Though he initially set out for a career in law, it didn’t take much convincing to get Jarrett Walters to join the family business. In the end, the opportunity spoke for itself. “Recognizing I had the opportunity from an early point in my career to create a positive impact on a company this big was exciting for me,” Walters says. “So was seeing the quality of our people and how diverse and interesting our business is.”

Working his way up from janitorial account manager to COO and now president of Hawaiian Building Maintenance (HBM), Walters has diligently built on the legacy that his father, CEO Jim Walters, established in growing HBM into the largest facilities maintenance provider in the state. “His approach informs me every day,” Walters says. “Some of what I consider my best ideas turned out to be most easily and effectively realized with an old-school approach.”

Team-building and collaboration are cornerstones of the company culture that Walters is fostering in his new capacity as president—aptitudes he cultivated throughout his athletic career at Hawaii Baptist Academy and Princeton University. “If everybody can work together and grow together, then the whole team benefits,” Walters says. “You can make the mistake of thinking that your best player is the most important player who deserves all of your time and focus, but there are a lot of people who’ll surprise you if you nurture them and give them the opportunity to show their value. At HBM, we have a lot of really good people who deserve the opportunity to flourish and shine.”

 

“Focusing on leadership and developing your people ultimately allows you to do more as a company. It opens up all kinds of doors.”

 

In addition to conducting monthly trainings for the company’s supervisors, managers and department heads, Walters and his team are developing a pilot program for leadership development at HBM. “Focusing on leadership and developing your people ultimately allows you to do more as a company,” Walters says. “It opens up all kinds of doors.”

Employees have a real say in HBM’s ongoing evolution as a company, which Walters believes is key to engaging, empowering and inspiring loyalty in his team. “This is a great company with a ton of upward mobility,” Walters says. “When we have our executive committee meetings, everybody in the room started someplace else in the company and has risen to a rank where they’re able to have a great reach.”

Due in part to the company’s practice of promoting from within, more than 100 of the company’s 700 employees have been with HBM for over 10 years, and half of those long-time staff have tenures spanning multiple decades. But even more so, Walters says, it comes down to ensuring employees look forward to coming to work every day, something HBM does by building camaraderie through company-wide service projects and team-bonding opportunities throughout the year.

That kind of employee retention is invaluable in today’s low-unemployment landscape. “You can’t reactively hire in this market anymore,” Walters says. “Not everybody has the ability to do so, but proactive hiring has been a huge boon for us.”

The company’s forward-thinking approach has guided much of its success, past and present. Walters is eager to further diversify the business with the addition of new service lines and product deliveries, an initiative his father mined when he was first brought on by HBM’s parent company to lead its Hawai‘i operations in the mid-’90s.

“We [service more than 300 locations] in Hawai‘i, which gives us unique perspective on property management, building ownership and facility pain points,” Walters says. “Bringing that perspective to the table not only helps us provide value to our clients but also gives us an opportunity for really cool growth.”

HBM’s rapidly growing HVAC and building engineering departments are on pace to share equal slices with the company’s janitorial services within the next five years, where once janitorial comprised 80 percent of the business. Green chemicals are a growing area of interest for the company, as are lighting upgrades and energy efficiency programs. “That’s something we see being able to be replicated in a lot of different locations,” Walters says. “It’s exciting for us seeing how we can have an impact, not only on the facilities that we maintain, but in a manner that benefits Hawai‘i long term.”

It’s a big task for Walters, whose dual roles as president and COO demand a laser focus both in and on the business. “My dad always compared our industry to holding a fire hose,” he says. “If you can hold it and control it, you’re good, but once it starts whipping, you’ll never get it back under control.”

“When you’re used to going at a high speed, you have to make the most out of those moments when you can fully immerse in family time,” continues Walters, who credits his regimented lifestyle for enabling him to balance the demands of a growth-focused organization while still making time for his wife and newborn son. “Fortunately I’ve had a great support system that allows me to do that—people who have faith that if I’m studying, reading or focusing on HBM, it’s because I’m passionate, and they believe in my vision.”