IFMA’s Atlanta chapter recently held its annual awards luncheon, where members were recognized for furthering both Facility Management and the chapter.
One of these was the Distinguished Member Award. It is presented to a Chapter member for outstanding contributions to Facility Management in general and to IFMA Atlanta in particular. He or she represents the best in, and serves as a role model for, Leadership, Dedication and Conscientiousness. The individual chosen is a credit to his or her organization, community, and our Association, as well as to the profession.
The winner of this year’s award is Harriet Whelihan. Harriet has continued being the ‘behind the scenes’ support of our chapter in helping to gently guide the planning, direction, and purpose of the chapter’s goals and her often-times creative ability to clarify each venue speaker’s content to the core competencies, certifying our programs for continuing educational credits. Harriet is a great role model for CFM candidates wanting to know more about the track for studying for the CFM exam and offers her after-work time in hosting the virtual CFM study group and blog. She is a regular author on the IFMA Atlanta FM blog and stands as our resident researcher for news and legislation affecting the FM community. She has hosted one of our FM Networking Breakfasts at her Sandy Springs UPS headquarters. She and her company have also hosted an on-going annual Best Practices Forum since the mid 1990’s, starting with 8 Fortune 500 companies and which is still active here in metro Atlanta. She has established her headquarters as an innovative test site for their outlying facilities around the country, effectively using their facility as a “guinea pig” for systems and technology, for everything from LED testing to Peak Load analysis. She is the one that our leadership seeks out when they want answers on FM best practices, on means and methods, on advice for how to tweak an existing program and take it up just another notch from a basic program to an advanced program. She is one of our best historians not only for the chapter but for the FM industry as well. She represents the best in what the Facility Management Professional is all about, as a constant and consistent supporter and advocator for the best in IFMA programs, education and raising the awareness and education level of her fellow members to a new height. She is a real student of IFMA. Harriet currently serves on the Professional Development Committee.
