Brian M. Fortin holds a unique distinction at Johnston-based insurance giant FM Global: He’s the youngest employee to hold the title of assistant vice president in the company’s 300-plus-employee information services department.
It’s an honor that appears to be well-deserved.
Fortin, who has a management information systems degree from Salve Regina University and a master’s degree from Western New England College, joined FM Global in 2000 after a five-year stint with toy maker Lego Systems Inc. in Connecticut.
After signing on as a senior server engineer at FM Global, his abilities got him promoted within months to team leader of Windows-server technologies.
Despite being the most junior manager on his team, Fortin rooted out inefficiencies and improved the delivery of information technology services. He was able to ease pressure on the insurer’s corporate computer network, reducing bandwidth consumption by 40 percent and increasing employee productivity.
Using server virtualization, he led an effort to consolidate FM Global’s computing environment, reducing costs over three years by $1.2 million and energy expenses by 70 percent. Fortin’s efforts have helped reduce the unplanned downtime of the company’s global data network from 1.82 days a year to 5.6 minutes.
Fortin has displayed abilities in other areas, too. He established several departmental programs to dramatically reduce employee turnover. According to his 40 Under Forty application, there has been no turnover in his department in four years.
To his credit, Fortin does not assume he’s got it all figured out. Five years ago he earned his master’s degree in information systems management. He also has completed rigorous leadership training at the Leadership Trust Institute in Herefordshire, England.
He is also a member of the Rhode Island Tech Collective, and he volunteers for Rhode Island FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). •
