The leadership at North American Technician Excellence (NATE) hopes to have a new president in place by this fall, with the possibility of introducing that person during the NATE board of trustees meeting in Baltimore on Sept. 21.

Ray Isaac, president of NATE, said a search committee that includes members of the board and others is looking for a person who is “a visionary, consensus builder, and a bridge-builder with a marketing mind.” He called the process “an aggressive effort to find a new leader.”

The board consists of 21 members representing manufacturers, distributors, contractors, trade associations, public utilities, and the trade press. There is also the five-member advisory council within NATE that is involved in the process as well.

The new permanent president would fill the position vacated with the resignation earlier this year of Rex Boynton who served as president since the organization’s founding in 1997. Since then, Dave Pannier, former president of Trane Residential Systems, has been serving as interim president until the selection of a permanent president.

Isaac said Pannier’s 33 years in the industry “has provided the leadership needed to move NATE forward in fulfilling its mission of recognizing the professionalism of HVACR technicians.” During the current transition, Pannier “is helping us set a course for the future,” Isaac said.

Isaacs, who is also president of Isaac Heating and Air Conditioning Inc., of Rochester, N.Y., said all aspects of NATE continue to move forward during the transition. This includes the current 21 NATE tests, and its certification and recertification programs.

The value of those components continues to be promoted in the industry, he said. That will continue with the new president, he said, who also will be called upon to bring “new ideas” as a result of a collaborative effort involving all factors of the industry.

“I have never been more excited about the future of NATE than I am right now,” Isaac said. “Our strengths will outweigh any weaknesses. We are entering a new frontier of opportunities.”

NATE describes itself as “the leading non-profit certification program for technicians in the heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, and refrigeration industry and is the only test supported by the entire industry.”

Publication date:06/14/2010