SAN JUAN-DERFUL FORWARD-LOOKING JORGE PEREZ MAKES AN ISLAND IMPACT IN PUERTO RICO’S RECOVERY
kind of wanted to do what my father did. The way to start that was to go to school, get a good education, and then the on-campus recruiting would open the doors.” It turns out that door was opened by none other than the elder Pe-
rez, who by this time had used savings to invest in a family restaurant in San Juan. The emphasis here is on “family” restaurant. “My father said he needed me to come work at the restaurant,”
Perez said. “He had helped me so much to get to Penn State and paid for everything that the scholarship didn’t. I went back home and started there.” Just that fast Perez left the volleyball world of spiking and digging
to launch a career in wiping and grilling. As with volleyball and although the career path took an immedi-
ate detour, Perez put his soul and being into his work, taking special interest in personal customer service as well as doing all the purchas- ing for the restaurant. “Sometimes I got frustrated because I saw my friends doing what I wanted to do,” Perez said. “They were working for multi-national companies and one friend was going to Brazil and another going here and there and I was working at a restaurant leaving 12-hour hindsight what I learned there working with my father and brothers allowed me to develop my professional growth.” The family patriarch passed away in 1995, leaving Perez and his
brothers to run the restaurant until 2002. In 1993, Perez was instru- mental in getting the business out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. He also during this period earned an MBA degree with a concentration in -
to Rico. “People in a service industry, whether an arena or convention cen-
ter, at some point or another they have to work in a restaurant or be a waiter simply to see it from another perspective,” Perez said. “Those are things that I look at on a resume because I know that this person gets it.”
Next Chapter
Government Ethics in San Juan where he managed a $50 million project. Perez said the position gave him a crash course in govern- ment and its operations, while his customer service skills were already honed in the family business. Perez stayed in the position until 2010, when he interviewed for a
Convention Center. With a background perfectly tailored for the po- sition, Perez got the job and began learning the world of event man- agement.
When AEG Facilities began management of the venue on Au- gust 1, 2016, Perez along with other facility employees interviewed for their positions. At least Perez thought he was interviewing for his position.
fourth interview they said I was a candidate for the general manager position.
26 Facility Manager Magazine
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