Engaging, enlightening and energizing the next gen of FM, the FM Pipeline Team is an activated group of facility management volunteers and fellows that created, publishes and fosters national growth of the Facilithon program. The Facilithon program is both an event and a promotional messaging platform, utilizing a career technical student organization competition (CTSO) competition in facility management and the “1 in 30” marketing program which activates students toward participation in the competition and its career field. It is the nation’s first successful, scalable secondary school FM introduction model, designed to fuel all other post-secondary, internship, job-shadow and direct hire FM and PM-related programs.

There is evidence of a great need for qualified facility managers. The limited
data available shares that nearly half of all current facility managers will retire
in the next 5 years, while an influx of new facility management positions
continues to grow beyond the tiny pool of available candidates. While a
handful of groups are fostering educational programs to address this skills gap,
a suitable pool of activated, interested students is necessary to sustain
programs of these sorts, as any program without a qualified enrollee base is
likely to fail.

SkillsUSA is the nation’s fastest-growing career technical student organization, the first CTSO in which The Facilithon runs. With over 400,000 technically-oriented members in high school and colleges in 2019, SkillsUSA creates students with skill and career vision through sharpening of personal, workplace and technical skills grounded in academics. SkillsUSA students have not only a superior graduation rate, they’re coached to be job-ready in many instances, the day they leave school.

The Facilithon competition tests a student’s ability to thrive in a facility management environment through a 50 question common-sense quiz, a 10 minute FM role play and the FM Challenge, an emergency scenario that the student has to react to immediately. Students that do well in the Facilithon represent excellent facility management candidates for FM college programs to enroll and employers to recruit. These students are true aces, likely to rise to the top in their career.

The “1 in 30” marketing program shares the facility management career message with students and instructor advisers. This unique marketing program focuses on student’s attributes rather than competencies and reminds educators that regardless of their curriculum, one or more students in any class of 30 can become an ideal facility manager, whereas 1 in 6 SkillsUSA students are excellent candidates for this career path. The marketing program uses presentations and action figures to permanently share this message with instructors.

The FM Pipeline team works with industry and local professional organization chapters who provide the volunteer base to run the Facilithon competition in their SkillsUSA or other CTSO state. SkillsUSA affords a uniquely local outcome to those partners, as a high percentage of their students return home after completing their formal education. Facilithon
Facilithon Industry FAQ 7-20 industry partners help provide funding and professional support where available, addressing CTSO fees, marketing, recruitment and scholarships.

Facilithon Territory

The Facilithon program has been honed over 6 years, running in CO, WI, FL, VA and CA, with active teams fostering new programs in DC, KS, MA, MN & TX. Bringing new states on line requires a chapter champion and event manager suitable to engage volunteers and their CTSO leadership in addition to industry support to fulfill the economic support necessary to activate, promote and sponsor the new program.

Facilithon Innovates

In 2020, the Facilithon competition went entirely online, making it the first industry-sponsored SkillsUSA event to do so.  This means our judges can come from anywhere, allowing our program to operate in a hybrid mode, fully-staffed even in  remote locations. This innovation will help expand the Facilithon program not only nationally but internationally.* SkillsUSA leadership recognizes the value of this innovation and expects this program to expand nationally.

Employers gain access to our students through economic and volunteer contributions to the Facilithon program. It’s important that employers get to know their candidates early to ensure they’re as skilled as possible when they’re ready to be hired. By fostering a student’s education, the employer has a track record and relationship with that student unavailable elsewhere. These students will become super-stars, ensuring a high ROI for industry partners.

There are two excellent reasons to join us. First, Facilithon students are headed nowhere but up. 83% of SkillsUSA alumni reported their experience directly attributed to promotions and pay increases beyond their peers. These competitors rise to the top, where buying decisions are made. Secondly, if you’re a supplier to the built environment, not just facility management, this is fertile ground due to the large number of built-environment students here. SkillsUSA alumni dictate many of the purchasing decisions for construction, engineering and facility management in the built environment, decades after your initial investment.

Being a Facilithon partner affords your brand to be shared with our students on a local level while state and national level sponsors enjoy additional direct-contact benefits. All Facilithon partners are welcome to volunteer when judging opportunities arise. Talk with an FM Pipeline representative about these opportunities.

FM Pipeline Team helps manage scholarship funds by tracking students and their studies. Scholarships made through the FM Pipeline Team are earmarked for facility management-related coursework and funds are dispersed to student financial aid offices upon presentation of qualified enrollment paperwork.

Communicate directly with our team by contacting co-directors Jim Zirbel  or Carolyn McGary, both available at 612-426-7227.