Articles by Kyle Gargaro

When Wayne Gretzky was asked in an interview why he was so good, the Hall of Famer stated that he skated to where the puck was “going” to be rather than where the puck was at the time. And much like Gretzky, you should not necessarily be looking at what your market is demanding this week or even next month. Skate to where the puck is going to be.

It’s awards season here at The NEWS. We recently opened up our Best Contractor to Work For contest, which encourages employees to honor their companies based on their outstanding qualities. I encourage our readers to check it out.

Customers are yet another source where smart ideas can originate. That is exactly what happened with Heating, Air-conditioning, and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI). The distributor organization listened to its members who recommended the group expand into the Mexican market. So, they complied.

I have talked with many in the industry who believe once kids reach high school, society has placed them on a path, and it is very difficult to introduce trade schools into their plans at that point. These people say you need to reach these kids in middle school to plant the HVAC seed.

The HVAC geothermal industry recently received some good news when Google formed an independent business called Dandelion to get into the geothermal space.

Make sure your company is a place employees can take pride in when talking with their family, friends, or strangers. With the lack of qualified workers in the HVAC field, having your employees speak so highly of your business can only help.

We ran a poll at achrnews.com where more than 300 contractors voted. The results showed that 30 percent of contractors are willing to install products purchased by customers online while 70 percent would not. There were still more people saying no, but it was much closer than I imagined it would be when we posted the question.