ARLINGTON, VA - According to the Air-Conditioning & Refrigeration Institute (ARI), the demand for skilled installation and repair technicians in the hvacr industry far exceeds the supply. The industry is now in need of 20,000 new workers each year.

To combat this trend, ARI has joined more than a dozen other industry organizations to form the Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, Refrigeration and Plumbing Career Education Coalition. The coalition has launched a website (www.cool

careers.org), which receives more than 20,000 monthly visits.

The organization has also distributed kits to 1,300 training programs to recruit high school students and adults seeking retraining to applied technology courses offered across the country.

As part of the recruitment effort, ARI and its member companies joined with school officials to relaunch the hvacr training at Custer High School in Milwaukee, WI. The project has been documented in a "how to" guide that can be used anywhere in the country to launch hvacr training. For a copy of the guide, contact Leslie Sandler at lsandler@ari.org (e-mail).