Q: Can you tell us about your background and how you joined MacDonald-Miller?
Ryan: I started with MacDonald-Miller in 2019 as a journeyman service technician and have since worked into the Service Operations Manager role for East Portland. Before joining this team, I worked for two other mechanical contractors, including a 16-year tenure at my previous company. That contractor was heading in a direction that didn’t align with where I wanted to go, so I began looking for other opportunities in the industry. On the day a recruiter from MacDonald-Miller reached out, I told myself that if I could find even one excuse not to take the call, I wouldn’t, but I couldn’t find an excuse. Six years later, I am still here and loving every minute of it.
Q: What does your work involve as a Service Operations Manager?
Ryan: My role is about knowing the skill set of our team and the specific expertise required to perform a task. This allows me to work very closely with our service coordination team and other teams at MacMiller to understand and meet the needs of our customers.
A major focus for us is the “culture of recommendation”. We proactively look for ways to keep facilities running optimally and avoid downtime, keeping in mind equipment issues and failures lead to a loss in production and output, which ultimately impacts a customer’s bottom line. We share our expertise and clearly articulate the importance of the repair so they can allocate their budgets and keep their facility running smooth.
Q: What is it about the culture here that you value the most?
Ryan: My excitement around coming to work has everything to do with the solid group of people I work with and who are eager to help me grow personally. The opportunities I’ve been afforded over the last six years have allowed me to continue challenging myself and achieve my own goals. There is a real sense of camaraderie among the people I work with every day.
Q: How do you define being a “trusted partner” for your customers?
Ryan: To me, a trusted partner is someone the customer calls first when they have an issue. Sometimes they call me for things they know I can’t personally resolve, like a failed elevator for example, simply because they don’t trust the opinion they are currently getting and want my recommendation on who to call.
You build that trust by showing up to the site, getting to know the customer, and following through when they ask you to take care of something. That relationship is so vital that I’ve seen customers follow their technicians from company to company.
Q: You’ve mentioned being in the “yes business.” Can you share an example of what that means to you?
Ryan: Being in the “yes business” means taking care of a customer’s needs as quickly as we can and finding solutions for them. I personally enjoy being challenged. Early in my career, I was asked to fix a broken sandblaster in an industrial fab shop. Even though I had never seen one before, I realized it was just a mechanical piece of equipment with a sequence of operations. Taking on that challenge showed my commitment to the customer and it’s exciting to know our service technicians operate the same way.
Q: What is the outlook for the MacDonald-Miller team in the Oregon market?
Ryan: Portland is an evolving market. Over the last few years, we have seen a significant increase in data center growth, particularly in the Hillsboro region. In the time I’ve been here, our Oregon service team has doubled in size. Moving forward, I want to ensure we are hiring, training, and promoting the right people so we can continue our path as the premier full-service mechanical contractor in the region.
