downtime and reactive maintenance costs. Some of these areas might include: 

• HVAC preventative care – Preventative maintenance on HVAC systems can reduce energy costs and extend the service life of a high-ticket system. 
• Plumbing maintenance – Emergency plumbing repairs are not only expensive but are a leading cause of downtime and interruption at a facility. Preventative care helps you avoid these costly measures. 
• Electrical safety services – Electrical systems can pose real safety hazards if they are not properly maintained. Simple safety checks and preventative care can reduce your emergency repair costs and keep your tenants safe. 
• Roofing maintenance – Roofing can last decades if it is properly maintained. Simple preventative checks can help you avoid costly water damage from leaks and help maintain indoor air quality, which can be a big contributor to energy expenses. 

These changes to your maintenance plan can make a major impact on the productivity of your facility as a whole. To learn more, contact your local MaintenX team today!

Facility management is a tough yet crucial job that requires some of the highest-level management skills at your company. This position is responsible for both day-to-day operational efficiency, as well as long-term sustainable growth. However, many facility managers live in the “day-to-day” part of their jobs, and in doing so neglect the long-term health of their facility. 

This is most commonly seen when managing maintenance at a commercial facility. The facility manager will actively seek the most skilled maintenance technicians for hire. These technicians have the capability to make lasting repairs and perform preventative care on major facility systems. But, how often does the facility manager utilize these skills, rather than rely on reactive maintenance when systems start to break down? 

Unfortunately, many facility managers will take the reactive approach, despite the talent they have within their maintenance department. The skilled technician, who may be able to create a long-lasting solution to equipment failure, is instead asked to put a Band-Aid on the problem and monitor for the next failure. Preventative maintenance is not seen as a priority, and as a consequence, the whole system suffers. 

This short-term approach to facility maintenance leads to increased expenses and a decreased drive among the maintenance staff. When facility managers do not utilize or reward the skills of their maintenance team, they lose valuable resources that could save them thousands of dollars in emergency maintenance service. Reactive maintenance may seem like the cheap and easiest solution in the moment, but preventative care will serve your business best long-term. 

If you want to see the best results from your maintenance staff, ask yourself, “Am I encouraging proactive and preventative maintenance, or am I looking for the quickest fix?” If you believe you are doing the latter, now is the time to retool your thinking. The quick-fix approach will put your business at a competitive disadvantage. However, it doesn’t have to stay that way. 

MaintenX provides comprehensive preventative care as well as 24/7 emergency maintenance services. We work with you closely to develop a preventative maintenance plan that will eventually reduce expenses and downtime. There’s no better solution to total facilities repair than your local MaintenX team. 

Contact us today for more information!

Inventory management is one of the most complex and potentially costly processes of any commercial facility. Without properly planned and executed warehouse procedures, inefficiencies will run you into the ground and cause your customer service to suffer from the bottom up. In a time when online ordering has become the standard, your warehouse processes are more important than ever. 

If you want to improve warehouse efficiency and cut costs at the same time, there are several practices you can implement that will help you achieve this goal:  

Provide incentive pay.

Labor costs have increased exponentially this year with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Companies such as Amazon are offering up to $17 per hour for warehouse positions, making the labor market for such jobs to become incredibly competitive. It is difficult to cut labor costs, but there are ways in which you can incentivize maximum productivity. Incentive pay for performance objectives offers your employees the motivation to meet company goals while keeping basic labor costs down. 

Measure your successes and failures. 

The best way to improve efficiency in any area of your business is by measuring your progress. If you don’t know or understand your KPI’s, then there’s no clear path to progress. You should be measuring costs, line productivity, and downtime, and determine your weakest areas from these numbers. 

Simplify your procedures. 

Oftentimes in commercial warehouses, new procedures are added to old ones rather than being restructured. As time passes, the procedures to operation become complicated, inefficient, and not followed by the floor staff. This can cost you greatly because a streamlined warehouse is a profitable one. Reevaluate your operational procedures and cut out redundancies or inefficiencies whenever possible. 

Plan for breakdowns. 

Every warehouse will have breakdowns at some point. Typically, this leads to expensive downtime and chaos among the staff. However, if you plan for these breakdowns and proactively avoid them with preventative maintenance, you can significantly reduce the impact of these occurrences. 

Of these steps, preventative maintenance of equipment is the simplest and most impactful way to maximize efficiency in your warehouse. To learn about preventative maintenance planning and other ways you can create a better warehouse environment, contact MaintenX today!

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected people and businesses across the nation. In Florida, where MaintenX is headquartered, there have been over 130,000 cases reported when this article was written. The numbers are climbing higher, and closures are foreseen for several more months. 

With this pandemic on the rise, many businesses are looking for ways to keep their customers and employees safe. If they are not currently closed, most businesses are taking extra precautions to minimize contact and spread of disease. However, there is one way in which many businesses could help prevent coronavirus contact that is often overlooked HVAC maintenance. 

Your HVAC system is a warm, dark, and moist environment that fosters the growth of bacteria and viruses all the time. This is typically not a problem, but with a novel virus spreading through the air, your HVAC system could be a real danger to tenants if it is not maintained. By cleaning your HVAC system regularly, you could potentially stop the spread of coronavirus at your facility. 

Changing your air filters and scheduling preventative maintenance checks on your HVAC system as a whole can help reduce exposure risk; however, it is not the only step that should be taken. Despite the warm summer weather, it is also predicted that strong airflow from fans and air conditioning could spread the virus farther from person to person. While you need air conditioning to stay open during the summer, it is best not to blast it to capacity. Instead, choose lower settings and keep the A/C on all day to maintain a cooler temperature. 

If a staff member has tested positive, you may also need to schedule a thorough cleaning of your entire facility. This will include cleaning and maintenance of your HVAC system, but will also include surface cleaning and potentially sterilization of the space if applicable. This situation is serious, but it can be handled with the help of your local health department and cooperation from staff. 

These preventative measures, as well as staying on top of local and national COVID-19 information will help keep you and your tenants safe. MaintenX is also here to help you maintain your facility with comprehensive HVAC and preventative maintenance services. 

We offer affordable self-performing maintenance services that make it easy for you to get the job done on your schedule and budget. Every facility has different needs, which is why we work with you one-on-one to ensure the service you need is the service you get. For more information, contact your local MaintenX team today!

The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the business landscape in almost every city across the United States. Stores are closing completely or limiting service due to health precautions, which has posed new challenges and solutions for everything from operations to marketing and facility maintenance. One such problem many facilities face is how to maintain a commercial building that is closed due to COVID-19 precautions. 

A facility that is not in use is still expensive to maintain. If you neglect landscaping and regular maintenance, you will come back to a decaying storefront that will not be welcoming to customers. As the facility manager, you will need to balance your maintenance expenses with cost-cutting measures to ensure your facility is ready to open when it becomes safe. 

One of your top concerns should be landscaping and exterior maintenance. The interior of your facility will be protected, but the outside will become overgrown and damaged easily if no one is there to maintain it. Hire a landscaping company to routinely cut grass, maintain the greenery and flowers, and clean the exterior of the building while you are closed. 

You will also need to protect the interior from damages due to pest infestations, water leaks, or weather. These are the most common interior damages during a closure, but can be prevented by routine checkups and pest control services. If a storm occurs, check on your facility to ensure there are no water leaks or interior damages such as broken windows. 

In addition, you want to make sure that the building is protected from burglary. You likely already have a security system in place, but don’t neglect it while your facility is closed. The COVID-19 closures have made some vacant buildings more susceptible to burglary, especially if they are in rural areas. Check your security footage often and don’t let your facility seem vulnerable to crime. 

Preventative maintenance is recommended for all commercial facilities, whether they are open or closed during COVID-19. Keeping watch of your HVAC, electrical, and plumbing systems will ensure that when it’s time to open to full capacity, your store will be ready. No matter the circumstances, these areas of preventative maintenance should be continued. 

MaintenX offers affordable maintenance services for businesses during COVID-19. We understand you’re under hard financial times, and want to do everything possible to keep your business afloat. MaintenX offers self-performing preventative maintenance, making it easier for you to get the job done at a price you can afford. To learn more, contact your local MaintenX team today!

Times are tough for businesses across America. With months of closures creating high demand and fewer available resources, many businesses are looking for ways to cut costs that don’t affect their already struggling employees. One of the ways in which you can reduce your expenses long-term is to stop wasting energy at your facility. 

The EPA’s ENERGY STAR program has studied the effects of energy misuse in commercial facilities, and estimates that up to 30% of energy consumption is wasted. When energy consumption is your biggest expense, this 30% is a big deal. You could be wasting hundreds or thousands of dollars every month from inefficient electrical and HVAC systems. However, there are many solutions to reducing that percentage. 

If you follow these three tips, you can easily cut your energy expenses and reinvest in your business: 

Don’t consume what you don’t use. 

Studies have shown that during the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S> commercial facilities have only been able to reduce their energy consumption by an average of 22% despite widespread closures. This is a testament to the amount of energy we waste by simply consuming what we don’t use. Whether you are currently closed or not, you can reduce waste by simply thinking about your consumption and not overusing energy sources. Don’t spend on heating or cooling areas of your facility that are unoccupied, and make an effort to minimize electricity use whenever possible. 

Study your energy use. 

Understanding the data on your energy use will help you make better management decisions for your facility. Sit down and look at the numbers to determine what is costing you the most, and develop energy conservation projects around these major expenses. You should also include information on maintenance expenses, because they can indicate areas of weakness in your HVAC and electrical systems. 

Upgrade your equipment. 

Energy-efficient lighting and HVAC systems can make a major impact in your monthly expenses. ENERGY STAR provides comprehensive information on the best appliances and systems for commercial facilities, as well as information on government rebates you can receive when you make the switch. Upgrading to energy-efficient systems can not only reduce your long-term expenses, but can get you a great return in incentive programs. 

These steps will help you reduce your costs, keep your employees during COVID-19, and positively impact your facility long-term. For more information on commercial energy-efficiency, contact your local MaintenX team!

2020 has been a challenging year for many colleges and private institutions. With the shift of many classrooms from on-campus to online learning, schools have had to retool the very basis of their student life. Next fall, enrollment numbers will be more important than ever, especially for on-campus classes and housing. The time to start thinking about your enrollment protocols and recruitment is now. 

Private and higher education institutions do not receive the guaranteed enrollment that public K-12 schools do. They must work harder to recruit students and keep them satisfied. While your school’s reputation and student life are important, there is one aspect of enrollment you may be overlooking: maintenance. Many students cite campus maintenance as one of the critical factors that play into enrollment decisions, especially at a time when hygiene and cleanliness are of the utmost importance. 

• Over 70% of students agree that the appearance of campus is important, and many of those students cite it as more important than the institutions’ reputation.

Campus aesthetics is more than landscaping and design. Maintaining facilities is essential to creating a positive learning environment. If a classroom is not well climate-controlled; if the lights flicker during a lecture; if the sinks leak in the dorm rooms; or if you can see shingles missing from a rooftop, your campus enrollment will severely suffer. These maintenance issues affect not only the appearance of your campus but its safety and student comfort. 

These issues are unacceptable at a time when student enrollment is a struggle already for schools. To prevent these maintenance issues, hire your local MaintenX team for comprehensive preventative care this summer. The MaintenX team can address major maintenance issues, and get your campus running even more efficiently by the time classes start. 

If you believe your campus will be closed for the first part of the fall semester, you can plan on further maintenance repairs and even some renovations. These closures are a time to look at your campus more critically and make improvements that will keep students coming back for years to come. MaintenX can help you create a plan and timeline that will accommodate your needs and budget most effectively. 

To learn more about maintenance options for school campuses, contact your local MaintenX team today!

MaintenX is one of the largest self-performing facility maintenance companies in the United States, and we’re also one of the strongest. Our contractor network goes above and beyond to ensure that each job is done with superior service and long-lasting results in mind. Whether you’re looking for minor repair service or comprehensive preventative maintenance, the MaintenX contractor network is here for you. 

But, what sets the MaintenX contractor network apart from the rest? 

The primary aspect that allows MaintenX to provide superior service is our account and work-order management system. Our technicians and staff communicate carefully to ensure that every work order is prioritized and addressed promptly. They arrive onsite with all of the necessary information to resolve your maintenance issue, and even provide preventative measures to deter future occurrences. This is what helps our team to exceed our customer’s expectations every time.

MaintenX also carefully hires technicians based on competence, enthusiasm, and motivation. We work with highly experienced specialists in the field and provide ancillary training to ensure the highest standards of competence are met. We also cultivate a culture of excellence among our service teams, starting with hires that are truly motivated to succeed. MaintenX technicians know that customer service is the top priority and will ensure you are taken care of every time.

MaintenX provides HVAC, plumbing, roofing, and electrical repair services as well as preventative maintenance and general contractors repairs. We service across the country and provide competitive pricing for facilities of every size. We offer:

• 40+ years of experience
• Service from licensed contractors and technicians
• A safe work environment
• Electronically dispatched service fleets
• Software-based work-order management 
• Dedicated service coordinators

If you are looking for the best team of maintenance technicians in your area, contact your local MaintenX team today! 

Working in the maintenance field has many positive aspects. With affordable technical school training, you can earn an honest wage and build a sustainable, recession-proof career. Specialties such as HVAC and plumbing repair are great for people who are skilled with their hands and enjoy physical activity on the job. However, knowledge and handyman skills are not the only things you need to become a successful maintenance technician. Soft skills are some of the most important aspects that contribute to long-term career success. 

Over 90% of employers rank soft skills as the most important or one of the most high-ranking attributes that contribute to hiring decisions. Your handyman skills are important, but they are also easy to train and improve. Soft skills, such as your ability to communicate to customers and your team, will take you even further toward success in any maintenance field. 

Below are the top five soft skills you will need to become a successful maintenance contractor in any specialty:  

Communications

Listening and communication skills directly translate to leadership skills no matter what career you pursue. When you communicate with a team member, do you listen intently before you respond? Are you able to simplify information to a customer so they better understand? All of these communication skills are essential to being a better technician. 

Teamwork

Most maintenance fields will require you to work in small teams for repairs on the job site, and in larger teams for major construction or renovation projects. Being able to work within a team atmosphere and put your personal needs aside will help you tremendously in advancing up the ranks of your organization. 

Time management

Maintenance technicians need to maximize time in order to work efficiently and keep clients happy. The time it takes you to complete a repair or renovation will directly impact a customer’s experience, so slacking off is unacceptable in this line of work. If you are able to use your time productively (rather than just seeming busy) you will become the go-to technician at your company. 

Customer service

Customer service is half of the job in any maintenance field. You will often be working with customers in times of stress, so it’s important that you are able to address their emotions as well as their maintenance issues. Customer service skill goes hand in hand with effective communications and time management. 

Critical thinking

If customer service is half the job of maintenance work, the other half is critical thinking. You need to be able to solve problems quickly not only with the nuts and bolts of the system, but with your team and with the facility as a whole. A maintenance issue in the HVAC system could be indicative of a problem throughout the facility, and you need to be able to address these issues to prevent further damage. 

With these five soft skills, you’ll be able to master any technical field or job you want in maintenance. Contact your local MaintenX team today for information on job openings!