CHICAGO - The Chicagoland Better Heating-Cooling Council (CBHCC) has named its 2005-06 Educator of the Year and Contractor of the Year - the first time the Council has presented the awards.

Don Howley of Affiliated Steam Equipment Co. earned Educator of the Year honors for his two-part Basic Steam School, which drew high marks from attendees. "Don's school was so popular that we had to add a second session to handle the demand," said 2006-07 CBHCC President John Stern of Bert C. Young & Sons Corp. "Hands-on schools such as the Basic Steam School are the lifeblood of CBHCC's education program."

The CBHCC Educator of the Year Award is given to the instructor whose program is judged to meet criteria of excellence during the previous school year. Criteria include, but are not limited to, both the objective and subjective results of program surveys.

Climatemp Service Group earned the Council's Contractor of the Year Award, which is presented to the member who demonstrates the highest degree of involvement in Council programs. "Climatemp sent 50 service techs to CBHCC schools during our 2005-06 year, which represented more than 10 percent of all of our registrations for the year," explained CBHCC Education Chair Scott Gorgius of Able Heating & Cooling Supplies. "Their involvement in our education program has been tremendous."

When considering the Contractor of the Year award, CBHCC looks at not only the number of employees a contractor sends to CBHCC schools during a given year, but also the level of involvement (number of schools attended vs. total number of registrations) to prevent contractor size from playing an overly important role.

Publication date: 07/24/2006