What does it take to be a successful entrepreneur? Hard work. Instinct. Confidence. Leadership. Vision. Gut. What about data?

Connor Lokar, senior economist, HARDI, said the December data is somewhat at odds with the other strong signs economists see, like the positive slope to the leading indicators.

Are you paying your employees enough? Are you paying them too much? Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) has the answers. Every two years, HARDI offers an employee compensation survey designed to determine where individual wholesalers’ compensation plans stand within the distribution industry.

The economic environment for HVACR demand seems to be very good. Consumer confidence is high, and stories of homes selling quickly are common. Employment growth persists, and wages are improving. This Goldilocks scenario is very similar to the high points from last year when we were preparing the forecast. We thought the pent-up demand thesis still had some validity, but there would be a difficult comparison after the 2016 heat wave.

Every year about this time, my friend Tom Perić asks me to pen a column laying out what I think may happen in the forthcoming year. Most years I’m comfortable in my assessments, barring anything drastic happening, because Congress only has a limited time to act (and with 2018 being an election year, they have even less) due to the setting of the regulatory calendar for planned actions.

With the 2017 summer season in the books, distributor management teams now focus on the execution of the winter logistics and sales plan, while studying the outlook for next year. While weather always provides the potential to adjust our sales, there is no doubt that when utilizing good data, effectively trained and supported management teams can design and execute better strategies to reach their goals.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) released its monthly TRENDS report, showing average sales for HARDI distributor members declined by 1.5 percent in August 2017.

The middle of summer brings opportunities for all. Your business strategies and systems are tested under the full load of the high demand of the cooling season, and so are the people. Our industry’s incredible people deserve hearty congratulations for providing an information, application and logistical system that plays an important part in delivering comfort to hundreds of millions of Americans every summer.

The arrival of summer's heat brings all of our business activity into high gear, as the months of learning, studying, planning and improvement evolve into pure execution for the busy months. Our industry continues to evolve and grow, and your association leads the way in so many crucial ways to ready our teams for this critical harvest period.