Courtesy JMZ Architects and Planners PC
Tenee Rehm Casaccio is one of those fortunate people who discover their passion and talent early in life and don’t turn back.
That is not to say her path hasn’t meandered a bit. Born and raised in Bolton Landing and currently president of JMZ Architects and Planners PC in Glens Falls, Casaccio became interested in architecture as a high school student. She had always displayed an interest in and aptitude for art as a young person.
But it wasn’t art that propelled her toward architecture. Rather, it happened in an English class, when doing a writing assignment about Gothic cathedrals. While writing that paper, Casaccio learned that the invention of the “flying buttress” increased the supporting power of a structure and enabled the creation of high-ceilinged cathedrals typical of the period.
Casaccio said the “convergence of physics and art” fascinated her and she enrolled in a high school drafting course soon thereafter. That class sealed the deal for her and she became committed to the study of architecture. Five years later, in 1988, she received her Bachelor of Architecture degree from Virginia Tech.
A few years later, while working for a firm in New Jersey that specialized in building casinos, she and her husband –an executive in the healthcare industry–were both feeling discontented in their roles and decided to make a change. While looking for employment opportunities in the Washington D.C. area, they happened upon an ad in the Washington Post to run a bed and breakfast in Martha’s Vineyard. After several discussions with the owner of the Inn, they decided to take on the adventure. Selling their home and one of their cars, they set out to live in a place they’d never even visited before.
By the end of the busy summer season, Casaccio and her husband had made more than 3,000 beds and thousands of muffins.
“It was the hardest work I’ve ever done,” she said. She recalled at one point lying atop a pile of warm laundry and crying.
After finishing out the season, Casaccio and her husband decided that inn keeping was not for them and they returned to Bolton Landing. It was there that she ran into a family friend, who suggested she send her resume to Bob Joy, principal of the architectural firm of Robert Joy & Associates in Glens Falls. She has been with the firm, now known as JMZ Architects, ever since.
“I was 27 years old and Bob took me under his wing as my mentor,” she said. Under Joy’s guidance, along with a “lot of hard work and dedication,” Casaccio became the firm’s president in 2009.
JMZ’s main focus is on higher education, including developing master plans for campuses, conducting space utilization studies and building design.
Casaccio said she gets very “fired up” about being involved in the master plan process. “It’s all about their aspirations, what they’ll need to support the way students learn. It’s about achieving roadways to the future.”
Casaccio said the firm’s focus on higher education helped them weather the recent economic downturn. Its involvement in helping campuses find ways to work with existing structures and footprints has also helped the surrounding communities where the colleges are located. She is especially proud to work with the community college sector.
The firm works with three quarters of the community colleges in New York state and with another 36 community colleges across the country.
“This is a niche I really love. You won’t find more dedicated people than those who work within the community college system, and it’s exciting that what we do at JMZ helps those colleges, who ultimately make such an impact, not only on their students but on the surrounding community as well,” said Casaccio.
As a woman in an industry that has historically been dominated by men, Casaccio noted that, in education, students of architecture are about evenly divided between male and female students. However, in the profession itself, Casaccio said less than 10 percent of firms are led by women. In this regard, she called JMZ a “standout” firm, and noted staff is evenly populated by men and women.
Casaccio finds her biggest challenge to be time management.
“Finding ways to be truly engaged with both clients and colleagues when there is so much to do has been a challenge throughout my career,” said Casaccio. She noted that, each year during the seasonal holiday break, she goes to her office to re-organize and make a list of goals for the upcoming year.
“Every year, without fail, improving my time management skills makes the list,” she said. “It’s something I’m always striving to improve upon.”