It has been over a year since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the pandemic has changed the way ACCA operates and how we serve our members, it did not stop us from providing the same great quality member benefits. In the past year, we adjusted the ways we delivered our services by offering even more online educational offerings, new soft skills videos, and virtual events. ACCA is proud of what we have been able to do and offer our members during a vulnerable time. Like you, we are looking forward to getting back to our normal routines, and with the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, we can’t wait to get back to in-person events in the near future.
In fact, registration is now open for our Fall Meetings. The Fall Meetings will feature an Office and Operations Manager Forum on November 1-2, 2020, and a Service Managers Forum on November 2-3, 2020 in New Orleans, LA. Additionally, we are looking forward to seeing everyone at the ACCA 2022 Conference and Expo in St. Louis, MO from March 28-30, 2022.
While we are waiting to meet again for in-person events, I would like to remind you of the many online educational opportunities ACCA has available for you through live webinars, including our Rise to the Top series. These 3-4 hours of live virtual courses provide you the opportunity to expand your knowledge in HVACR basics and cover different topics such as:
- Air Conditioning (Cooling Basics) – a basic skills class for service techs including equipment location, the refrigeration circuit, and many more
- HVAC, A Primer for Office and Sales Staff (Non-Technical) – provides a better understanding of all aspects of the HVAC business to non-technical employees
- Wrightsoft Basics – will teach you how to use the Wrightsoft Residential Suite including Manuals J and Manual D
- Understanding Humidity – all terminologies of humidity will be defined and explained, from what is too much and what is too little
As your career success is a top priority for ACCA, we know how valuable training tools can help take you to the next level. A new member benefit that we have is the ACCA Career Speaker Series which occurs every Wednesday evening from 8-9 pm EDT/EST. The series offers 36 career and professional development lectures to help you advance in your career.
Also, a new upcoming member benefit we have recently implemented is the ACCA Practical HVAC, a course that will provide a fundamental turning point for your service technicians, installers, sales advisors, production managers, and service managers to transition to an improved and consistent performance level successfully. This training forces an enhanced and consistent performance level, reducing liabilities, increasing knowledge, and ramping sales opportunities.
In addition to these member benefits, ACCA is thrilled to announce that Ed Janowiak has joined the ACCA team as Manager of HVAC Design Education and will be responsible for helping to create, update, and deliver ACCA’s HVAC design content, standards, and guides. Ed comes to ACCA with over thirty-five years of HVAC experience, holding 5 NATE certifications and serves on the NATE Technical Committee. He has over fifteen years of practical experience in the field as a service manager, technician, and installer – working at various companies, and as the owner and president of Bramante Energy, Inc.
ACCA prides itself in the quality education offerings we have available to members. As an ACCA member, you have access to a growing library of video programming featuring presentations from leading contractors and industry experts on a wide variety of management leadership and technical topics. You can view videos whenever and wherever you like, as long as you are logged into the ACCA website. Many of our members utilize these programs for internal training programs by using a conference room setup such as a laptop, projector, or speakers. Or, you can add your employees to your ACCA account and they can watch videos at their leisure.
I am thankful for our strong and passionate HVACR industry advocates. Since ACCA is your association, so we want to hear from you about our programs and services. Drop me a line any time at barton.james@acca.org or call me at (703) 824-8858. I’m here to listen and work with you.
On behalf of the entire ACCA staff, we want to thank you for all that you do.
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