ARLINGTON, Va. - The Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) is now accepting nominations for the association’s 2008 Awards for Excellence.

Awards to be presented include the ACCA Award for Excellence in Residential Contracting, the ACCA Award for Excellence in Commercial Contracting, and the Jeff Forker Award for Excellence in Training. The winners will be announced at ACCA’s 40th Annual Conference and Indoor Air Expo, to be held Feb. 5-7, 2008 at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Qualifications for the awards are:

Excellence in Residential Contracting and Excellence in Commercial Contracting
These two awards are given to an ACCA contractor member in each category who has demonstrated significant and exemplary achievement/success in managing their residential or commercial HVACR business, and who:

• Are properly licensed by the state, city, and/or local municipality in which they operate;

• Have been a member of ACCA for three or more years;

• Are committed to quality, ethical standards, sound business practices, and improving the HVACR industry;

• Are dedicated to skills training and professional development for all employees, especially in the NATE certification for technicians of residential contractors;

• Educate customers about efficiency, quality, and safety of products and services;

• Advocate safety in the workplace; and

• Are active in the local community through donation of time, money, and/or services.

Jeff Forker Award for Excellence in Training
The Jeff Forker Award for Excellence in Training is awarded to an ACCA member who has championed education and training initiatives and who has made outstanding progress in raising the HVACR industry’s professional standard by:

• Making a formal management commitment to the training process for all employees, such as marketing, sales, or customer service training;

• Implementing in-house management and training programs for technicians, or employing 75 percent NATE certified technicians;

• Conducting an ongoing process of continuous quality review and improvement for the training/education programs;

• Recognizing/rewarding those employees who are personally committed to continuing education and training; and/or,

• Developing new training methods.

For more information on the awards and to learn how to create a nomination package, visit www.acca.org. Nominations must be received by Dec. 3, 2007. Questions may be addressed to Kelly Ercole at kelly.ercole@acca.org.

Publication date:11/12/2007