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Charlotte’s Chris Clark Wins Filta Tech of the Quarter

Tech of the Quarter | Q3 2019
Chris Clark | Charlotte, NC

Chris Clark from the Charlotte-area is Filta’s newest Tech of the Quarter. In nominating him, Franchise Owner Joe Forbidussi said since day one, Chris Clark has always taken the attitude of learning and improving himself.

The honor is awarded after a franchise owner nominates an outstanding technician and the team at headquarters in Orlando reviews the qualifications and chooses the winner. Clark receives a plaque, an Amazon gift card, system-wide recognition, and is in the running for Tech of the Year, awarded annually at FiltaCon’s summer conference.

“I just appreciate the recognition,” Clark said. “I feel like there’s no limit to where you can go with Filta. Joe’s a great owner and boss and always gives a lot of great direction. I was very excited and happy to receive this award.”

Clark has been with Filta in Forbidussi’s Charlotte, NC-area franchise for just over two years and, simultaneously with winning this award for outstanding technician, he was promoted to
operations manager.

“Chris knows the ins and outs of the equipment and works extraordinarily well with customers,” Forbidussi said. “He has a really good demeanor and works well with our other technicians. He’s my senior guy and has trained my last two new techs. He knows the MFUs inside and out and in the last half-year or so has worked with me to upsell FiltaDrain and FiltaCool.”

Forbidussi calls him a “jack of all trades” and in addition to having a high level of integrity, he always does the right thing and remains humble. A family man, Clark says when he’s not working, he’s spending time with his wife and 18-month old son, who was born premature, just a few months after he started with Filta.

“I wasn’t expecting parenting to be so challenging, but he’s just so busy,” Clark smiled. “He climbs and wants to jump off everything…pretty much anything he’s not supposed to do, he wants to do!”

It was while Clark’s wife and newborn were in the hospital that he took the initiative with Forbidussi to start overnight shifts to avoid wasted time sitting in traffic and trying to service accounts at inconvenient times for customers.

“Starting at 10 or 11 p.m. works better for our clients and with my wife’s schedule,” Clark said. “I could get home at 7 a.m., get a few hours’ sleep, then be ready to spend time with family and help out.”

Forbidussi’s North Carolina territory extends from Charlotte, including Hickory, Gastonia, Lincolnton, Morganton, Mooresville, Shelby, and Statesville as well as into South Carolina’s Fort Mill, Gaffney, Lancaster, Rock Hill and York. In his transition from tech to operations manager, Clark will continue to be in the field which he says gives him a visual on the fryers and helps him train and stay hands-on with technicians.

Filta Environmental Kitchen Solutions executives at the Orlando headquarters feel strongly about recognizing outstanding technicians that interact with customers on behalf of the entire system of independent franchise owners, and thus created the Tech of the Quarter award. Exemplary techs are often the face of the Filta brand and the award shows system-wide appreciation. All quarterly winners from 2019 will be considered for the Tech of the Year award to be given at FiltaCon 2020, the brand’s annual conference. Curtis Ross (Fla.) was Q1 2019 Tech of the Quarter. Chuck Thompson (NC) was Q2 Tech of the Quarter. Dylan Pothan from Chattanooga, Tenn. won Tech of the Year for 2018 at this summer’s FiltaCon.