Late last year, Latitude Commercial added an in-house maintenance technician, Austin Abbring, to its staff. The position is entirely new, with Abbring working closely with Latitude’s property management team to carve out the role and serve clients quickly and effectively.
It is an exciting time for Abbring, who is finding himself adapting to the role quite well. He came to Latitude from a maintenance job at a bank. He and his wife were surprised by having a pair of twins, so Abbring started looking for a position that would better fit the needs of his family.
“I’d been poking around on Indeed for a bit, and Latitude was the first place to call me in and sit me down for an interview,” Abbring said. “It was really exciting, and the interview went well. I felt comfortable and confident and was hoping I’d get it. Happily, they picked me, and now I get to help them shape this maintenance department.”
For now, it is a one-man department. Latitude’s property management clients send in work orders, requesting things such as installing new lighting or other fixtures, repairing or replacing different items, and diagnosing problems with plumbing or electricity. Abbring handles those routine maintenance tasks in-house, meaning they can get handled faster and more affordably than if Latitude had to hire outside help.
“As work orders come in, I’ll plan out a rough schedule based on what city makes the most sense to start with,” he said. “Projects usually take about three hours, so I could start the day working on something in Schererville before moving on to a job out in St. John. This work takes me all over the place.”
Sometimes a job is an all-day affair, such as a recent project where Abbring replaced all the lights in two office buildings with warmer, more welcoming ones. Since Latitude manages around 60 properties in Northwest Indiana and Chicagoland, there is always new work to do.
“Even if I do have a little bit of downtime, I’m always looking into what tools or materials I might need for an upcoming job,” Abbring said. “I manage my own schedule, so there’s a lot of flexibility. I’m working on my own and trying to manage my time as wisely as I can. Latitude puts a lot of trust in me to get jobs done right and on time.”
On rare occasions, an emergency call comes in where Abbring needs to quickly move from one jobsite to another to solve a more immediate problem that could escalate if left alone. Since he started last November, this has only happened once – when the roof on a property in Illinois started leaking.
“I was in Valpo doing some baseboard work and got a call telling me that water was getting into one of our properties out in Illinois,” he said. “I went over there and found out that the roof drain was clogged, so I just used a Shop-Vac to clean it out and got the water to stop leaking inside. It made things safer until the roofers came by the next day. It felt good to have an immediate impact, and let the tenants and property owner sleep a little easier at night.”
Latitude is planning to grow the maintenance division, but beyond adding new hires, it is also taking steps to equip Abbring with the tools and skills to handle more advanced, technical projects.
“Latitude is paying for me to earn HVAC certification, so I take classes for that on Tuesdays and Thursdays,” he said.
Though he and Latitude are still working to build up the department, Abbring could not be happier to have joined the team.
“It’s been great for my family,” he said. “The process has been so smooth. I’m really happy that I took the chance on this opportunity and that Latitude took a chance on me. It’s been mutually beneficial.”
To learn more about Latitude Commercial and its full array of commercial real estate services, visit latitudeco.com.
