NAME, TITLE:
Jerry Hurwitz, president

COMPANY NAME, CITY, STATE:
J&J Air Conditioning Inc., San Jose, Calif.

HOW LONG IN BUSINESS:
31 years

BIGGEST CHANGES TO THE BUSINESS:
1. Refrigerant handling requirements.

2. Field communication from pagers and pay phones to cell phones.

3. DDC controls.

4. Computerization of the office.

KEY MARKETS:
1. Property managers of office and R&D parks.

2. Silicon Valley industrials doing mostly comfort and server room cooling.

3. Some clean rooms.

4. Tenant improvement work and rooftop equipment replacement.

ASSOCIATIONS AND AFFILIATIONS:
ACCA, BOMA, CREW, IFMA, Unified Group

HOW DO THESE AFFILIATIONS HELP YOU:
“ACCA and the Unified Group have dramatically helped me manage my business, and have permitted me to succeed in so many areas that I cannot remember them all,” said Hurwitz. “BOMA in particular has been my major source of meeting my potential and existing customers. I would say that my business would be much smaller if I was not active in BOMA, and this has come from my putting in many hours of volunteer work and donations to the organization.” IFMA and CREW have been less of a resource, he said.

BIGGEST CURRENT HURDLE TO OVERCOME:
So far, Hurwitz said his biggest hurdle is “setting up my succession plan.” This is followed by “finding excellent people, inside the office as well as field mechanics.”

COMPANY STATISTICS (number of employees in field, service, installation, office; number of trucks):
Field mechanics (service) - 20

Installation - 11

Office - 14

Sales - 2

FAVORITE THING ABOUT THE INDUSTRY:
“I love solving people’s comfort problems and receiving the recognition of doing a good job,” said Hurwitz. “I also love watching our mechanics grow and gain confidence in themselves. I like the people part of the business.”

SUMMING IT UP:
Putting it all together, Hurwitz said, “I feel that I am very lucky to have found a profession that I am good at, that I love (most of the time).”

Publication date: 10/12/2009