Maintenance Mania Back In Fargo For Second Year

The competition is all about quick and efficient problem-solving

FARGO, N.D. — The pressure is on for the 29 maintenance workers competing in this year’s local Maintenance Mania competition.

“The participants are from your local apartment association management companies. So, we’ve got 40,000 units across the city that people live in, multi–development housing, and these are the maintenance guys that are in your — inside your homes and are on the front lines, you know, every day, and a great maintenance person can save a property thousands of dollars,” says Jamie Hager with the Greater Red River Apartment Association.

The competition includes several skill–based table games based on common maintenance problems, like heating, cooling and various installations.

All games are timed to determine the fastest competitor.

“There’s things here that we haven’t really dealt with before. There’s some stuff that we’re pretty proficient in. It’s a good way to collaborate with your fellow colleagues, you know, both from your company and other people in your field,” says competitor Craig Mattson.

Although a thousand–dollar cash prize is on the line, Hager says the event is about a lot more than that.

“I think any of the trades in the Fargo–Moorhead area where you’re using your hands are suffering from total numbers. And so this is an opportunity to, you know, showcase this industry, what fun it can be, and hopefully get more people involved and want to look into becoming a maintenance person.”

He says in Fargo, maintenance techs make 24 percent more than the national average.

Mattson, who’s been in the industry for more than a decade, says he knew when he was 16 this is what he wanted to do, and he’s lucky to be doing it here.

“It’s very hands–on. It’s always different every day. You never really know what to expect, and there’s great resources in this area. We’ve got a lot of great team members, great members out there, and really in the Fargo–Moorhead area, there’s an abundance of maintenance jobs,” says Mattson.

The winner of this year’s competition is Nate Trostad, who will find out in March whether or not his time qualifies for nationals.

Nearly 20,000 maintenance technicians are expected to compete in the June 2020 Championship.