How Matt Floca went from being ‘in charge of HVAC and toilets’ to leading the Kennedy Center

By Sunlen Serfaty, Betsy Klein, CNN

(CNN) — The new director of the Kennedy Center is a young, well-liked facilities manager who most recently was “in charge of HVAC and toilets” — as one former colleague put it — at the renowned performing arts institution.

Moments after the Kennedy Center board voted to rename the institution the “Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts,” Matt Floca was outside in the December cold directing the crew installing the letters of Trump’s name on the building’s facade.

Three months later, Floca has been unexpectedly thrust into a pivotal role at the nation’s preeminent arts institution as it prepares to undergo a renovation that will see it close for two years. He is well-liked by Trump, with whom he has bonded over a shared passion for building and construction, according to people familiar with the dynamic.

The president suddenly announced earlier this month that he would replace Ric Grenell, a longtime ally, with Floca, whose background is rooted in facilities and construction.

While Kennedy Center insiders say Floca is a capable hand who can steady the ship in the short term, he is being seen as a “Band-Aid” for the institution’s ills who can oversee renovations but not much else.

“He really will just be overseeing the facility, the renovation, because Matt’s expertise does not lie in marketing, it does not lie in artistic programming, it doesn’t lie in fundraising, it doesn’t lie in literally any other category of arts management other than the facility itself,” a source close to the Kennedy Center told CNN.

“During the two-year renovation there will no doubt need to be a leader in charge of the everything else,” the person added.

“He was in charge of HVAC and toilets. He’s deeply an operations guy, he wants to talk about structural engineering and load capacity,” a former colleague at the Kennedy Center said of Floca.

Still, within the Kennedy Center, Floca is trusted and seen as apolitical. Many see him as a stabilizing force following a tumultuous year with Grenell at the helm, during which the institution saw high-profile performance cancellations and plunging ticket sales.

Floca’s promotion reflected Trump’s urgency to replace Grenell, another source close to the Kennedy Center said. As Trump grew increasingly unhappy with Grenell, having him continue to lead felt untenable, and Floca was put in place as a “stopgap” measure, another person said.

On Monday, Floca penned a “Dear Colleague” letter to Kennedy Center staff. The email, obtained by CNN, acknowledged the changes and promised an open-door policy to answer questions ahead.

“I deeply appreciate the trust placed in me during this pivotal time and am committed to carrying out the physical restoration of the Center with the same care and attention to quality as you bring to work every day,” he said in the email.

CNN asked Floca and the Kennedy Center for comment.

A spokesperson for the White House, echoing earlier statements from Trump, said that “Matt Floca is a construction professional and he is well-suited to lead the Trump-Kennedy Center into its historic next phase.”

A Biden-era hire turned Trump building buddy

Before arriving at the Kennedy Center during the Biden administration a little over two years ago, Floca worked for a decade for the DC government on capital construction and facilities. Before that, he was a project engineer at a construction company. According to his LinkedIn profile, he graduated from Louisiana State University in 2009.

At the Kennedy Center, his role has been managing “standard issue facilities,” overseeing upgrades to the building and security, a former colleague said. The role has been more limited than that of a predecessor who reported directly to the Kennedy Center president, the person added.

But he caught Trump’s eye after the president took a personal interest in the Kennedy Center’s renovations. During a walkthrough of the building months ago, Trump was impressed with the young facilities manager who briefed him on the needed renovations for the aging building.

“Trump is, at the end of the day, a builder and developer,” the source close to the Kennedy Center said, noting that the feeling of admiration was mutual between Trump and Floca, who was impressed with the president’s knowledge of the building and the construction that lies ahead.

Their relationship has grown fast.

Many at the Kennedy Center say Floca is now perceived as Trump’s guy, and the president calls Floca often, multiple sources said.

When Trump suggested covering the iconic Kennedy Center columns in marble, it was Floca who steered him away from the idea, a former colleague told CNN.

“He seemed to definitely understand the administration,” the source close to the Kennedy Center told CNN.

Challenges ahead

The Kennedy Center is expected to close to the public two days after its annual Fourth of July party, when it hosts picnics on the lawn and well-heeled donors watch fireworks from the roof.

What happens next behind the shuttered doors will be pivotal for the financial health and direction of the institution — and some insiders told CNN they feared Floca will not have the experience to manage all that needs to be done.

“There is a lot that will need to happen during this closure, including communications, donor management, artist recruitment, patrons — if he’s myopic in focusing on the architecture and these upgrades, who is doing the other 80% of the job?” asked one source, a former colleague.

Theater companies book out two years in advance, for example, and the center is “already beyond behind the eight ball,” a source close the Kennedy Center said of the programming plans.

During the closure, an already skeleton staff at the Kennedy Center will be trimmed even more: An estimated 75 to 175 out of the center’s roughly 300 employees will be cut, according to meeting minutes from a board subcommittee obtained by CNN.

Perhaps the biggest quality going for Floca, a Kennedy Center source said, is the perception that he is “not going to make waves” for Trump since he is in the president’s good graces.

But that will be a test for Floca, who has not had to navigate a boss who is also the president.

“Being beholden to the president of the United States doesn’t necessarily mean that Matt’s going to be able to make the best decisions for the building,” the source with knowledge of the dynamic said.

“He’s never been the person that’s running an organization. He has had no experience with that. He’s always had a buffer,” the source familiar with the dynamic said. He pointed out that, in the past, when Grenell was at the helm and drew Trump’s criticism, it acted as a shield for Floca, who could use his “relatively junior” position and good relationship with the president to deflect the heat.

“He could always sort of be the good guy that has all of this stuff in common with Trump, like construction,” the person said.

At the same time, there is an implicit recognition that he may not equipped to address all the challenges the Kennedy Center is facing, another source said. Discussions are taking place to potentially appoint an additional leader alongside Floca who could fulfill the broader needs of an arts institution — as soon as within six months, the person said.

But another source familiar with the plans pushed back on that notion, adding there is strong support and confidence in Floca.

Appearing at the White House with Trump and the rest of the members of the Kennedy Center board last week, Floca was seated next to Grenell, who only days before had been ousted by the president.

“I think he’d do a good job,” Trump said of Floca at the meeting, before adding: “But if I don’t think he will do a good job, I’ll say, ‘Matt, you’re fired. I’m getting somebody else.’”

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