2017 chair interview

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IPI Conference & Expo Scrapbook

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Answering Student Parking Questions

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Virginia Beach’s P3 Parking Project

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This Year’s Hottest Innovations

JULY 2017

THE INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE

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GROWTH, OPPORTUNITY, and SUCCESS

IPI Chair Roamy Valera, CAPP, on the parking industry, IPI’s role and goals, and what’s ahead.

GROWTH,

OPPORTUNITY, IPI Chair Roamy Valera, CAPP, on the parking industry, IPI’s role and goals, and what’s ahead.

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OAMY VALERA, CAPP, credits his reputation as an industry leader, savvy businessman, and visionary, at least in part, to having worked his way up the parking ladder. IPI’s new chair got his start as a parking enforcement officer and quickly saw the potential of turning his job into a career. Since then, he’s led parking and transportation efforts in a host of market segments and with several cities and companies.

He holds a bachelor’s degree from Barry University, earned his CAPP in 1997, and is CEO of NewTown Advisors, a parking and mobility consulting firm.

Valera became chair of IPI’s Board of Directors at the 2017 IPI Conference & Expo in New Orleans. He has three grown children, and his wife of 28 years (they were high school sweethearts) is an assistant parks administrator in their home city of Miramar, Fla. He recently sat down with us to talk about his career, the industry, and his vision for the future.

The Parking Professional : We understand you have an interesting family background. Tell us about that.

ROAMY VALERA, CAPP: I was born in Cuba and came to the U.S. when I was almost 13 years old. Most of my family still lives in Cuba. My dad dreamed of coming to the U.S.

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since he was a kid but was married with children of his own when he finally made it over. My grandmother and grandfather had already emigrated and gotten settled in, and they were instrumental in helping us get set up in school and getting us ready for the American dream and what became our American life.

My dad started a job cleaning the school we attended.

My sister and I would go to school, and then I’d go to sports practices and come back to school to help my parents clean the school. My dad was a teacher in Cuba, but his degree wasn’t valid in the U.S. He went back to school here and got a teaching degree and started teaching in that same school, where he later became principal.

So he went from cleaning the floors and the bathrooms to being principal—a testament of our commitment to do what we had to do to get ahead.

TPP: How did you get into the parking industry?

RV: I got into parking because I needed a job. My wife, who was my girlfriend at the time, was working at a bank and had two clients, (Dan Rosemond and Saul Frances).

She told them her boyfriend needed a job, and they suggested I apply at the Miami Parking Authority, which was hiring parking enforcement officers (PEOs). So on June 12, 1989, I became a PEO thanks to my girlfriend/ wife and my two friends now.

TPP: When did you get involved with IPI? RV: I was working at the Miami Parking Authority and had been promoted a few times to a position of supervisory responsibility—I was manager of operations. The parking authority had a commitment to training and developing its staff, and CAPP was started. I had gotten involved with the Florida Parking Association (FPA) in 1992, and in 1993 attended my first IPI Conference. The

SUCCESS

authority learned of CAPP and started sending two people every year to start the process of certification. So I started with CAPP and IPI through the commitment of the parking authority in an effort to increase our knowledge base.

Two of us (Chester Escobar) went to the Conference. We were both in our 20s, and I remember we were by far the youngest in the crowd. The focus of the Conference was nothing like what we see today. Everything was about human resources—if you recall, the 1990s were about HR and training and retraining of HR and behavior in the workplace and the workplace environment—harassment and discrimination. There was very little equipment shown and very little technology to discuss. It was all about networking and establishing relationships and seeing what your peers were doing.

My goal for the next two years is for IPI to continue to become a recognized leader in the connected cities and smart cities movement. We will become the mobility experts as it relates to all things having to do with transportation, not only parking but pedestrian and car share, etc.

TPP: Did you have any mentors or influential professionals along the way?

RV: I was very lucky. Because of the CAPP program I started meeting people in my first class on the first day. I met Lenny Bier and immediately connected with him. Len was very engaged in doing some things differently, and Jim Zullo was also in that class with the New Brunswick Parking Authority at the time. Len quickly became my mentor in the industry and helped pique my interest.

He made me see that in the long run, this could be a fruitful career for me. And he was very instrumental in giving advice and sharing information. Back then, Lenny would fax me things and mail me articles and books to read. Len quickly became my trusted friend.

My children know him and refer to him as Uncle Lenny!

TPP: What advice would you give now to someone just starting a career in the industry?

RV: The best advice I can give is that you need to find a mentor. You need someone who can guide you through different stages of your professional endeavors. Find a mentor who mirrors what or where you want to be in five or 10 years; it’s a tremendous benefit. That’s probably the best advice I got and was able to adopt. This industry is growing much faster than when I was a new professional, and it’s definitely important for people to find a mentor to offer some guidance and leadership.

IPI provides the forum to help identify folks who enjoy being mentors, and technology lets us stay close with one another through email and social media. Using the IPI membership platform helps people see who potential mentors are. Many people are very willing and enjoy doing that, and they play a big role in the industry.

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TPP: Do lessons you learned as a PEO still influence you now as a CEO? RV: My son is a PEO, and he was able to attend the IPI Conference this year. I wish I’d been able to do that as early as he is because it would have changed my view of the industry at that time. The one thing I learned from that experience was that we’re not in the parking business; we’re in the people business. To this day, I carry that lesson. We are not dealing with cars or citations or tickets or tows or scofflaws. I was dealing with people.

The amount of animosity a parking ticket can generate was astonishing to me. You deal with grandmothers who would say things to you and wish things on you that you’d never imagine would be possible. The huge negative connotation of a parking ticket taught me the lesson that many people think parking should be free, it’s a right, and there should be no consequences for breaking the rules. In the end, I learned mostly about people and relationships.

TPP: With so many changes in the industry during your career so far, what do you think has had the biggest influence?

RV: Without question it’s technology and the way we pay for parking and the data generated. When I came into the industry, it was just quarters, dimes, and nickels. Then we saw smart cards, and debit cards and now we’re paying with an app and a smartphone. There’s been a huge transformation in the way we pay for the service.

TPP: Do you think it’s more difficult for people to start in the industry now?

RV: Actually, I think it’s easier. It’s a little bit more exciting today.

The technology is so advanced that it allows the younger generation a great ability to think outside of the box and be creative when they first join the industry. The platform is wide open, and we are now providing mobility as a service. We’re no longer just the P word, but part of the entire ecosystem of how people move.

TPP: So what’s next?

RV: That is the $50 million question. Where I see this going is when we look at parking, it will be under the umbrella of mobility.

That includes transit and shared rides and bikes and connected vehicles and EVs and transportation. Parking will be a significant player in the larger picture of mobility and how we move people and data. And the industry will be much bigger. The reason it’ll be much bigger is because we have access to data that basically can predict people’s behavior, and visibility to data can change people’s behavior. Once we open up our data and make it visible to end users, we as an industry are going to change.

TPP: What will IPI’s role be in that?

RV: IPI’s role is to be certain the data that’s available and gathered becomes visible. We as an industry have to become visible to the end user, and as a result, we’ll play a significant role in the mobility space. We will affect transportation, car share, connected vehicles, and the larger transportation picture.

My goal for the next two years is for IPI to continue to become a recognized leader in the connected cities and smart cities movement. We will become the mobility experts as it relates to all things having to do with transportation, not only parking but pedestrian and car share, etc. We manage and understand data that can predict behavior.

IPI gives me and all of us the ability to think longer-term and be much more visionary and bold in our thoughts about the things we can do and achieve those goals. We’re not restricted to a parking space.

It allows us to be creative in the way we integrate technology into the services we provide, and it allows us to make an incredible network of friends and colleagues. People in IPI become friends and then they become family.

TPP:You were on IPI’s staff for a few years.

Does that experience give you a different perspective in your role now as chair?

RV: I left the Miami Parking Authority after eight years and joined IPI as a trainer in 1997. And during my tenure I trained more than 1,500 front-line employees. That opened my eyes that this industry was going to be really big. I didn’t know what role I was going to play, but I knew I wanted to play a role.

My staff experience really puts into perspective the magnitude of what we as an association do. We’ve more than doubled our numbers of Conference attendees and size, and it takes a tremendous effort to do that.

It’s very enjoyable for me to see that we’re putting on the biggest events we’ve ever had, and it’s extremely rewarding. I’ve had a peek under the tent, and it gives me great pleasure to see what we can do now.

TPP:You’ve been involved with several state and regional associations (SRAs). What’s the benefit of that?

RV: SRAs play a great role. My experience with FPA was the ground level where I really got to know the industry and the players in the industry. SRAs provide an incredible platform for that. They’re the platform to share ideas and case studies and where one has the opportunity to begin the recognition as an expert in the field. SRAs offer a network of close-by proximity colleagues who can continue to enhance your knowledge.

And they’re where many of us find our mentors—who are the folks who are successful and are willing to provide their knowledge and expertise. I’m grateful to FPA for introducing me to Brian Scoggins, the president at the time, who afforded me my very first opportunity to speak at an industry conference. Then NJPI and Steven Monetti for inviting me to visit and do the same at their annual conference. parking.org/tpp

Valera thanks Kim Jackson, CAPP, for her two years of service as IPI Chair, along with CEO Shawn Conrad, CAE.

TPP:You mentioned your son is a PEO. How do you feel about that?

RV: I’m very proud. A lot of his current colleagues tell him they hope to be police officers or firefighters, etc..

He tells them he wants to be in parking. That’s testament to the industry and how much it’s changed. New generations see parking as a career path, and that’s testimony to the many people who’ve come before him and before me.

TPP:Tell us about the vision behind the company you launched earlier this year.

RV: NewTown Advisors is a creation that’s 28 years in the making. I always wanted to own my own business, and because of the way this industry has changed, the time is now. I wanted to create something to work with companies on long-term growth strategies, use my background and skill set in municipal government to provide guidance and strategic advice with procurement, sales cycles, positioning of a product-service, managing relationships and understanding the political process. I named the company after the town where I was born and raised in Cuba, and our logo is a bridge, which is symbolic to connecting two sides but is also in memory of my grandparents, my parents, my aunts and uncles, and my cousins. This was the bridge we had to cross every day to get from one side of town to the other, so I wanted to use that in their honor. It’s been very exciting! This venture is a credit to all of those that have supported my professional and personal growth.

I am indebted to my wife and kids but also to my dear friends: Dan Rosemond, Saul Frances, Chester Escobar, Len Bier, Art Noriega, Steven Monetti, I stand on your shoulders.

It’s very enjoyable for me to see that we’re putting on the biggest events we’ve ever had, and it’s extremely rewarding. I’ve had a peek under the tent, and it gives me great pleasure to see what we can do now.

JULY 2017 | INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE

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