Over four years ago, John Boyce got the good news that he had been chosen as a winner in The NEWS’ “Best Contractors to Work For” contest. Since then, the company has grown substantially, but the strong bonds between employees and ownership remains very strong.
It shouldn’t come as any surprise that a meeting of contractors would inevitably result in discussions about the labor problems facing the HVAC trade and the lack of professionalism in the trade. And Tulsa was no exception as area contractors participated in a recent roundtable meeting hosted by The NEWS.
The road to success has been a long and bumpy one for Gary Marowske, president of Flame Heating Cooling Electrical. It is a company that primarily serves residential customers in suburban Detroit and was chosen as The NEWS’ Best Contractor to Work For in the North Central region.
No, I’m not boozing it up or making ridiculous headlines to attract your attention (unlike a certain editor-in-chief who uses “snow bunnies’ and sexy photos to boost his sagging readership). I am talking about a fantasy I had the other day (no, not a snow bunny fantasy.)
If you could combine five powerful software programs into one, would that help? You can - and the product has a name, too: Design-Build 6.0. It is a suite of software programs that perform HVAC design-build analyses including commercial and residential load calculations, duct sizing, cost estimating, and proposal generation.
Design-build may be a key to success in a soft new construction market and it certainly can be a key to keeping the professional bar high in the HVAC trade. The NEWS asked its contractor consultants to comment on how design-build can be an advantage for HVAC contractors in 2008 and beyond.
No, that headline isn’t a typo. Some of your employees really stink and they could be turning off your customers. I’m not talking about physiology such as body odor or bad breath. Lord knows I suffer from both. No, I’m talking about odors from tobacco, i.e., cigarettes, cigars, or yes – marijuana.
The
NEWS wanted to know what impact eBay has made on HVAC contractors and
whether these business owners have embraced eBay as an alternate source for
customers to buy equipment and have themselves, the brick-and-mortar
contractors, perform the installations.
ABCO
Refrigeration Supply Corp. of Long Island City, N.Y., hosted its annual expo
amid beautiful sunny skies and a full agenda. A total of 4,500 visitors
exchanged information, reconfirmed business and personal friendships, and
enjoyed a day full of camaraderie that is the hallmark of this expo.
What are HVAC contractors doing to promote
healthy lifetsyles among their employees? The NEWS asked its
contractor consultants to talk about their efforts to make health and fitness a
top priority among their employees.