Opinions

Subscribe

It’s interesting in our industry that no matter how much change there is, some things seem to stay the same. At contractor meetings five and even 10 years ago, the major topic on everyone’s mind was “where are the technicians of tomorrow going to come from?”

Scientists have told us that there is supposedly more carbon in the atmosphere than at any other point in time so, of course, that makes carbon the culprit in global warming. But what if there’s more to it than that?

The NEWS is bringing back an old feature, starting in this issue. “Ask the Lawyer” has returned and we hope that you can get some of your questions answered in this semi-regular feature. This won’t be free legal advice - only an opinion by an experienced attorney who knows a lot about construction law.

The irrational exuberance of some salespeople amazes me. In an effort to regurgitate every factoid about their product, in an effort to manipulate responses with questions, in an effort to get the sale at any cost, they forget one very important point. Listen to the customer.

When it comes to recruiting young people to the trade, it was refreshing to witness the 2007 Student Chapter Summit. The event gave me some hope that at least one industry group, namely the Mechanical Contractors Association of America (MCAA), is putting its money where its mouth is.

Business diversification pays off at harvest time.

Dean is a refrigeration contractor, and I always enjoy listening to his observations on business and life in general. It usually boils down to this: “It’s a goat rodeo.” I love trying to imagine what one of those would look like.

Structure cooking to rid it of mold? Keep speaking the truth.

Young men in votech school may not dress the way we like. But they aren’t going into customers’ homes right now, they are going to school and hanging out with their friends in their free time. Cut them some slack.

At the risk of sounding crass and capitalistic, the green movement won’t survive unless it can gain commercial success in the marketplace. In other words, if people can’t make money doing it, it’s just another fad.