ClimateCare, a Canadian co-operative of independent residential HVAC contractors, announced that it has successfully completed negotiations for a strategic partnership with International Service Leadership (ISL) of Nashville, Tenn., to provide comprehensive business and sales management training programs to heating and cooling contractors in Ontario.

Mario Bernardi, ClimateCare's executive director, made the announcement at the Annual General Meeting of the Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute held at the Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville, Ontario. Bernardi said ClimateCare would be the sole licensee for ISL programs in Ontario, and would deliver the offerings exclusively to ClimateCare members, as a benefit of membership in the co-operative.

"ISL's motto is ‘For Contractors... By Contractors' and this closely matches the goals and values of the ClimateCare group. Both organizations are founded on the principle of member companies, who are some of North America's most successful contractors, sharing expertise to the benefit of other members," said Bernardi.

ClimateCare will employ ISL's system to analyze its members' businesses, diagnose areas for improvement, and provide solutions that have proven to be effective for contractors.

ISL services include a business analysis twice each year, flat rate pricing programs, access to comprehensive training programs in areas such as sales and sales management, operations accountability, and customer service. ISL supplies turnkey operational kits/implementation guides, internal and external Web-based resources, and regular conferences in Canada and the United States.

"The success of ISL's program is in our ability to not only assess companies and teach them, but we also show them the strategies and procedures necessary to ensure effective implementation of our programs," said Milt Baum, ISL president. "This is the key distinction of our training program - many others fall short on the implementation stage."

Publication date: 10/24/2005