PHOENIX - Beam Reach Education’s Tulsa Welding School has acquired The Refrigeration School Inc. (RSI), one of the nation’s largest accredited single-campus career schools for HVACR, with more than 500 students and 45 instructors and administrators.

“The Refrigeration School was founded in 1965 by my parents, and our students, faculty, and administrators are like family,” said Elizabeth Loney-Cline, who is retiring as president of RSI. “We were very deliberate about who we turned my family’s legacy over to, and I know it’s in good hands with Tulsa Welding School and Beam Reach Education.”

The new owners said they intend to retain the RSI brand, maintain and grow its local workforce, invest in equipment and technology, and increase local enrollment while seeking opportunities to expand within and outside Arizona. RSI’s HVACR curriculum will also be offered at the welding school’s campuses in Tulsa, Okla., and Jacksonville, Fla.

“RSI’s founders, management, administrators, and faculty have consistently demonstrated the highest ethics and values, as well as a zeal for compliance, providing generations of students with lifelong careers and an outstanding return on their education investment,” said Larry Brown, president and chief executive officer of Tulsa Welding School and its corporate parent Beam Reach Education. “We intend to continue the great legacy of Elizabeth and her family.”

RSI’s placement rate has exceeded 90 percent for each of the last three years. Its students earn an average of $16.25 per hour, or about $34,000 per year, after graduating from RSI educational programs which include: Electrical Technologies (ET), Refrigeration Technologies (RT), Electro-Mechanical Technologies (EMT) and Mechanical Maintenance Engineering (MME). All of the school’s HVACR instructors are North American Technician Excellence (NATE) certified, and its campus is located at 4210 East Washington Street in Phoenix.

The RSI acquisition is part of Tulsa Welding School and Beam Reach’s strategy to grow organically while pursuing acquisition opportunities among skilled-trade career schools.

For more information about The Refrigeration School Inc., visit www.refrigerationschool.com. For more information about Tulsa Welding School, visit www.weldingschool.com.

Publication date:12/28/2009