The Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association (SMWIA) and the United Transportation Union (UTU) recently announced plans to merge into a new 230,000-member union called the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART).
With 285,000 people in SkillsUSA chapters throughout the country, the 4,800 who made it to the National Leadership and Skills Conference in Kansas City this summer as the result of winning local, state, and regional competitions "were in the top 2 percent of all SkillsUSA students in the United States." In that mix of 4,800 competitors, there were 52 taking part in the Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration contest.
“Small business is an easy prey - from embezzlement to side jobs,” said Mike Bidwell, COO and president of the Dwyer Group. Bidwell was trying to get the attention of attendees to a panel discussion of “Protecting Your Business From Fraud and Theft” at the annual convention of the Dwyer Group.
We’ve known for years that growing demand for electricity, aging power plants, and inadequate distribution facilities were going to cause electric bills to increase over time. However, a recent decision by the United States Supreme Court will supercharge rate increases and could easily double the cost to cool your customers’ home over the life of their new comfort system.
The HVAC industry is no stranger to 800 numbers. It is no wonder that there are new ways to integrate 800 numbers into the marketing and advertising plans of HVAC contractors. Two of the newest uses of 800 numbers will be highlighted in this article.
Commercial HVAC contractors know that the key to convincing an owner to have regular mechanical maintenance performed is to show some kind of proof that the maintenance will have a financial benefit beyond keeping the system operational. This hasn’t always been easy to accomplish. Some owners actually seem to prefer system failure over maintenance.
Back in 2000, the North-American Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Wholesalers Association (NHRAW) adopted a new business concept for its distributors titled Market Center Distribution (MCD). This concept is intended to bring order and efficiency to the distribution channel by eliminating redundancies.
2007 has been a challenging year for the HVACR industry in many areas of North America. The U.S. economy has been sputtering and, as usual, some geographic areas have not experienced any great temperature spikes to keep the trade busy. The NEWS wanted to know if the wholesale distribution industry has been affected by the economy and recent trends so we asked our distributor consultants.
The need for a professional career path, based on continuing education and knowledge of the local marketplace, is going to become even more important for the HVACR wholesale distribution trade as it continues to compete with many different professions for young, skilled professionals entering the job market. That’s the motivation behind a relatively new initiative started by the Heating, Airconditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) titled the Certified Counter Specialist (CCS) program
RSS
