Distributors and supplier members attending the Heating, Air-conditioning, and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) Southwest Regional Meeting in San Antonio, Texas, in June were briefed on positive economic trends affecting the HVACR industry and learned about the challenges of age diversity in the workforce. Lance Malone, COO of Standard Supply and chairman of the Southwest Region board of directors of HARDI, congratulated the Southwestern group on the record attendance at the conference, which exceeded the previous record by over 20 percent. He then introduced Andrew Duguay, an economist with ITR Economics, who also spoke at the 2011 regional meeting.