IAMC Member Spotlight: Alan Darner, Kellogg Company

As an organization, IAMC fosters relationships that turn into both business partnerships and long-term friendships. The path to corporate real estate varies widely, and our members come from a variety of professional and personal backgrounds.

We thank Alan Darner, Director of Global Real Estate & Facilities North America, Kellogg Company, for sharing his!

1. Tell us a little bit about you: I grew up in Glendale Heights, IL, a community that is about 25 miles northwest of Chicago, IL.  I attended Illinois Benedictine College (now Benedictine University) in Lisle, IL, have a B.S. in Biology and a minor in Education.
    
2. Tell us about your path to corporate real estate.  I was a high school science teacher for 5 years at Waukegan High School/Barlett High School. In 2000, I entered the commercial real estate industry by joining Reata Real Estate Services, a small boutique real estate firm, where I spent a couple of years as a transaction manager. Subsequently In 2002, I joined Kellogg as a Property Manager and have progressed through a number of roles in the Real Estate & Facilities group over the past 19 years, to my current role.
    
3. What is the scope of your responsibilities at your organization?  I am responsible for all real estate transactions, mergers/acquisitions/dispositions related to our manufacturing, distribution and office facilities in the U.S. and Canada. I also have oversight of our FM management for our office spaces and the lease administration of all facilities in the U.S. and Canada.
    
4. What is your favorite part of your role, or the industry as a whole?
   I enjoy working with interesting and talented people. Each project brings its own challenges, and I enjoy being part of a team that finds creative solutions to the challenges that arise. It is also great to walk in a grocery store and see Kellogg products on the shelves and know that I play a role in the supply chain that delivers these products to the stores.
    
5. What is one skill specific to your job could you share with the rest of the membership?
   Problem solving is an important skill to have in my position. In almost every project, you have something new that comes up that you need to find a solution to get the issue resolved to successfully finish the project.
    
6. What led you to join IAMC?
   Roger Nesti, who is a retired colleague, convinced me to join IAMC when we he was hired at Kellogg back in 2008. I enjoy being able to meet other CREs and talk about common experiences and challenges. Another benefit is being able to leverage the skill sets of other members when challenges or new opportunities arise. I also enjoy interacting with the Service Providers & Economic Developers. They bring a lot to the organization with their talents and abilities as well.
    
7. Fun Facts:
   1. I would like to visit Jerusalem and see all of the great history of that part of the world.
   2. I worked at a local bank called West Suburban Bank. I was 14 years old. We had recently had a flood in our town, so my job was to unwrap all of the rolled coins that were damaged by the flood and run them thru a machine to rewrapped wrap them and put them back into the vault.
       

Thank you again to Alan Darner for letting us know more about his path to corporate real estate and IAMC.