How Amazon's New Facility Benefits FMTS Businesses

Facilities maintenance technicians handle building inspections, preventative maintenance, and more for commercial and residential properties. Without them, property management companies, small and large businesses, and private residents wouldn’t be able to operate as they do. Pickens Technical College’s Facilities Maintenance Technician program prepares students to work in any of these situations and more.

Those who graduate from the FMT program will be capable of performing basic carpentry, plumbing, HVAC, and appliance repair tasks for one of the many potential clients in the Denver metro area alone. As the construction boom continues in the Denver area, more of these types of workers will be needed to maintain buildings and keep business owners and residents happy.

Another potentially huge opportunity for FMTs and many other workers could be on the way in Colorado Springs, where Amazon is planning on opening a new fulfillment center.

Jobs Everywhere

The ground has already been broken on the new fulfillment center in southeast Colorado Springs. When completed, the facility will provide over 1,000 full-time jobs. Many of the positions, of course, will be the people packing and fulfilling shipping orders. But the huge, 4 million-square-foot facility will also need machinery engineers, security, and, yes, building maintenance personnel.

Local leaders and business analysts looking at the bigger picture are excited for the economic stimulus the facility will bring in directly and indirectly.

“There are two types of spin-off employment,” Colorado Springs Economic Development Manager Bob Cope said. “The first is indirect business-to-business. They will need machinery technicians and building maintenance and bankers and insurance, just as any business needs to operate. Then you have the induced jobs — restaurants, retail stores, clothing stores, entertainment venues.”

Opportunities for You

You’re not as interested in the overall economic impact of a new Amazon fulfillment center as you are in potential employment opportunities. Such a huge facility will always need capable, skilled maintenance technicians, particularly with all the moving parts and complicated facility processes that will require preventative and repair maintenance.

The beauty of the potential opportunities at Amazon is that many of the jobs there are largely thought to be recession-proof. Even if the economy takes a downward turn, people will likely still need their Amazon orders filled and the company will need skilled technicians to help keep the giant facility safe and operating at top efficiency.

PTC’s FMT program is a great place to start a career that will be in demand for the foreseeable future. With Amazon expanding in Colorado Springs and other businesses jumping on the bandwagon across the state, there will be room for skilled facilities maintenance technicians at many organizations.

Even if Amazon isn’t for you, the statewide economy is tilting towards construction and new facilities. With new buildings going up all the time throughout Colorado, the opportunities for FMTs coming out of Pickens will only increase in the coming years. If you want to be a part of this boom, start by checking out Pickens’ FMT program.