A self-proclaimed renaissance man finds success in Property Management

At the age of 46, Scott McClelland has taken something of a circuitous path to his current post as an apprentice engineer at Mission Towers 1 in Santa Clara, California. Admittedly “old for an apprentice,” he is now in the process of completing his four-year apprenticeship program to become a Stationary Engineer.

But his overall path may not be as surprising as you’d think. Prior to joining JLL, he worked for 25 years in the grocery industry, beginning with a job as a courtesy clerk at Safeway at 16, and then gaining increasing responsibility in positions from checker to dairy department manager to backroom manager.

“Grocery was a really great job,” he says. “I even met my wife when she was shopping at my store. When I wasn’t working, I was going to community college but without much direction. Eventually, I ended up getting degrees in photography, digital photography, and liberal arts, all from West Valley College.”

Along the way, he worked in several different stores and was exposed to many aspects of supermarket construction and management, including inventory control and oversight of facility repairs. Looking to control costs in an industry with notoriously tight margins, he fixed what he could himself, and sometimes shadowed the refrigeration service technicians.

“It was just really interesting to me, and I got the inkling that this might be something I wanted to do,” he said.

By then a father of young children in increasingly pricey Northern California, Scott looked into joining the local HVAC service tech and plumbers’ union, and passed the apprenticeship tests for both sides, but neither path felt completely right. Luckily, he heard of an open position for a utility engineer at JLL, got the job and started working at Mission Towers 1 in 2019. A year later, he started his formal apprenticeship training through Local 39.

Scott arrives at the 12-story office building around 7:30 a.m. and meets with his chief engineer to go over any special projects, many of which are tenant buildouts. He could be escorting vendors, coordinating with contractors, working on preventative maintenance, or resolving day-to-day work orders.

“In the five-plus years I’ve been here, I don’t think we haven’t been under construction somewhere in the building,” he says. “For the most part, we’re very customer-oriented. We want the tenants to be happy.”

Days are busy until 2 p.m. or so. If the day quiets down after, paperwork is done and Scott might be able to squeeze in a bit of studying during breaks for his classes, offered by the local union.

“My Chief Engineer, Chris Valdivia, has pushed me to be the best,” he says. “I love the team at this building. We work well together.”

While Scott is assigned to Mission Towers 1, he and his Chief confer regularly with the team at Mission Towers 2 next door (also managed by the same JLL Property Management team).

“We have a total of four engineers (two in each tower), and four people in the management office,” he relates. “The eight of us do get together to chat. We’re all always included, and everyone’s voice is important.”

Outside the office, he’s an avid photographer, even trying his hand at that business in the past.

Instead, he can be found taking headshots for friends and pictures of his two sons, now 8 and 6 years old, photographing the local community theater his wife works with, and documenting his various travels. In his off time, the “designated pot luck person” is a dedicated grillmaster for his neighborhood and any office functions, smoking brisket and pulled pork regularly. He also enjoys throwing ceramics on the potter’s wheel, and SCUBA diving.

His learning will continue even when he has finished his apprenticeship. Now in the middle of a course on air conditioning, he plans to take classes for his fire pump certification next.

“This job has been a really great. It fits me well,” he says. “I kind of consider myself a renaissance man, with so many different interests. I know I’ll never know it all, but I want to try to soak up as much as I can. For me, the learning is so much fun.”

Maybe that’s why he’s content to grow in his knowledge and position, with Mission Towers.

“I love these buildings,” he says. “I’d like to stay at them for the next 15 to 20 years until I retire. The people here make my job pleasurable.”