Um, yeah. With Trump ready to assume the role of President for his second term, albeit not consecutively, other than the renaming the Gulf of America, how much can we “read the room” as to changes in policies, rhetoric or general feeling moving forward to things that relate to the PHVAC industry? We recently caught Read more
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Um, yeah. With Trump ready to assume the role of President for his second term, albeit not consecutively, other than the renaming the Gulf of America, how much can we “read the room” as to changes in policies, rhetoric or general feeling moving forward to things that relate to the PHVAC industry? We recently caught with Mark Velentini, VP of Legislative Affairs at the PHCC-National Association, and Charles White, VP Regulatory Affairs at the PHCC-National Association—affectionately known as the “Chuck & Mark Show” by the PHCC—as they have their finger on the pulse of DC.
MH: We can kind of gauge what sort of policies/governance may come out of Trump’s term based on his first term, but how do you think the second time around will affect the plumbing industry in general?
Mark Valentini
VALENTINI: A Republican Congress and administration will bode well on energy policy as PHCC members confront bans and restrictions on natural gas connections and appliances across the country. This will also bode well for tax policy as certain provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 are set to expire which have been beneficial for many contractors, especially when considering Congress revisiting the corporate tax rate and potentially lowering it to 15% down from 21%.
MH: Does a more deregulated government mean more uphill battles for water/energy efficiency?
Charles White
WHITE: I think the previous Trump Administration showed us uphill battles when agencies were directed to create exempt categories like small cycle dishwashers and such. It is likely that the second Trump Administration will take these actions to the next level by moving to rewrite the underlying legislation. Having said that, the efficiency efforts will then move to the progressive states rather than being federal actions, we will probably not see much regression to less efficient standards and the high population states like California and New York will likely drive the industry to higher efficiency products.
MH: Do you think there may be changes to things like the Inflation Reduction Act or Infrastructure Bill or is that pretty much hands off at this point?
VALENTINI: It is rather early to tell, IIJA has been around for some time now and may be hard to change. The IRA has so many parts, that makes it hard to consider in one piece. Tax credits like Section 25c could be pretty safe but the HOMES and HEARS Acts may not be as safe since they represent almost $9 billion.
WHITE: Most of HOMES and HEARS programs have yet to roll out which could make them a prime target but since they have a low- and moderate-income focus, there may be an optics issue to remove those acts. The issues are complicated, but PHCC has been cautiously supportive of the IRA since much of that program flows to plumbing and HVAC contractors.
MH: What is the climate from your constituency? In other words, what are you hearing about this new election cycle—positivity, negativity or a wait and see approach?
VALENTINI: Positivity but also wait and see. PHCC must be vigilant on workforce policy as the new government may reconsider industry-recognized apprenticeships which risk watering-down training by compartmentalizing it into credentialing—contractors need skilled workers with a holistic skillset, not workers who are certified in a handful of specific tasks.
MH: How do interest rates come into play here?
VALENTINI: Lower interest rates bode well for real estate, which in turn bodes well for new construction, service, and remodeling work.
MH: From what I recall, Trump’s 1st term was pro-trades? Do you have any indication this will continue?
WHITE: While President Trump’s first term had support from the trade’s rank and file, the Industry Recognized Apprenticeship Rule received more negative public comments than perhaps any other rule. Those negative comments came overwhelmingly from those same rank and file workers. Polling data throughout the election shows that the President-elect enjoyed substantial support from skilled blue-collar workers, but his future actions must support their jobs in the workforce.
MH: Does anything change on the union front?
VALENTINI: That’s a sensitive question. I would venture to say that Teamsters and other labor groups that withheld endorsements are reading the room when it comes to their rank-and-file.
MH: Please give examples of any changes/addendums/eliminations to specific policies moving forward, if applicable. (i.e. Clean Water Act)
VALENTINI: We can expect to see legislation on tax reform and energy in the new Congress. Tight margins particularly in the House will require all Republicans to be on board to pass anything.
WHITE: It is possible that the new administration will review regulations that are currently in litigation, like the residential gas furnace rule, and perhaps decide to pull back those rules for revisions. This could also affect decisions on whether to appeal adverse court rulings such as the recent ruling against the DOL Overtime Rule.
https://vimeo.com/1043475838 Can you believe we made it to 2025? This week we’ll talk AHR, because don’t look now, we’re a month out from the biggest industry event of the year. We’ll also talk hoarders or a messy work areas in a customer’s home. And, of course, new podcasts, which drop every Tuesday. Weekly Links Read more
Can you believe we made it to 2025? This week we’ll talk AHR, because don’t look now, we’re a month out from the biggest industry event of the year. We’ll also talk hoarders or a messy work areas in a customer’s home. And, of course, new podcasts, which drop every Tuesday.
Weekly Links:
Solar-powered Evaporative Cooling
Solar-powered Evaporative Cooling Tower, Another Weapon in the Arsenal to Reduce Energy Costs
Heat Pump Water Heaters
When Hoarders Strike?
https://www.instagram.com/p/DENJ69YR7_U/
Podcasts
Rinnai Heat Pump Water Heater Installation https://youtu.be/R-BrzFe9qjs Rinnai is famous for their gas tankless water heaters because of quality and innovation. They are now in the tank market, more importantly the heat pump space but can a 500 watt heat pump do the work in keeping up with the modern family’s domestic hot water demands Read more
Rinnai Heat Pump Water Heater Installation
Rinnai is famous for their gas tankless water heaters because of quality and innovation. They are now in the tank market, more importantly the heat pump space but can a 500 watt heat pump do the work in keeping up with the modern family’s domestic hot water demands?
The Hub’s Eric Aune [master plumber] installed the 80gal REHP (Rinnai Electric Heat Pump) water heater for a client recently, in this video you’ll see all the features Rinnai has built into the heat pump water heater.
Rinnai REHP Water Heater: https://bit.ly/REHP
Rinnai has loaded this heat pump water heater with some great features. Please leave a comment or question, thanks for watching!
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https://vimeo.com/1040515147?share=copy Welcome back everyone to our weekly update. It’s hard to believe that next week is Christmas already! Have you finished up all of your holiday shopping? All of us from Mechanical Hub wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy holidays. On this update, Eric Aune will give you a heat pump tour Read more
Welcome back everyone to our weekly update. It’s hard to believe that next week is Christmas already! Have you finished up all of your holiday shopping? All of us from Mechanical Hub wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy holidays. On this update, Eric Aune will give you a heat pump tour, we go inside the tangible benefits of tankless, and, is press technology taking the skill out of the trades? Coach C Alan Carlson debates.
Earlier this year, we caught up with George Kazan, president and CEO, Ridgeway Plumbing, Inc., located in Boynton Beach, Fla. Founded 1956, the open shop company with 540 employees—no labor subcontractors—brought $135M in revenue in 2023. Ridgeway, dabbling in all new construction, and all residential—homes and apartments—works for most all of the major national and Read more
Greg Kozan
Earlier this year, we caught up with George Kazan, president and CEO, Ridgeway Plumbing, Inc., located in Boynton Beach, Fla. Founded 1956, the open shop company with 540 employees—no labor subcontractors—brought $135M in revenue in 2023. Ridgeway, dabbling in all new construction, and all residential—homes and apartments—works for most all of the major national and regional homebuilders and developers. Completing well over 10,000 units last year, the company currently serves seven markets throughout Florida and is continuing to expand its footprint.
MH: During the pandemic, how did Ridgeway fare? How did you navigate that most unusual time?
KOZAN: After a brief (maybe one month) period of extreme uncertainty, residential construction began to explode. Seems like everyone wanted to come to Florida and buy a house. While welcome, those were very stressful and challenging times, given the supply chain and labor shortage issues, as well as significant cost increases. Most of that is in the past now.
MH: In general, most of the country is experiencing a skilled labor shortage. Are you experiencing that in Florida, and what measures does Ridgeway employ to make sure they are hiring the best?
KOZAN: I’d be lying if I told you that onboarding and retention isn’t a huge challenge for us. Most of what’s available for the trades today are entry-level people, and with that comes a high degree of turnover in the early weeks and months. It’s critical for us to get these people up to speed. Besides having around 80 of our guys in apprenticeship classes, we do a lot of classroom and field training, videos produced in-house, and mentorships.
MH: You had mentioned that Ridgeway was all residential plumbing—about 80% homes and townhouses, 20% apartments—how are both those markets in your area, and how do you see them in the short term?
KOZAN: While starts did begin to fall off a bit last year with the interest rate run-up, things are still quite strong on the homebuilding side. Many apartment projects have been getting delayed or canceled, and it may take a year or so for things to stabilize there. Still, we remain quite bullish on housing in general, and in particular the residential market in Florida. It’s all about demographics.
MH: What are some of your top concerns as the president of a large plumbing company in 2024? How are you handling it?
KOZAN: Housing demand is not going away, so our primary mission is twofold—build our market share to get all the work we can handle, and continue to improve operationally so we can better handle all the work that we get.
MH: What do you feel have been some of your top successes over the past few years?
KOZAN: Actually, ever since the Great Recession we have invested heavily in our technology and information systems. Our entire business operates on a fully integrated operational software package developed by our IT staff in-house. Our proprietary system and apps are designed to address the unique needs of a large volume residential trade contractor—including scheduling, document management, logistics, reporting, quality inspection, as well as payroll and accounting.
Additionally, the major piping systems in every single one of our homes and apartment buildings are computer designed and fabricated, resulting in accuracy, consistency, and timely installation—critical in fast-paced housing construction.
MH: Over the last few years, we’ve been hearing about the Infrastructure Bill. Was Ridgeway able to “tap” into any federal money?
KOZAN: Not directly applicable to our markets, but better roads and infrastructure is always welcome to handle the strong influx of population growth we’re experiencing throughout Florida.