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According to the Chinese calendar, the Year of the Earth Ox begins Jan. 26. Ironically, that is the first day of the 2009 AHR Expo. I know of more than a few contractors who said they were debating on going to the expo because they had to cut back somewhere. It may be that kind of year for one and all. This year may be as slow as an ox.
Just in case you did not hear the obvious, President-elect Barack Obama
declared that the national economy was “bad and getting worse” as he began
crisis talks this week with congressional leaders on emergency action.
Over the past two years, contractor associations have been slowly but surely beefing up their respective training and education offerings - so much so that one industry insider referred to the increased interest as the “Education Explosion.” The NEWS surveyed some of the top associations to find out what they’re doing.
The HVACR Illinois State
Association (HISA) was formed earlier this year to bring all the independent HVACR contractors in Illinois together into a unified presence to advocate for a state licensure law.
There is a definite trend in the HVACR industry toward smarter, more sophisticated products. Just examine some of the smart products manufacturers have been - and keep - producing. Here is a showcase of a few of the smart pieces of equipment that are now available in the industry.
Earlier this year, I wrote an editorial proposing that the third day of the Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigerating (AHR) Exposition be open to the general public, media, and students. But the idea was voted down.