"Last year, ACCA posted its first growth following eight years of declining membership," said Paul T. Stalknecht, president and CEO of ACCA. "Now we know that the visionary plan laid down by our board of directors continues to pay off dividends for our members as ACCA's strength continues to evolve and contractors all over the country take advantage of our resources."

According to ACCA, its membership has now grown by 13 percent since 2002. Also, in the past year, membership reached into all 50 states for the first time in the association's history, making it the only nationwide HVACR organization, says ACCA. Its membership also includes contractors from 35 other nations worldwide.

Following a time of restructuring with its chapters nationwide, Stalknecht said the association is now focused solely on its mission of providing business and technical resources to contractors of all shapes and sizes.

"Our membership runs the gamut, from one-man shops to large contracting firms," Stalknecht said. "Our members are residential and commercial, union and non-union. We believe that a united industry is a stronger industry, better able to make our voice heard in the halls of power and to use our strength in numbers to provide even more superior resources to help our members compete and grow.

"We believe that the HVACR industry is of paramount importance to the United States and, indeed, the world. Our only bottom-line interest is our members' success, and we look forward to serving them with vigor and creativity in the coming year."

For more information, visit www.acca.org.

Publication date: 09/06/2004