Weldon Long was once a poverty-stricken drug addict caged behind bars with no hope. Today, just seven years removed from his last prison term, Long, 48, is a successful HVAC contractor, motivational speaker, author, and sales trainer. He built his empire on personal responsibility and proven sales tactics.

While challenges remain, brighter days are ahead. That was part of the message at the Heating, Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International’s (HARDI’s) western regional meeting held in Phoenix recently.

With more than 425 distributors, manufacturer’s representatives, employees and spouses attending, Mitsubishi Electric Cooling & Heating held its annual Distributor Conference at the Fairmont Orchid in Kohala Coast, Hawaii, March 23-26.

HCFC-22 may not have been historically a refrigeration refrigerant, but it sure has been high on the minds of those wholesalers who deal with a lot of refrigeration products.

Comfort Supply, a Nashville-based wholesaler of Ruud HVAC products, has teamed up with KB Watson Enterprises to provide contractors with a suite of cloud-based calculators designed to simplify the most common tasks performed by HVAC comfort advisors, system designers, installers, and service technicians.

News briefs on price increases, distributors, manufacturers, and organizations.

Heating, Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) announced North American HVACR average distributor sales for October were up 3.4 percent from the same month last year, which is down from last month’s 5.6 percent growth.

“Work hard. Play hard. That is the kind of schedule we have provided for you this year,” said Talbot Gee, executive vice president and COO of Heating, Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) as he opened the 2011 Annual Conference at the Grand Wailea Resort.

So do you want the good news or the bad news first? Because there was both in the presentation economist Alan Beaulieu gave to the Heating, Airconditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) members at the recent HARDI Conference in Hawaii.