Making It All Work: Meet ABM’s Dan Glick, BOMA Engineer of the Year

It’s simple: Engineers fix things. They make things more efficient, more sustainable, more reliable. But it’s not just part of the job—it’s part of who they are.

ABM engineers have been doing this for decades, and recently, one of our own, ABM Chief Portfolio Engineer Dan Glick, earned one of our industry’s highest honors for his proven ability to help take care of the properties and people he oversees. So, we sat down with one of the best engineers in the business to gather some hard-won wisdom from him.

Give respect and be easy to work with

In early December 2022, Dan was awarded the 2022 Engineer of the Year by the Building Owners & Managers Association (BOMA) of Greater Los Angeles. Nominated by long-time ABM client Anderson Real Estate, Dan was recognized for his 21 years of reliably maintaining properties in the company’s portfolio to the highest standards possible, the last eight of which he served as Anderson’s Chief Portfolio Engineer.

Dan started with ABM in 1991 as the only engineer at a one-man plant. And even after a successful 34-year career as a facility engineer, he takes the same approach: “Whoever you’re bringing in to come service your building—vendors, general contractors, even your own employees—they want to be respected. So, treat 'em with respect.”

It’s a simple mantra that Dan puts into practice daily. “It’s why I try to follow direction as much as I give it,” he says. “Because you’ve got to be easygoing. You’ve got to use your years of experience to discuss ideas and get to a shared goal with all stakeholders. You’ve got to find a way to integrate yourself and work alongside them. And that all starts with mutual respect.”

The historic building located at 9720 Wilshire, where Dan and team recently completed a major renovation while maintaining the original look of the facade.

Overcommunicate and keep everyone involved

Today, Dan oversees a team of twelve engineers who take care of the day-to-day operations of 2.8 million sq. ft. of property across four commercial high rises. All owned by Anderson Real Estate and located throughout the prominent and affluent Los Angeles neighborhood of Century City. 

Dan serves as a trusted advisor for Anderson, providing assistance on the capital projects they’re implementing at his client sites, advising on what’s coming next in the pipeline and guiding on how to best prioritize that facility work. But ask Dan what makes a well-run facility, and he’ll tell you one thing: Overcommunication.

“Listen to your tenants, vendors and employees—whether it's complaints, issues or ideas—and then always follow up with them.” As Dan says, “That’s your word you’ve given, and you need to make good on it. So be honest, because you don’t want to crumble that trust you’ve worked so hard to build.”

Merging together two adjacent buildings—1800 & 1900 Avenue of the Stars, two of the oldest in Century City—into a single campus, and the renovations required.

Build trusted partnerships that create value for everyone

When it comes to building solid teams, Dan always keeps an eye out for one critical thing in a candidate’s experience: How long they’ve been on the job at each site. Why? “Because building managers don’t want engineers who are prone to job-hopping. They want a facility partner, someone that they can build that institutional knowledge with. It makes things easier and faster, and the tenants like seeing familiar faces,” Dan says.

And throughout all the engineering work that Dan’s team has completed for Anderson over the last 21 years, they’ve always shared one constant goal with the building management team: Do the work that attracts a higher quality tenant to their Class A buildings, all to net more in earnings per square foot.

Dan knows that this is the main focus and concern for building managers as they look toward the future of their portfolios. And by getting the leasing rates of their buildings back to fully occupied and fully staffed, Dan’s engineering leadership is helping his clients meet their revenue goals.

Project renderings for the forthcoming The Lawn at 11911 San Vicente that Dan and his team are currently implementing.

Deliver proactive answers to future facility questions

Beyond the engineering at his Anderson facilities, Dan shared some broader insight as well: “Set up a preventative maintenance program, especially if you’re a self-owned facility. It saves you wear and tear on your equipment. Saves you from calling vendors to come out and replace a critical motor at two in the morning. And it saves you thousands, if not millions, of dollars down the line.”

Expanding on that note, Dan circled back to the people doing the onsite work—the engineers here to help. “Even though we’re all on the same team, I delegate separate preventative maintenance projects for my engineers.” Not only does it let him divide and conquer the workload, but it also gives his engineers more autonomy and ownership—and a chance to be proud of their work—all while getting them further invested in the future success of the client’s facilities.

The job of an engineer is never done. It’s something different every shift, and work that demands both your hands and your mind to fix things. But, as Dan says, “At the end of each day, you can stand back and be proud of what you’ve done and say we helped save the building.”