NATE recognized nine HARDI member companies during the wholesaler group’s annual conference in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International member companies were honored for their efforts to promote the North American Technician Excellence’s HVAC and refrigeration certification programs.

“NATE is pleased to continue to partner with HARDI to present the NATE certifier awards at (the 2016) conference,” said John Lanier, NATE’s chief operating officer. “These HARDI members host NATE certification testing because they understand the value NATE certifications provide in improving the level of knowledge, training and service in the HVACR industry. We are proud to recognize their efforts.”

The 2016 award winners will receive cash prizes and banner signs that can be displayed at their locations.

NATE’s 2016 Single Top Certifier Award went to Mingledorff’s of Norcross, Georgia. The company was recognized for certifying more NATE technicians than any other HARDI member at a single location. The Most Improved Certifier Award went to Temperature Equipment of Lansing, Illinois, which had the greatest increase in the number of NATE technician certifications from the past year.

The 2016 NATE regional award winners are:

  • Top Central Region Certifier: Auer Steel of Milwaukee
  • Top Great Lakes Region Certifier: Refrigeration Sales Corp. of Valley View, Ohio
  • Top Mid-Atlantic Region Certifier: HVAC Distributors of Mount Joy, Pennsylvania
  • Top Northeastern Region Certifier: Homans Associates of Hudson, New Hampshire
  • Top Southeastern Region Certifier: Value Added Distrubutors of Midlothian, Virginia
  • Top Southwestern Region Certifier: Johnstone Supply of Austin, Texas
  • Top Western Region Certifier: Airefco Inc. of Tualatin, Oregon.

“We are proud to partner with over 200 HARDI members across North America to continue to support the industry with qualified NATE-certified technicians,” Lanier said. “Distributors who offer NATE testing tend to have contractors that are better selling customers, have fewer warranty costs, and require less technical service and support than contractors without NATE-certified technicians. We hope this increased recognition will support more distributors to join us in our efforts.”