Engineer finds quality of life moving from JLL vendor to Rising Star Employee

Anthony Purcher, Operating Engineer at 330 Madison in New York City, made the move from JLL vendor to JLL employee in 2021, and hasn’t looked back since.

Prior to JLL, Anthony spent 16 years servicing buildings throughout New York as an industrial cooling technician. He traveled from site to site and was on call around the clock. Emergencies interrupted countless family events and holiday dinners. Anthony recalls, “That’s when I started to think about the future and quality of life, not only for me, but for my wife and our young son.”

Little did he know, his JLL story had already started. One of the buildings Anthony serviced was a JLL-managed property. Naturally, he developed a relationship with the building’s chief engineer. Through countless conversations, “The chief engineer shed light on what building life and building operations was all about – and exposed me to an entirely new world of possibility – with stability and structure – for my career,” Anthony says.

When an engineering position opened at JLL, Anthony eagerly applied as he thought back on what the JLL engineers told him about working in a structured – but still passionate – environment.

Fast forward two years, and Anthony’s now an Operating Engineer at that same building he once serviced. His day to day consists of operating the chiller and heating plant, answering tenant requests, doing hourly visual rounds and everything in between. He’s learned things like plumbing and building operations from his team, but they’ve learned a few things from him. Anthony educated the JLLers on the value of service and maintenance and having his expertise at the building made it possible to hold off on a vendor contract since they are able complete the service and maintenance in-house.

Anthony Purcher and his family

It's fair to say Anthony and JLL are a perfect match. Anthony spends more time with family, and still gets to be focused and passionate about his career. A highlight of Anthony’s time with JLL is winning the Rising Star award, which recognizes early-career engineers who demonstrate leadership, efficiency and collaboration. He remembers, “It was an honor to be recognized and to see all the hard work over the years pay off.”

Being named a Rising Star only motivates Anthony to keep pushing himself to grow and proves to him that with hard work they sky is the limit at JLL. “I look up to my chief engineer and hopefully one day I'll be sitting in a position like that,” he says.