R&K Solutions’ Frank Quigley on Strategic Property Planning and the Future of Facilities Management Leadership

Key Takeaways:

• Frank Quigley’s 40+ year career — spanning the U.S. Marine Corps and R&K Solutions — has been driven by solving real-world problems with intelligence, stakeholder focus, and operational integrity.

• He identifies five major shifts in property and facilities management: advanced technology integration, sustainability as strategy, human-centric design, elevated strategic leadership roles, and formalized professional standards.

• His foundational lessons emphasize data-driven decision-making and active stakeholder engagement to create facilities that truly meet user needs.

• R&K Solutions has grown its federal reach and technological capabilities while staying rooted in its mission, building long-term client trust through expertise, autonomy, and consistent results.

A Career Measured in Missions, Not Milestones

Frank Quigley’s career has been defined by purpose. First, during his 24 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, and later, for more than two decades with R&K Solutions. Across both roles, the throughline has remained clear: Solve real-world problems with intelligence, client/stakeholder-centric thinking, and operational integrity.

Like many service members, Frank rotated between roles in operations and support throughout his military tenure. One of those “break” assignments as a facility manager proved to be formative. His effectiveness in that role led to repeated placements, eventually culminating in a senior leadership position overseeing global construction planning for the Marine Corps: an $80 billion portfolio supporting installations around the world.

“I’ve only had two big jobs my entire career,” Frank reflects. However, both were long-term commitments where he could make a difference. At R&K Solutions, he immediately saw an opportunity to do just that. “R&K at that time had a very great program focused solely on the Army that I recognized would be valuable to the other military services as well as the Department of Defense staff.” Noticing the potential before it was broadly realized, Frank joined the company and helped grow its federal reach from the inside out.

The 5 Shifts That Changed the Game

Over the course of his 40+ year career, Frank has witnessed numerous property management industry trends that have fundamentally reshaped how organizations think about their built environment. With this deep understanding of industry shifts and nuances, he offers a strategic, systems-level view of what’s changed and why it matters:

1. Technology in Property Management

Facility management has moved from reactive service to precision planning. “Inventory of facilities 45 years ago was ink and paper. Then it went through mainframe computing to micro computing in the 90s. They didn’t even call it Internet of Things back then, but we saw controls focused on energy. Now it has migrated into monitoring building systems where it can report in real time when you have excessive temperature or vibration, as well as take corrective actions before a system destroys itself due to something going wrong.”

Real-time data collection gives organizations a head start. It cuts downtime, lowers emergency costs, and protects mission continuity. Without it, decisions rely on assumptions and guesswork. That gap often shows up in budget overruns, safety incidents, and system failures that could have been avoided.

2. Sustainability as Strategy

Sustainability is no longer a side initiative — it has financial, regulatory, and reputational weight. “It’s a major shift toward energy efficiency, waste reduction, and sustainable building practices,” Frank says.

A sustainable facility strategy now affects how grants are awarded, how contracts are evaluated, and how communities respond. When organizations track energy use and design for lifecycle value, they gain control over long-term costs. When they don’t, they risk penalties, public pushback, or simply losing competitive ground to those who do.

3. Human-Centric Design

Buildings influence behavior, and that fact alone is what makes design decisions business decisions. “The focus has shifted from the purely operational aspects of fixing and repairing facilities to enhancing the human experience,” Frank explains. “That’s workplace environments, amenities, overall occupant satisfaction, as well as forming facilities around key functions in manufacturing production.”

When a facility supports the people who use it, performance improves. That can mean fewer injuries, better retention, higher output, or stronger engagement. When it doesn’t, operations slow down, culture erodes, and people leave. Facilities that ignore the human factor end up costing more in lost productivity than they save in short-term fixes.

4. Facilities Management Leadership

Facility professionals are now expected to contribute to long-range planning and financial strategy. “They used to focus on maintaining and fixing,” Frank says. “Now, they have a strategic role in organizations. They are key contributors to the overall organizational or enterprise strategy, involved in capital investments, real estate transactions, and all other strategic planning efforts to make sure that facilities contribute to the organization’s success.”

The company that views its facilities team as operational overhead misses a key opportunity. These are the people who know what assets exist, where value is trapped, and where risk is growing. Without their input, leaders plan in abstraction. With it, they plan with clarity and precision.

5. Professional Standards and Certification

Training and credentials used to be rare in this field. Now they are signals of quality and readiness. “Several organizations — the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) and the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) — have developed educational and credentialing programs to show that there is a standard in the industry,” Frank notes.

Standards matter because the stakes are high. Real property assets represent enormous investments. Clients, contractors, and employers want confidence that a facility leader has the judgment, structure, and perspective to manage them wisely. Certification doesn’t guarantee that, but it narrows the gap between what someone claims to know and what they’ve proven.

Foundational Lessons That Still Apply Today

Frank’s operational mindset has always been about action over words. He points to two foundational insights that continue to guide his work today.

First is the importance of data-driven facility management. In earlier years, facility decisions were often based on whoever shouted the loudest or made the strongest assumptions. Now, with the right systems in place, leaders can make smart, measured decisions based on what’s actually happening on the ground and at scale.

Second is the value of stakeholder engagement. “When you involve stakeholders, you find ways of how they use the facility to better design and construct the facilities to meet their needs,” Frank says. “That was key. That became apparent early in my career.” He recalls a pivotal moment when he was stuck trying to reconfigure a facility for a musical unit. When he brought the group into the conversation, they instantly identified a simple adjustment that solved the space problem completely. It was a lesson in humility and the power of listening to all voices involved in a project.

How R&K Has Grown Without Losing Its Roots

R&K’s evolution over the last 40 years mirrors the industry’s transformation, but with one important distinction: The company has stayed deeply aligned with its core mission.

“Our mission has always evolved and circled around making facility portfolio management easier and better, primarily through data and expertise,” Frank says. That means applying the right technology at the right time, but never for novelty’s sake. From mailing software updates on diskettes in the early 2000s to delivering fully integrated, cloud-based systems today, R&K has moved with the times while staying rooted in strategic property planning.

Equally important is R&K’s approach to talent. With no formal academic pipeline for this field, the company finds experienced professionals and develops them into specialists. As an employee-owned firm, every team member is empowered to make data-driven decisions that prioritize client outcomes. “It establishes a culture where our employees have a level of autonomy that they can immediately address client needs,” Frank explains. “And it’s as I tell our clients, ‘What company can you work with that, no matter who answers the phone, you’re talking to an owner?’”

Built on Trust, Proven Over Time

Frank is a realist. He knows that trust doesn’t come from a slide deck or software demo. Rather, it’s built through consistent delivery, straight answers, and long-term relationships. That’s why more than 60% of R&K’s clients have stayed with the company for 10 years or more, some for over 25.

“Trust is key, and trust is what we provide,” he says. “We can provide demos, but the true value we bring is built on a feeling of trust. Our best clients realize that we get it because we have done it.”

That track record is grounded in relationships, not transactions. Frank believes that’s the future of the industry. While tools and technologies will continue to change, the heart of effective facility management will always come down to people, trust, and a shared commitment to real outcomes.

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