Bill Martorana is the Director of Facilities at IGM Biosciences. He has over 15 years of experience managing multi-site and multi-building facilities. Throughout his career, he’s worked to create a culture of trust with his team, build connections, and ensure assets and people are safe. He previously served as the Head of Facilities and EHS for ViewRay, Director of Facilities, Security, and EHS for Velodyne Lidar, Global Senior Manager of Facilities and Real Estate for Rambus, and the Associate Director of Facilities Operation for Nektar Therapeutics.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- Bill Martorana talks about IGM Biosciences’ research and some of the roadblocks the facility faces
- How is the supply chain disrupting projects for engineers and construction teams?
- Finding the balance with a hybrid workplace
- Bill discusses how he creates a mindset of empowerment and trust
- What role does technology play in facilities management?
- Advice for those starting a career in lab facilities management
- How Bill began his career journey in facilities management and the importance of communication on a team
In this episode…
Have you ever wondered what a workday is like at a cancer research facility? Are you thinking of beginning a career in lab facility operations, but you’re not sure where to start? Bill Martorana, Director of Facilities at IGM Biosciences, is here to walk you through his day and tell you how to begin.
Bill has created a culture that drives workforce dedication by cultivating trust with his team. Working with scientists, time is of the essence when something needs addressing. Bill says having a partnership with your vendors is crucial for the success of a facility, especially when the clock is ticking. So if you’re wanting to start in lab facility operations, what do you need to do?
In this episode of Watching Paint Dry, Greg Owens sits down with Bill Martorana, Director of Facilities at IGM Biosciences, to talk about creating a culture built on trust and dedication. Bill discusses finding balance and developing a mindset of trust with your team, how technology has helped shape the facilities management industry, and his advice for anyone looking to begin a career in facilities management. Stay tuned!
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- Greg Owens on LinkedIn
- McCarthy Painting
- McCarthy Painting Contact No.: 415-383-2640
- McCarthy Painting Email Address: info@mccarthypainting.com
- Bill Martorana on LinkedIn
- IGM Biosciences
- Cruise
Sponsor for this episode…
This episode is brought to you by McCarthy Painting, where we serve commercial and residential clients all around the San Francisco Bay area.
We’ve been in business since 1969 and served companies such as Google, Autodesk, Abercrombie & Fitch, FICO, First Bank, SPIN, and many more.
If you have commercial facilities in the San Francisco Bay Area and need dependable painters, visit us on the web at www.mccarthypainting.com or email info@mccarthypainting.com, and you can check out our line of services and schedule a free estimate by clicking here.
Episode Transcript
Intro 0:10
Welcome to the Watching Paint Dry podcast where we feature today’s top leaders, industry experts and more to discuss issues affecting facility managers and property owners. Now let’s get started with the show.
Greg Owens 0:29
Hello, everyone, this is Greg Owens with the Watching Paint Dry podcast where we are interviewing facilities managers, project managers, business owners, property managers, and all of the support services to this entire industry. This podcast like all the podcasts are sponsored by my company McCarthy Painting. We’ve been in business since 1969. Here in the San Francisco Bay area. It was started by my Uncle Fred McCarthy and I started working was it back in 1986, wasn’t very good at school, but started painting at the age of 16. And we do both residential and commercial projects throughout the San Francisco Bay area. If you want to learn more, go to McCarthypainting.com. And today we have Bill Martorana. Yeah, podcast. I got it right when we started and then I somehow under the pressure of record. Yeah.
Bill Martorana 1:33
Okay. Yeah.
Greg Owens 1:34
And your direct your director of facilities that IGM Biosciences, which I read up on the company, and I read their entire sort of like what they do, and I understood none of it.
Bill Martorana 1:48
Okay, you know, maybe I can put it into like kindergarten terms.
Greg Owens 1:53
Yeah, that’s what I need. Yeah, maybe it’s my think of
Bill Martorana 1:57
like cell culture, and cell culture. So think of an IGM. As we all have antibodies in us, we have ID IGM IgG G’s, and what we focus on is the antibody IgM, where we will make, we have more options of the points of attachment for what we’re trying to do, versus where the IgG is a Y shape. The IgM is 10 pick of 10 antlers, if you will, so we have a better shot of kind of latching on and, and developing what we need to do
Greg Owens 2:34
So it’s like, it’s like antennas that have a broader spectrum of touching what they’re looking for. In a way, it just
Bill Martorana 2:41
gives us more more odds to connect, if you
Greg Owens 2:45
nice and then and so is this in regards to like diseases,
Bill Martorana 2:51
or right now it’s in cancer research,
Greg Owens 2:54
cancer research. Oh, wow. So you guys are trying to cure cancer. That’s what we’re doing.
Bill Martorana 2:58
That’s great. That’s great to be a part of.
Greg Owens 3:00
Yeah. Well, thank you so much for being on the podcast. This is already interesting. And learning something new here about cancer research. And and how are things going for you guys, where we’re at in the world, and in workplaces, and all of that kind of stuff? I like to find out my news from the podcast here.
Bill Martorana 3:20
Yeah. So, uh, you know, we are a hyper growth company right now, we are trying to do many things. And so we are in that massive growth. So basically going from, say, 100 to 200, within, you know, 14 so that, you know, it has impact not only say on your facility, but everything right, it because kind of pollutants down. So yeah, we’re doing well, I mean, we you know, luckily, this industry continues to grow. Unfortunately, disease never stops. So that is why we, you know, we continue to do fine, we are still growing, and it’s all positive right now. So we’re still waiting for some data to go from there.
Greg Owens 4:10
Right, I read that you guys are waiting for some clinical trials to get done, sort of get sort of FDA approval and that kind of stuff, which is, you know, that’s that’s such an interesting path for basically a biotech company, right? Sure. Yeah. And there’s so many roadblocks to getting things approved, that it’s, it’s so difficult and challenging.
Bill Martorana 4:31
It’s very challenging, and then you have, you know, the slowdown of the world in a way and so everything takes longer and, you know, bio is already a long process, you know, it’s not the high tech or semiconductor. So it does take a while and this just adds a little bit more time. So just patience.
Greg Owens 4:50
Right now. That’s good patience. Yeah, I like it. And what are the some of the challenges you’re seeing? I mean, I can only imagine, you know, doubling the size of the company page. Basically in, in six months is is what you guys are looking at doing? Yeah,
Bill Martorana 5:04
I mean, you know, within the last 14 months, we’ve probably gone from 100 to, you know, south at 200. So that, you know that growth is just really fast. So like I said, you have impact on the facilities, you know, supply chain feels like you’re constantly waiting longer for things to arrive to finish projects and or, you know, get to the next step of things. There’s, there’s more roadblocks, and it’s, unfortunately, an easy excuse these days to blame, if you will. But it is the truth.
Greg Owens 5:37
Yeah, I’ve, we’ve run out of paint on projects and run out of supplies, you know, and I feel like I’m making up excuses. But I’m like, hey, look, when the President of the United States is calling the shipping industry and trying to figure out why things are slowed down. This is like a good excuse me. Yeah, yeah. We’re even having to like, like, you know, we get into some carpentry projects and things like that. And we’re having to mill our own wood and stuff, because it’s just taking too long to get the, you know, a certain size or type or something like that. We’re we’re having to explore other options all the time. And I’m going imagine what you guys are trying to do?
Bill Martorana 6:16
Yeah, I mean, luckily, you know, we finished a construction project not too long ago, within COVID. And we were, you know, there were delays. It just standard, whether it’s, you know, your permitting, whether it’s the time it takes for review, it really just comes down to, you know, who’s going to help you, you know, and and how do you get things still moving even in that kind of paused environment, if you will. And I mean, that for the world, right, the world is kind of paused. At the moment, it feels
Greg Owens 6:46
like island life, but all the time, right, like, like, there’s a certain Meteor background is an island sort of thing, theme there. And, and I know from having been visited friends of mine, or contractors on like, in Hawaii, or in Mexico or things like that they really the supply chain was always an issue, right? Getting materials, getting enough, having it there be able to finish the projects and things like that. And there’s a bit of that going on here. On the continent.
Bill Martorana 7:13
Yes, yes. And you know, we’re in Silicon Valley, and we have a lot of construction happening. So it’s not slowing down. That’s for sure. Yeah,
Greg Owens 7:21
it’s just down that way. Yeah. Yesterday down in San Jose, and it’s just mind boggling to see the all the different projects and buildings and stuff that’s really, you know, I think, just constantly changing.
Bill Martorana 7:33
And whether it’s companies just coming in and out, you know, buildings being retrofitted and flipped, you know, but the right now probably the the bigger bio manufacturing area for real estate is probably the biggest poll right now. That’s probably the busiest is commercial buildings, you know,
Greg Owens 7:54
right. Because you guys, you guys actually are, I mean, I’m assuming for your facility, too, because we’ve we’ve done some work and other facilities, biotech companies, and they didn’t really slow down much the scientists kind of have to come in and do their lab work in the laboratory. Right?
Bill Martorana 8:09
Yeah. So I’ve been through with two different companies during COVID, one at the start of COVID, when it all happened, and then one now where COVID is kind of been in our life for a while. Yeah, yeah. So it’s, it’s definitely it doesn’t slow down. And like you said, if it’s either engineers in their hardware, software labs, cuz they can’t do it from home or log in remotely. And then like I said, it’s the scientist, they’ve got to come into the lab. So it’s just making sure that the, you know, the facility is safe, and, and you take extra measures to ensure that for folks,
Greg Owens 8:45
right, right, are you guys are also looking expanding your footprint than to more buildings in the area?
Bill Martorana 8:52
Yeah. You know, a lot of that is under discussion right now. So we’re just trying to see, you know, what makes the most sense for us, you know, and then from there, we’ll, we’ll we’ll look at the facilities around us and make the best decision.
Greg Owens 9:06
Yeah, there seems to be that whole court or just north of the San Francisco airport with the buyout all around Nin tech. Really, right. Like, we’ve been doing a bunch of work and that we did some for AstraZeneca. Right, but they’re the ones look one with one. Yeah, they’re they came out with one of the vaccines not not released here in the US, I don’t think but yeah, that’s a whole different world to go and do work inside those facilities. We’re doing a parking garage right now for I don’t know, it’s a glomerata. A bunch of biotech companies all in one complex, basically, like a campus type feel like a campus type thing. Yeah, right there, just north of the airport. Right. Like in that same corridor? Yeah, that is the bio hub if you will. Right. Right. Right. And some of this is interesting to me, because it’s some of it’s a because of Bush, Bush. The second Bush president, President Bush, he, he did that whole thing against stem cell research. And from that California, like, earmarked, you know, in their budget, like something $500 billion towards biotech companies and research and that kind of stuff. And it really spotted an entire corridor basically that that whole section of the city, South San Francisco, China base and all of that. Yep. But you guys are all you’re all the way down in Philly. Which Which town? Are you guys in?
Bill Martorana 10:30
Yes. So we’re in Mountain View. But I, we were down in China basin with another company I was with. And so yeah, it’s it’s it’s definitely in the San Francisco area. That’s for sure. Right. It’s USF is right there. And so they have a lot of, you know, there’s a lot of collaboration that can be done.
Greg Owens 10:47
Yeah. And what do you what are you seeing other than the supply chain as a challenge? What other types of things you guys running into those different arranging?
Bill Martorana 10:56
Yeah, I would probably say, you know, with, you know, before at least some of the vaccine mandates, right. So that was hard, because that affected a lot of the construction team. So you lose a lot of staff that way. And so that was probably the other most painful part in the beginning.
Greg Owens 11:13
Right. And have they lifted the mandates down? I think they were talking about it,
Bill Martorana 11:18
you know, it I think it’s pretty much company Dessau, right. Kind of put it on the company. And you know, that just, it just adds hurdle.
Greg Owens 11:28
Yeah, I was surprised because I was talking to a friend of mine, who’s a scientist, and he works for like NASA. And he was saying, surprising number of scientists working Taksin age. Surprise, he was vaccinated, but a whole bunch of his like, team was like, against it. Oh, that’s
Bill Martorana 11:43
interesting. Yeah, you
Greg Owens 11:44
know, my experience and like meeting people that are that are have been unvaccinated, there seems to be a common thread of disagreeableness. And that they don’t like being told what to do. Right? They might have gone and done it, but didn’t want to be told to do it. So when they’re told to do it, they’re like, automatically reflect this sort of No, and I can just imagine some of the people that like are in a basement working on, you know, crunching numbers and doing that kind of stuff is they might be a little more disagreeable.
Bill Martorana 12:13
You’re sure. Yeah. Yeah, I’ll just leave that one.
Greg Owens 12:20
Right, right. Right. Right. Yeah. Yeah. And it. I hope that mean, it’s feeling great in this country, as far as the COVID restrictions. And that kind of thing goes, I just traveled a little bit. And it was really nice to really start to wear masks on planes. But that’s no big deal. Like, yeah,
Bill Martorana 12:37
yeah, I think if I was gonna wear it, that would be the place I’d wear it is on a plane. But other than that, I mean, if it’s really congested,
Greg Owens 12:45
maybe think about it. Yeah.
Bill Martorana 12:46
I’m all for it. I’m, you know, I’m all for it. Did it? Oh, good.
Greg Owens 12:51
Right, right. We just had St. Louis, we just had St. Patty’s Day, I wonder if there’ll be like, a little spike from that. Yeah, yeah. I
Bill Martorana 12:58
mean, I wouldn’t be surprised. At least it’s not as much as a family gathering type event. Right. You know, it’s more social, if you will go out for a bit, but Right, right, right. Got to get back to some kind of normal.
Greg Owens 13:11
Yeah. And so and then what opportunities you’re seeing coming up, like in the next few months, as we as we roll into spring and into summer here, opportunities as far as a wind within your scope, within work, or anywhere, really, but yeah, just like, what do you see on the horizon that’s got that’s exciting or interesting? Or?
Bill Martorana 13:33
Well, I think, you know, it’ll be interesting to see how buildings are built moving forward, I think that you know, it, you have the big companies that said, everybody can work remotely, right, and now they’re kind of bringing them back. And then there’s more of a hybrid feel. So you pretty much are looking at three days in the office two days out of the office, he’s probably your, your threshold, as a company, if you allow that type of environment. But I think it’s, you know, another piece is making sure your folks are happy, right? Because if you got to have turnover and you’re going through person after person, you know, that’s that’s a lot of money you’re wasting, right so you got to take care of those that are with you now, too. So I think it’s a balance of of being cost conscious in this time. And but also, you know, gotta have a little fun when you go to work you got to enjoy the people you work with and and all that good stuff. And if that’s there, then I think you’re winning.
Greg Owens 14:37
Right? I just went in toward cruise company, which is one of the autonomous car companies they there they were talking about something similar trying to get their people back to work back into work right. And they were say something that seemed a lot on lines and they still have to have a massive cafeteria they used to they took over Dropbox, facility and Dropbox having massive cafeteria and so they were there. They’re just they’re doing box lunches now but considering hot food again, right as another lure to get people back in, you know, like, hey, this so you get, you know, three hot meals here if you come back to the office a few days a week, right. And then the other thing I see a lot of is, I’m not sure how it’ll play out yet. Nobody’s really using the spaces yet to it’s that much because we’re in a lot of facilities is they’ve created a lot of like workspaces that are like couches and chairs and beanbags and things. And really, maybe three or four people of a team could be in that, that space and work on stuff and collaborate. But it’ll be interesting to see over the next six months how that stuff starts to get used and whether or not it does get used or not.
Bill Martorana 15:44
Yeah, I mean, I think there’s gonna be a lot of extra furniture. I just do, you know, people just are gonna either if they’re coming in, they’re gonna come in for their meetings and then go, right. But you know, back to people coming into work, I, I honestly think that’s all part of your culture, your culture will drive your workforce and their dedication, right. So if you have a place that really cares, well, you know what, though, they’re coming in, and they don’t mind coming in. But if you’re in a place that maybe isn’t as friendly to their folks, then that’s where I think you’ll get that push, pull that, well, I have to do this now in my life. So I can only come in the office so much, right? Yeah, let’s keep going. There’s, there’s got to be a balance. Gonna be
Greg Owens 16:35
a point about the culture part, right? Because that’s going to be a driving force for a lot of these different companies.
Bill Martorana 16:40
Oh, yeah. I mean, just because you’re in the same department doesn’t make it make you give you a trust, right? The team, the team, in order to get trust, you have a team, but not just because you’re in the same department.
Greg Owens 16:54
Yeah. Right. What are some of the things you see your company culture wise that you see, like, like that, that is a driving force, or it’s empowering. It is a,
Bill Martorana 17:08
a mindset that we want everyone to kind of have, and be open to different ways of doing things. And it’s okay. If you mess it up, learn from it. Don’t do it again. But you know, learn from it and move on. It’s honestly one of the it’s a great company. Absolutely. To staff all the way.
Greg Owens 17:28
And the thing is, too is you guys are curing cancer. Right? Oh, good. That’s a good motivating factor in itself. Right? Like, you know,
Bill Martorana 17:36
it definitely. I’ll tell you a quick little story. When I first got into facilities. I was doing some light shipping and receiving back in the day. And one of the people in the clinical trial was a 12 year old girl. And I always remember the story because it’s kind of motivated me throughout my career I’ve been in in different industries. But for biotech, I had a patient who was in the and she would get the drug and device we were doing inhalable insulin at the time. So for diabetes, and I just kept thinking at 12 years old, I got to ride my bike, I got to, you know, be 12 years old. I never had to worry about that. And so for me, that was even today, I still tell that story. And it was always my motivator. Right? Because if she had to deal with it, I can get up and go and make sure she gets it.
Greg Owens 18:27
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that’s a good, that’s a good that you’re so right. I mean, it’s putting things in perspective is what you’re talking about. Right? Yeah. And I think we all too often forget, like, you know, the, the there’s a there’s a, there’s some people that don’t have the same fortune or luck as you and I might have had it 12.