NEWS
Ben Harrison
Posted: Thursday, June 24, 2010 10:07 AM
BEN HARRISON
Maryland Jockey Club
Ben Harrison began his career out of high school as an automobile mechanic, kicking off a gradual and consistent rise to his current position as director of facilities for the Maryland Jockey Club.
Harrison, 37, ran the operations side of the Preakness Stakes (G1) for the first time this year at Pimlico Race Course, overseeing the large physical plant that on race day included the more than 33,000 spectators spread across 34 acres of the infield.
Harrison started with the Maryland Jockey Club in 2005 as an electrician. He previously worked for a company that supplied temporary equipment for events. In a Baltimore Sun profile prior to the Preakness, he spoke of two important experiences that honed his ¬decision-making and leadership skills.
Two weeks after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., Harrison did work at Ground Zero in Manhattan for a plumbing supply company.
“Those were rough times,” Harrison told the Sun. “It hit me hard.”
In 2003, Harrison worked at the White House on the power supply for President George W. Bush’s address to the nation announcing the war in Iraq.
Harrison worked at Pimlico as an outside contractor for about six years before Peter Goulet, the track’s master electrician and former director of facilities, asked him to come aboard full time.
“This was a win-win for both of us,” Harrison said. “He was new to the facility, where I had some knowledge of the backup electrical power, and he was able to help me obtain my master electrician’s license.”
Date of birth: March 5, 1973
Birthplace: Baltimore
Residence: Sykesville, Maryland
Title: Director of facilities
Company: Maryland Jockey Club
Education: Four years of electrical apprenticeship
Family: Married, four children
Career: Prior careers as an auto mechanic and electrician; hired as an electrician for the Maryland Jockey Club in 2005; currently in his first year as director of facilities at Maryland Jockey Club
Biggest professional achievement: “Running Preakness Stakes (G1) day as the director of facilities.”
Biggest personal achievement: “Raising four awesome kids.”
Favorite horse: Big Brown
Personal motto: “Expect the unexpected.”
Outside interests: “My four kids, riding my Harley, vacations at Myrtle Beach.”
Best advice someone gave you: “We as people tend to put the most stress on ourselves. We as people need to let go of the stress and trust God.”
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