For immediate release

Leesburg, VA Feb 16, 2022– SkillsUSA, the nation’s fastest-growing career technical student organization, has designated the FM Pipeline Team’s FACILITHON competition a National Demonstration Competition for 2022-2024 seasons.  National demonstration status places The Facilithon’s competition in a national spotlight for additional states to see, experience and implement.  The national demonstration involves both high school and post-secondary-level contests this year.

Peggy McCarthy, former IFMA foundation chair and FM Pipeline Team co-founder, shared  “now that this is a demonstration competition, our competitors get to receive medals on a national stage while others look on. This has been so rewarding to be involved with these high schoolers as they learn about the career of facility management.”

In its 8th season, the Facilithon program is currently running in 13 states and through the national demonstration spotlight, can increase exponentially toward a becoming a full-fledged national competition in all 50 US states. “The FM skills gap is likely the built environment’s problem of the century and the Facilithon serves to solve it in a direct, scaled manner. This 3 year period represents our industry’s best shot to finally emerge from the woodwork, with three years in the spotlight” said FM Pipeline Team codirector Jim Zirbel, at a presentation with the IFMA Utilities Council.

The FM Pipeline team is a scholarship-granting 501c3 nonprofit corporation dedicated to engaging, enlightening and energizing the Next Gen of FM. Their Facilithon competition serves as an internationally scalable talent wellhead serving pipelines to post-secondary facility management and built-environment pursuits as scholarship, internship, job-shadow, co-op and direct-hire programs through both academic and technical trade pathways.  As a bolt-on solution for entry and undergrad talent, the team welcomes all built environment associations and companies in need of a viable next-gen solution to ensure their sustainability in an entirely new post-pandemic world.  For more information, go to https://www.fmpipeline.org