ESCANABA, Mich. — In a somewhat slightly obscure location along the shores of Little Bay De Noc, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (U.P.), this town of approximately 12,000 hardy people like their hockey. According to Charlie Elliott, these people who call themselves Yoopers, also like air conditioning and heating too. The local Peninsula Bay Inn hosted approximately 50 HVACR contractors, many of whom drove for hours through some of the region’s most beautiful scenery, for an update on industry issues and technology. A few even came just to listen to Elliott tell bad jokes. Well, the jokes aren’t actually bad, but his delivery leaves a lot to be desired.
The jovial Elliott is a sales consultant for the G.A. Larson Co., a wholesaler of HVAC and refrigeration products. Even if his joke-telling is not quite Comedy Central quality, his heart is in the right place — with his customers. Elliott, a former contractor himself, said he organized the second Annual U.P. HVAC/R Summit to, “Set expectations for contractors in the U.P., bringing them new ideas and solutions, new advancements in technology, and give them a bigger perspective on some of the important things going on in this industry.”