Columbia, MD-based CQI Associates has hired veteran sales representative Jim Roberts of Ellicott City to help it expand its business.
Roberts has been calling on Baltimore-Washington area businesses for 25 years, most recently as a commercial vehicle salesman for Miller Brothers Chevrolet in Ellicott City. Roberts introduced an environmentally friendly ice melt product to area businesses for Frederick-based NaturaLawn of America from May of 2008 until September of 2011. Prior to that he worked for Beltsville-based SunDun Office Refreshments for 11 years, serving as Vice President of Sales. Roberts’ experience includes five years selling and leasing heavy trucks, four years selling and leasing light-duty trucks, eight years in the news department of The Wall Street Journal, ownership of a small business newspaper and serving as the first advertising sales manager for the Baltimore Business Journal. Roberts also was the editor for three years of Food World, a grocery trade newspaper, and worked for Safeway for five years, serving as press spokesman and public relations manager for Safeway’s Eastern Division.
“We first met Jim 10 years ago when he started attending International Facility Management Association (IFMA) meetings in the Baltimore area,” said CQI founder Richard Anderson. “We saw how facility managers warmed to Jim and we learned that Jim’s customers found him to be very conscientious and concerned about their well being,” added CQI managing principal Melissa Anderson. “We believe Jim’s reputation as a caring advocate for his customers will serve CQI well as we work to expand our business,” said Ms. Anderson.
A 35-year Howard County resident, Roberts was born in Washington, DC, and raised in Montgomery County. He is a graduate of Good Counsel High School and holds a journalism degree from the University of Maryland in College Park.
“I’ve met many dedicated, knowledgeable facility managers in my 14 years attending International Facility Management Association meetings,” said Roberts. “Aside from IFMA meetings, I’ve been attending Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) meetings for a decade and 2 1/2 years ago I started attending Bisnow meetings. I’ve learned a lot about energy concerns, sustainability, LEED certification and ‘going green’ in attending those meetings.” Added Roberts: “I’ve been fortunate to tour several LEED gold buildings and even some LEED platinum buildings. I’m very familiar with Discovery’s LEED platinum headquarters building in Silver Spring as that building was my largest vending account and I had to get 23 beverage-vending and snack-vending machines in place in stages as that building was first being occupied. Watching that building get built and then walking the halls as it was being finished was very exciting.”
Roberts added that when he started selling an environmentally friendly ice melt in 2008 he joined the U.S. Green Building Council and learned more about keeping up with LEED guidelines and government regulations.
“I’ve been in thousands of buildings over the past 25 years and have come to know a lot of building engineers, property managers and commercial real estate executives,” said Roberts. “I recently joined the Chesapeake Area Society of Healthcare Engineering (CASHE) and I’m looking forward to joining a few other trade groups in hopes of meeting more people involved in energy decisions and learning how I can help them,” said Roberts.
CQI Associates (www.cqiassociates.com), founded in 1995, is an energy and environmental management services firm that provides consulting and energy-procurement services. CQI has expertise in energy deregulation, efficiency mandates, green building standards, LEED certification requirements and advanced technology applications. The company is licensed to provide energy procurement services and has created commercial and residential energy procurement cooperatives. CQI conducts energy-management assessments and creates energy-saving plans and has guided many companies through the LEED certification process.
