The Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) sent out word that contractors are feeling better about short-term growth than ever before.

The association’s Contractor Comfort Index (CCI), which has been measuring contractor attitudes toward short-term economic growth since February 2010, came in at a 71 in April, the highest in the more than three years ACCA has been tracking the statistic.

ACCA explains how the CCI is calculated:

“The CCI is calculated based on a survey of the association's contractor members, who are asked how positive they feel about new business prospects, existing business activity, and expected staffing decisions in the short-term future. Weighted and averaged into one number, a CCI of 50 or above reflects anticipated growth.”

Last April, ACCA reported the number at a 68, so this is a nice rise from 12 months ago, and a rise from 65 in March and 58 in April.

Although this is just one survey, it does bode well for the upcoming summer -- specifically for contractors.

But what kind of summer are you expecting? My Spidey Sense tells me it’s going to be rather hot here in Michigan, and I have a sneaking suspicion my a/c is not going to make it, judging by how other things in my house have been working lately. So I’m preparing for the worst, putting pennies away now for the inevitable breakdown. And what do I do? Call a contractor to come out and take a look at my suspicion? Nope! I’m going to be an idiot and wait until it goes down.

If everyone else is as paranoid as I am, and contractors are feeling it, as evident by this CCI number, then, as famous professional wrestling announcer Jim Ross was famous for saying, “business is about to pick up!”