Three contractors representing a spectrum of business styles and opinions on the use of technology spoke to a standing room only crowd of HVACR contractors during the Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) Contracting Week™.

GSM Services names residential sales manager and adds Commercial Service Agreement Sales staff member and service technician; GreenHomes America adds to its national franchise network; Dwyer Group named one of the Best Companies to Work for in Texas; Brady names water treatment technician.

At Nexstar® Network’s 31st Super Meeting, 375 plumbing, HVAC and electrical home service contractors representing 200 companies gathered in Nashville to boost their business development and best practices.

It has been my pleasure to write an occasional column for The NEWS for the last seven years. With upcoming changes to our staff responsibilities, those musings will be less frequent. Oh, you will still see a few errant missives from my keyboard, but I’ll mostly be tending to the type of duties admirably handled by Publisher John Conrad during the last 10 years.

Robinson Metal achieves ISO certification; Source Refrigeration & HVAC announces acquisition.

AirTight hires technician.

When consumers are buying a new or replacement furnace from an HVAC contractor, it shouldn’t be surprising that many get that “deer in the headlights” expression on their faces when a tech or salesperson is trying to explain the concept of variable speed. Is there help?

The Dwyer Group’s chairwoman and CEO Dina Dwyer-Owens felt it was time to do a little investigative work. Underneath a black wig and lots of makeup, she went undercover, seeking entry-level employment. Her entire journey was filmed by TV crews and will be broadcast on the CBS television show “Undercover Boss.”

How did the economy fare in 2011? What will it do in 2012? These questions are tricky to answer, but as contractors prepare their business strategies for the coming year, many are looking to numbers and forecasts for direction.

Trimble announced that it has acquired privately-held Plancal of Horgen, Switzerland.Trimble said the acquisition of Plancal broadens its BIM to Field solutions for MEP and HVAC contractors to automate project estimating and management, modeling, detailing, layout and construction.