ARLINGTON, Va. — Founded and funded by HVACR manufacturers, North American Technician Excellence (NATE) was formed to certify technicians to improve the installation and maintenance of equipment and increase customer satisfaction. While NATE has made substantial progress, NATE’s Executive Committee and the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) Executive Committee have jointly agreed that the current structure is not optimal to ensure growth and progress going forward, stated the organizations.

Therefore, the NATE Executive Committee and AHRI Executive Committee have announced the following changes:

• Don Frendberg, NATE chairman, will be directly involved in the promotion and leadership of NATE.

• NATE’s president, Peter Schwartz, will focus on strengthening its relations with governmental and non-governmental organizations.

• Patrick Murphy resigned as vice president, certifications of NATE and his position will be reconfigured to meet the technical and certification administration needs of NATE to ensure continued quality and excellence of its certification services, said the organizations. In the interim, Warren Lupson, AHRI’s director of education, will serve on a temporary basis as director of certification for NATE.

• AHRI will increase its administrative and operational support of NATE by providing financial, human resource, legal, government affairs, and marketing/communications support.

AHRI is the trade association representing manufacturers of air conditioning, heating, commercial refrigeration, and water heating equipment. For more information, visit www.ahrinet.org.

NATE was founded in 1997 as a non-profit certification organization for HVACR technicians. For more information, visit www.natex.org.

Publication date: 01/16/2012