PathGuide Technologies, a provider of warehouse management systems (WMS) for wholesale and industrial distributors, is reporting record annual revenue for 2008 and record monthly revenue for January 2009. The sales figures exceed all others in the private company’s 19-plus year history.
The Building Performance Institute (BPI) recently announced the creation of Efficiency First, a new trade association representing the home performance contracting industry. Its mission is to provide the tools and market drivers to enable the creation of a national infrastructure to retrofit America’s 128 million existing homes.
Tough economies are a lot like naturally occurring brush fires. The devastation clears a lot of dead wood, making room for new growth. For instance, current economic trends are renewing interest in the IAQ/duct-cleaning market. It has even sprouted a relatively new segment: HVAC restoration, which one company estimates is a multi-billion dollar industry.
Refrigeration School Inc. (RSI) recently developed a prototype trainer to address troubleshooting related to the mechanical side of an a/c system. Together with its other trainer, the school has launched the Binary STAR Troubleshooting System, which encompasses the E-STAR (electrical trainer) and M-STAR (mechanical trainer).
Military veterans face many challenges upon their return to America. One challenge they should never have to face is prejudice - but according to a veteran who recently graduated from an association’s training program, many have difficulty finding employment because of a bias against post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The turmoil of the current economic climate does not negate the fact that homeowners want comfort in as cost effective a way as possible. In terms of HVAC, they are not willing to give up the mechanical creation of that comfort and instead rely on chopped wood in the winter and an open window in the summer. But there are new dynamics in play today.
Balance is hard to achieve in marketing. Clients usually contend they want piles of leads, all the time, (you too?) yet fail to realize that keeping customers is of greater importance. It’s less exciting, but more profitable, especially in a declining economy.
I had an interesting experience a few weeks ago that speaks to the issue of integrity. As I thought about it, there are a number of ways integrity is important to us in our business. As such, I think the experience definitely relates to all of us and the way we operate our businesses.
To many people in Michigan, resort towns like Traverse City are considered part of the “Up North” region. Yet despite the geographical differences, the two areas have been suffering through some challenging economic times as Michigan reels from job losses, decreasing property values, and out-of-state migration.
Anytime is a good time to train, but taking advantage of slow work times, like the present, may be the best way to use the time effectively. That was the consensus of the educators at the Educators’ Seminar that took place at the 2009 International Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigerating Exposition (AHR Expo).
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