“There are five things that you must do every day if you are going to be a foreman,” Alter said. “If you are not willing to do the planning and thinking these things require, I’ll happily send you back to work as a mechanic, but you will not be a foreman in my company.”

The event was sponsored by Viega and the Plumbing, Heating, Cooling Contractors National Association’s educational foundation. Roger Peugeot, foundation chairman, said sometimes people forget the importance of getting the right people into management positions. Thirty PHCC members attended the annual event.

 “The career advancement element of workforce development often gets lost in the industry’s focus on finding new skilled workers,” Peugeot said. “Not only do we need many more new workers to join our industry, we need to train the ones we have to open a path for advancement. That is a key for companies to keep the talent they have worked so hard to recruit.”