Facilities @ Management

2.16 The Acceptance of FM and IFMA

Doug Aldrich

Those remarkable people who founded IFMA in 1982 never realized how their initial meetings, deliberations, and decisions would come full-flower 40 years later. With my high regard for their vision and dedication, I believe it took some years for the seeds to take hold, initially in North America and then expand to Europe, Asia, South America, “Down Under” and elsewhere. FM jobs and responsibilities were known by a range of names in other countries, which turned out to be sticking points in global expansion, implementation of the profession, and acceptance of its new presence. That happens whenever a new concept or organization bursts upon the scene locally and even more so when it grows around the world. There were no real surprises when IFMA began to become visible and its story continues.

Becoming an FM

I would like to weave in personal history with observations and experiences that I had during two decades in this new profession and its flagship association. After my Army stint, I worked in private industry as a chemical engineer and then department manager in a variety of positions. At the time, these were logical progressions of what I foresaw in college after graduation and even more so after a year to obtain my master’s degree. I didn’t realize during those initial 18 years in industry that working in research, product, and process labs, supplemented by jobs in human resources (HR), new product-market development, business ...