Vincent Fiore brings a global background in engineering to life sciences and JLL’s apprenticeship program
An early job dealing with sweet frozen treats has led to a career in engineering services for Vincent Fiore — and is now helping a new generation of engineers as he pioneers an apprenticeship program for JLL in Boston.
As Director of Engineering, Life Sciences, Vincent is responsible for strategic leadership and vision for all departments within a life sciences setting, a rapidly expanding sector in commercial real estate, but one with many special needs. His first job was an appropriate start.
“Believe it or not, I started my career as a production manager at an ice cream plant in the 1980s, and that spurred my interest in refrigeration, mechanical systems and ammonia systems,” while attending refrigeration school in Boston at the same time, he says.
After earning his refrigeration license, his experience and education in property management grew as he worked at office parks and downtown buildings. He earned additional licenses and studied mechanical engineering at Northeastern University while working full time, while bringing other staff through apprenticeship programs that inform what he’s doing today. His career brought him around the world, setting procedures and helping a global company deal with crises rises including earthquakes in Japan, wildfires in California, UPS battery outages in France and data center power outages everywhere. The last was particularly helpful when he ran a life sciences services provider Vivariums, labs, clinics and all systems that supported them.
JLL recruited him in 2022 to focus on its life sciences and supporting existing Boston teams.
“The people make it different. The people who work for JLL are kind, caring. They have a good program and processes in place and the resources in place to make you successful,” he said.
His day-to-day entails supporting teams, mentoring and training, visiting sites and problem-solving, involved in new construction of life sciences and renovations in Boston’s Seaport District.
Vincent is involved with more than 40 buildings, but more in a consulting role — in fact, it’s the first time in a while he hasn’t had oversight responsibility for operating budgets.
This gives him time to return to teaching, creating JLL’s Massachusetts apprenticeship program, working with the Commonwealth to develop the careers of young engineers.
“Years ago, I had a refrigeration license and that was all you needed to run an apprenticeship program in Boston,” he said. “Now the city has changed the requirements, and you need a master contractor license.”
With JLL’s support, he returned to school to earn his contractor’s license. He approached Jennifer Christakes, Regional Manager, about starting a program that would develop new engineers, and continue to grow upon itself. Working with the state he navigated the extensive process of providing documentation, corporate background, workman’s compensation information and more.
“It’s a benefit to our employees — they’ll get credit for the hours they’re putting into their careers so they can at some point get their license, which is the goal for many of them,” he said.
The state requires two licensed journeymen to each apprentice, he said, requiring JLL to find out how many licensees were on staff so they could determine how many apprentices could be taken on.
“It’s limited,” he says. “As employees get their licenses, we’ll be able to grow the program.”
That entails dealing with mentoring, paperwork, compliances and setting up required grievance paths. In addition, each apprentice needs 6,000 hours of the job history to satisfy state requirements, as well as schooling from approved institution and licenses from the Department of Public Safety and the Division of Licensure, which must be documented meticulously. Vincent also conducts reviews of each apprentice, which requires pulling together data from various departments to submit to the Commonwealth.
“It’s a three-year process, and I just did my first-year review with two of the apprentices accounting for their hours from human resources,” he said. “It’s a part-time job in itself.”
The brand-new program has three apprentices right now and Vincent is creating the criteria for those to join later, including working for JLL for at least one year, being in very good standing and supplying recommendations. And Josh Toothman, Managing Director-Engineering, is looking into expanding the JLL program beyond Massachusetts, Vincent reports.
When he’s off duty, he might be found at his lake house in Maine, boating with his family (including his son, also named Vincent, who served with JLL), shooting or flying remote-control airplanes he’s built himself.
