Public Storage’s Trade Manager Team Unlike Any in the Self-Storage Industry
Sep 16, 2024 / Andrew Harris
At Public Storage, our National Trade Manager team ensures our more than 3,200 facilities operate top-notch.
The team oversees 200 million square feet of rooftop space, 20,000 HVAC units, 3,100-plus elevators, 4,400 gates and almost 8,000 fire systems.
Clearly, our National Trade Manager position at Public Storage is not your average position.
“Their responsibility is from coast to coast, from overseeing the day-to-day management to the design and specs to what assets we select and install,” said Dan Fabricant, Vice President of Centralized Facilities at Public Storage. “I don’t know of any other organization where an individual (trade manager) is responsible for the strategy and execution of an entire portfolio of assets.”
What Is a Trade Manager at Public Storage?
Every one of our properties needs functioning elevators, fire and safety equipment, technology for accessing gates, sliding doors and overhead doors, air conditioning and heaters, and safe and weather-resistant roofing.
That’s where our trade managers come in.
Due to the sheer size of the organization, Public Storage has National Trade Manager positions for each of the key trades: elevator, fire and life safety, access control, HVAC and roofing.
Overseeing each of those individual assets is based around optimizing overall performance as well as:
- Customer satisfaction
- Reducing downtime
- Extending the life of the asset
- Reducing cost
What Is a Trade Manager for Public Storage?
“Our trade managers have a very comprehensive knowledge of the trade,” Fabricant said. “Along with the ability to be very tactical and strategical in order to develop programs to improve our performance.”
Let’s take elevators, for example. The Public Storage Elevator Trade Manager would be someone who was a branch manager for an elevator company with additional experience in sales and regional management.
They’d also be a driven self-starter who’s excited about the opportunity to join a growing, stable company at the top of their industry.
Our trade managers know how the technicians work because they’ve done the work. They know what size screw fits what size hole.
Because of that, they can easily communicate with vendors, as well as see the bigger picture of what the company is doing now versus what it can be doing differently.
“When you think about it, the scope of these jobs and the responsibility associated with them are tremendous,” Fabricant said. “If you want to be the person known for redefining industry standards as it relates to roofing or other assets, then Public Storage is the place for you.”