COLUMBUS, Ohio — Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) hired full-time economist Paul Hallmann to its Benchmarking department.

Hallmann, who will be based at the HARDI headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, previously served as a corporate strategist for Scotts Miracle-Grow Co., a multinational, publicly traded corporation.

"I look forward to bringing added value to HARDI members with these exciting programs we offer," said Hallmann. "My near-term goal is immersing myself in the HVACR distribution industry to learn about it as quickly and thoroughly as possible, so I can start bringing actionable economic insights to the table."

Hallmann received his undergraduate, masters, and doctorate degrees in economics from Virginia Tech.

In this economist role, Hallmann will be working closely with Brian Loftus, market research & benchmarking analyst, HARDI, on delivering macro-level and market-specific insights.

"Having an internal economist in Paul on staff at HARDI gives us the opportunity to comprehensively tailor the information we deliver to HARDI members in our Benchmarking resources in a more fine-tuned way," said Loftus. "This is a big step in our efforts to continually give members directly applicable information for HVACR distributors."

“Having our own economist that will be directly integrated into our data analysis offerings is an exciting prospect for us and our members who take advantage of them," said CEO Talbot Gee. "With Paul on board, we’re eyeing some pretty lofty goals for expanding the benefits of HARDI Benchmarking and HARDInomics services, and we look forward to presenting them to members here in the near future.”

For more information, visit www.hardinet.org/benchmarking.

Publication date: 10/02/18