2021 Year in Review: Brian Cherry, Director of Operations and Maintenance, Massachusetts Maritime Academy

What was the biggest lesson you learned while working during the pandemic? Planning & Relationships: Plan for the worst and be ready for constant change. Ever-changing guidelines, building modifications, and PPE recommendations require an adaptable, professionally trained staff as well as great partnerships with contractors and vendors.

How has your working environment changed over the last year? For the better - the Academy has begun this year with the cadets being back on campus. It’s been great to see faculty, staff, and cadets finishing the fall semester successfully.

What was your greatest professional accomplishment or most notable project, deal, or transaction in 2021? Over the past few months, we secured funding for major construction projects and equipment upgrades. The academy plans to invest $100 million in construction over the next five years – it is exciting to be part of a team of smart, dependable, committed professionals that will set the academy up for success for the next 100 years!

What are your predictions for your industry in 2022? The industry is experiencing supply chain delays just like everyone else. Capital improvement plans need to be modified to account for this risk. Facility professionals should have fluid long- term plans and alternative funding sources that allow for year-to-year adjustments in order to meet the needs of the customer in these uncertain times.

What is the best advice you have received, and who was it from? “If you’re gonna be a bear, be a grizzly,” Captain Chris Whitney-Morgan Reinauer. I don’t know how it was relevant, but I use it as my own at times, and some people think it’s funny.