Ty Branaman, who won Influencer of the Year in 2024, started off by pointing at the ductwork on the high ceiling at the Sea World banquet hall, illuminated above him in the purple glow of the lights of the stage.

“Can we just acknowledge this ductwork in here?” he said. “Man — that is a beautiful duct system!”

He pulled a small device from his pocket.

“Let’s see how it’s performing. Well, we don’t have any carbon monoxide in here, so that’s great. Our CO₂ is at 1,081 and 50% relative humidity — in Florida. That’s all possible because of what we do. So whoever designed this, installed it, serviced it … and we’ll never know who did this. That is amazing, but think about how much of this is done, around the entire world, by people that will never get acknowledged.

“So I love what Ben’s done,” he continued. “For me, it’s not about celebrating just the people. This is a celebration of an entire industry. All of what we do is hidden, and it’s essential … concealed in wooden rooms, behind mechanical doors, hidden in basements, hidden in attics. Without your hard work and dedication, none of this would be possible. You are the trailblazers who remind us why this industry is so vital.”

The 2025 HVAC Tactical Award winners are:

Lady of the Trade Award: Rachelle Martins, @hvac_install_her

Hidden Gem Award: Jon Esquivel, @austinstarservices

Lifeline Tech Award: Ilija Martinovich, @the_hvac_foodie

Picture Perfect Install: Joey Yepez, @hvackombat

HVAC Podcast of the Year: Brett Wetzel and Kevin Compass, @advanced_refrigeration_podcast

Hydronic Hotshot Award: Dylan D’Amato

YouTube Channel of the Year: Curtis Harrison, @hvac_guy_1

Service Tech of the Year Award: David Waldon, @hvac_slim

Best Social Content Award: Francisco Pastor, @climasterlatino

Mentor of the Year: Tim De Stasio, @timdestasiohvac

Influencer of the Year Award: Tony Mormino, @tony_mormino

Lifetime Achievement Award: Dan Holohan, @heatinghelp

“I’m inspired by all of you who make a lot of sacrifices — you offer your knowledge, your skill set, even at the cost of your earning potential, sometimes,” said Tim De Stasio. “We do most of this for free, don’t we? But we do it because we want to build a community, because we want to make this industry better. … Be a mentor, make the sacrifices, share what you learned, aske questions, post a question, and get some of the experts that I’ve learned so much from to weigh in. All those little things we can do to make this industry a little bit better, because the skilled trades is something special, isn’t it?

“And really, this group right here, the ones that make that sacrifices, are going to be the ones that fix this industry. So I just encourage you to never stop learning.”

“Their content is not about trendy dances or posting for fame,” added Craig Childress, back-to-back winner of the ServiceTitan Elite Trades championship. “They are truly dedicated to their craft and making the HVAC industry better, whether there’s issues they’ve run into and how they handled it, tools that they’ve used, or a good old-fashioned how-to.”

The event was also livestreamed on HVAC Tactical’s YouTube page.

“The future of the industry is in this room, and they’re watching our videos,” said Curt Harrison. “So don’t be afraid to put yourself out there.”