FACILITY PROFESSIONAL SPOTHLIGHT
Larry Petta
How did you get into FM/ Accidental FM?
I’m a proud Accidental FM. I was attending college while completing an HVAC apprenticeship, fully expecting my career to remain in the trades. After graduating, I was working directly with a client who recognized leadership potential in me before I truly saw it in myself. That connection introduced me to Vision Real Estate Partners, which became my entry point into Facilities Management. I became a Chief Engineer at 21 and quickly realized FM was the intersection of everything I enjoyed—technical expertise, people leadership, and operational strategy. Along the way, IFMA education played a key role in reinforcing real-world experience with best practices, further fueling my focus on sustainability, innovation, and operational excellence. Now, 20 years later, this industry has taught me more than I ever imagined and opened doors across both the East and West Coasts. Facilities Management has challenged me, developed me, and ultimately become the profession I truly love.
Highlight of Your Facility or Operation?
Today, I serve as a Senior Facilities Management Engineering Operations Manager with CBRE, supporting the Nike portfolio. The highlight of my operation is delivering resilient, reliable, and sustainable building performance at scale, while developing the people who make those results possible. My focus is on integrating people, processes, and technology to manage risk, improve asset reliability, and ensure facilities consistently support business performance, culture and innovation. What I find most rewarding is mentoring teams and continuously improving how the built environment enables the organizations we serve. Facilities Management isn’t just about buildings, it’s about creating environments where people and businesses can thrive, and being part of that responsibility is what continues to drive my passion for the industry.
One “Weird” or Unexpected Experience in the Industry?
Facilities Management guarantees one thing-you’ll never be bored. While supporting a commercial portfolio in New Jersey, a client experienced a daily issue where thousands of flies migrated to one side of a building every morning at sunrise. The directive I received was simple: “go home and study the flies.” After learning how insect behavior is influenced by heat, light, and building orientation, we addressed the environmental drivers rather than the symptom and resolved the issue permanently. Overnight, I jokingly became an insect subject-matter expert. It was a perfect reminder that in FM, today’s challenge might require an engineer’s mindset and tomorrow’s might require an entomologist.
