Featured Colleague – Arcadio Rivera
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By Stephanie McMillen
Arcadio “Art” Rivera, trades/maintenance supervisor for the West Campus, takes a solutions-oriented approach toward his job responsibilities.
“My personal mission is to build and spearhead top-performing teams, providing guidance, training and support needed to ensure on-time and within-budget delivery of high-quality products and services,” Art shared.
Art began his Valencia career in 2011 as the assistant trades/maintenance supervisor on East Campus, and transferred to his current position on West Campus in October of 2012.
Prior to Valencia, Art held positions ranging from a maintenance engineer at Reckson Associates and senior supervisor of facilities at Orange County Public Schools, to a project manager of facilities at the University of Central Florida (UCF).
With 29 years of experience in a HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) technical trade and over 25 years of experience as a business analyst and project/facility manager, Art offers a balance between business knowledge and technical skills.
“Art has become a valuable addition to our maintenance department,” said Lawrence Wainwright, superintendent of plant operations on West Campus, and Arcadio’s supervisor. “He brings experience in not only preventative maintenance for our facilities, but the leadership needed to keep a cohesive, skilled team functioning together to serve our student population.”
Recently, Art was recognized as one of Valencia’s first Energy Heroes by the sustainability office for his responsiveness in answering the call to weekend text alerts regarding HVAC equipment running when not scheduled.
Art said the best aspect of his job is the ability to interact with a variety of individuals in the Valencia community from faculty and staff, to the students on his campus. “There is never a dull moment and yet that is what is appealing about the day-to-day activities,” he said.
With one daughter already attending Valencia, and another in dual enrollment, Art said that he has been “very impressed with the organization and the outstanding guidance and direction provided for students. There is so much opportunity [in this] quality learning environment.”
Art holds certifications in air conditioning contracting/troubleshooting and refrigeration, and is a certified electrician. In his free time, he enjoys building car engines, refurbishing homes, and fishing.
Know of someone doing great work at the college? Send their name to us at The_Grove@valenciacollege.edu so they can be one of our featured colleagues!
