Contractors across the nation are finding that although the HVAC industry has experienced change in the recent economic crisis, its need for skilled labor and certified technicians has not been completely abated by the influx of displaced workers from the economic downturn. Other trade industries have noticed this problem, too.
Jasper Air, a division of Jasper Contractors Inc, has announced new openings in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, bringing 50 jobs to the state of Louisiana. In early 2011, the heating and cooling division launched in Phoenix and eventually plans to expand throughout the United States.
A suite of cloud-based calculators, HVAC Web Apps platform, is designed to simplify the most common tasks performed by HVAC comfort advisors, system designers, installers, and service technicians. A beta version of the platform, designed by Kenny Watson of KB Watson Enterprises, has been released.
Tool policies should be reviewed at least annually to confirm that contractors and technicians are both satisfied with the arrangement, as well as to ensure that everyone is clear on who provides which tools and what the rules are for broken, lost, or stolen tools.
A DVD titled “Contractor Soft Skills” illustrates how contractors can have their technicians improve their own soft skills. The DVD is the third one about customer service by customer service expert Steve Coscia.
The not-for-profit organization, ACT (www.act.org), notes that a significant segment of today’s labor force does not have the requisite skills that employers demand. This information probably does not come as a surprise to HVAC contractors.
North American Technician Excellence (NATE), non-profit certification organization for HVACR technicians, will recognize three technicians as Top Techs.
The manufacturers creating new HVAC technologies are teaching others all about it.
Podcasts
Kara Saul Rinaldi, executive director with the National Home Performance Council (NHPC) introduces the NHPC and discusses a recently released white paper focused on properly developing the home-performance industry.
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