Name: Tom Koski

Title: Senior Service Technician

Tom Koski started out working on refrigeration systems at restaurants about 30 years ago. Then one day he went up on the roof, and he hasn’t come down since. Today, he’s the senior service technician at Encon Mechanical, a commercial HVAC contractor located in Ocean, New Jersey.

Koski joined the firm a little more than 10 years ago. A technician who worked for him at another company told him about an opening. Koski said he enjoys working for a well-managed HVAC contractor.

The company’s managers like having him work for them. Michael Barone, Encon’s service manager, said he could tell minutes into his first interview that Koski possessed strength of character. Barone said his vast knowledge and expertise means he can handle an extensive list of tasks on any given day while providing technical support to other team members.

Koski enjoys the challenge of commercial HVAC service. Curious by nature, Koski will spend time on his own to look up details about operation and attends numerous classes.

“I like to know how things work,” he said. “Once you know how they work, you know how to fix them.”

This proves valuable to his customer. One time, a bank called Encon out to look at its RTU. Two other companies had been out there earlier, and both said the unit needed replacement. Koski replaced a couple of bad parts and did some wiring. The system was back up and running.

“I went out on many jobs where people said the unit was no good and needed to be replaced,” he said.

Koski said he understands the customer’s sense of urgency when they need service. Barone shared a story of how Koski was able to meet the customer’s needs and still meet his own obligations. A customer had scheduled an RTU replacement for a Saturday morning. Koski’s daughter had a recital at noon an hour away from the job site. Koski showed up at 6 a.m., helped remove the old unit, landed the new one, and set up the team to finish the job. The customer was happy with his new RTU, and Koski made it to the recital.

“His technical knowledge is outstanding, but what separates Tom is that he treats our customers like partners,” Barone said. “He evaluates the cost-effectiveness of the repair and discusses all options with the customer. Tom's open communication creates trust and develops long-term relationships or partnerships, and those are the customers that Encon seeks to have.”

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