Industry News

Local Trade Associations Give Back to our Veterans

Valley View, Ohio — The 16th Annual Heat and Plumb the County service event will take place Saturday, September 14, to help nearly 50 veterans, senior and disabled residents who do not have the physical or financial means to pay for home repairs.

A group of 100 volunteer contractors from the Plumbing, Heating, Cooling Contractors Association of Northeast Ohio (PHCC) and the Greater Cleveland Air Conditioning Contractors Association (ACCA) traveled throughout Cuyahoga County to provide the free furnace tune-ups, water audits and plumbing repairs.  “Some of the things we look for are high CO detection, rolling flames, gas leaks, plumbing leaks and sewage problems,” said event co-organizer Jerry Johnson.

Each plumbing contractor partnered with a heating and cooling contractor to visit two homes during the day.  During each safety check, the contractors will make sure the furnace was running safely and that the home’s plumbing system was working efficiently.

In past years, technicians have founds and fixed problems that could have been life-threatening to the customer.  This year, all homes will receive a combination CO and smoke detector provided by Dollar Bank.

“A few years ago we found a home with a serious gas leak,” said event co-organizer Jim Haberek. “We had to evacuate the house, but thankfully no one was hurt.”

All residents are pre-screened by the Cuyahoga County Veterans Service Commission, Cuyahoga County Senior and Adult Services, Cuyahoga County Department of Development and the Cleveland Department of Aging.  Residents in need have to meet certain criteria, including being the owner of the home and having financial income of no more than 175 percent above the poverty level.

“Our technicians are proud to be here and to make a difference in the community,” said Haberek.  “They’ve donated their Saturday to make sure residents are safe.”

The event’s materials, supplies and additional funding were donated by local plumbing and HVAC supply companies.  According to the event organizers, they are always looking for more contractors to volunteer their time to meet the growing demand for the program.

The ACCA of Greater Cleveland first hosted Heat and Plumb the County in 2004, and the PHCC joined the event in 2008.  Heat and Plumb the County events take place nationwide.  The program was started by the ACCA in Texas and has since spread across the U.S.

The PHCC and ACCA of Ohio are membership organizations of active plumbing, heating and cooling contractors committed to the continuous improvement of the industry and society’s quality of life through ongoing education, training and political action.

Menomonee Falls, Wis. — As a new school year begins, a survey of 9^th to 12^th graders reveals that unclean school restrooms cause them to have a negative perception of their institution and its leaders. 68% of students say school restrooms that are poorly maintained or unclean show the school doesn’t care about its students, reflects poor school management and lowers their overall opinion of the school. In fact, nearly half of students describe the condition of their school restrooms as poor or fair.

The findings are part of the Healthy Hand Washing Survey conducted by Bradley Corporation. The research asked students across the country about their school restrooms and hand washing habits.

“The negative impact of poorly maintained school restrooms is clearly significant and spreads beyond the bathroom doors to the entire school,” says Jon Dommisse, director of strategy and corporate development for Bradley Corp. “Female students are even more inclined to be negatively influenced by run-down school restrooms.”

The state of a school restroom likely factors into a student’s decision on whether or not to visit the restroom. While most (81%) use their school restroom on a daily basis, 19% claim to never frequent it. They avoid the facilities in part because they’re dirty, smelly or have broken or old toilets, sinks and doors.

Outside of schools, restroom conditions in public businesses also influence high school students’ perceptions and preferences. Most students (62%) have frequented a particular business based on its cleaner, well-maintained restrooms. Similarly, 64% of adults show preferential treatment for businesses with pleasant restrooms.

Privacy Tops Student Wish List

Students do have suggestions for school restroom improvements. Their number one request is more privacy. They’d like taller stall doors and want gaps between the stall panels eliminated. Their second wish is for cleaner facilities followed by more air fresheners. When asked what bothers them the most about school restrooms, foul odors top the list.

If students do encounter an unclean or unpleasant restroom, they usually skip their trip. More than half say they leave without using the restroom and 39% try to avoid using that restroom in the future. Just 20% take action to address the situation by notifying a teacher or school management.

In contrast, the Healthy Hand Washing Survey found that when adults are faced with an unpleasant restroom, their first course of action is to alert management (43%). Just 26% of adults choose to exit without using the facilities as opposed to the 52% of students who do so.

Avoiding Germs in School Restrooms

Germs in school restrooms are another hot topic. Students believe the germiest surfaces are toilet flushers, the floor around the toilet and stall door handles. Students back up their beliefs with actions – 46% operate the toilet flusher with their foot in order reduce their contact with germs and 33% use a paper towel to open the door. Females are significantly more likely to use these germ-avoidance strategies in restrooms.

And, even though most schools don’t post hand washing reminders, they might consider it. 57% of students say they’d be more likely to wash if there was a sign in the restroom.

The Healthy Hand Washing Survey by Bradley Corp. was conducted online Jan. 3-8, 2019 and queried 630 American students enrolled in 9^th – 12^th grade. Participants were from around the country and were fairly evenly split between males and females (49 and 51%).

Bradley is a leading manufacturer of commercial plumbing fixtures, washroom accessories, restroom partitions, emergency fixtures and solid plastic lockers.

For more information, visit www.bradleycorp.com/handwashing.

MILWAUKEE, Wis.—A. O. Smith, a Milwaukee-based manufacturer of residential and commercial water heaters, boilers and water treatment products, announced the beginning of its plans for integrating their most recent acquisition into its North American Water Treatment (NAWT) division. NAWT includes A. O. Smith branded water filtration and softening products, Aquasana based in Austin, Texas, Hague Quality Water based in Columbus, Ohio, and Water-Right based in Appleton, Wisconsin, and acquired by A. O. Smith in April of 2019.

Sam Karge, a Senior Vice President at A. O. Smith and President of NAWT, outlines his excitement for the collaboration within the division.

“These are truly bright, new ideas that have come out of our discussions as a team. Every company that has been brought together to form NAWT has a reputation for innovation and combining our teams is just one more innovative way that we can better serve our customers.”

Luke Java, the Director of Sales & Marketing for Water-Right, Inc., will assume the role of managing the Hague Quality Water regional sales personnel in addition to the Water-Right regional sales personnel. This move will create a central point of leadership for both sales and marketing teams, allowing better allocation of resources and providing even stronger customer support coverage.

The former sales manager for Hague, Jared Camacho, will be shifting his efforts to become the national manager of water softener Retail Sales Accounts, reporting to the Vice President of Sales and General Manager of Indirect Sales for A. O. Smith. This role will manage and further expand the retail market channel in North America.

Erik Koglin, formally the Field Manager of the Clear Choice Water Group at Water-Right, will now assist in managing the dealer networks for both Water-Right and Hague as a National Channel Manager. As the NAWT members begin to become more integrated, the role of the National Channel Manager will become important in facilitating coordination among the variety of branded dealerships within specific regions across the country. All of the dealer’s independently owned businesses dedicated to these branded networks will continue to operate as usual.

Kevin Osborn, the northeast Regional Sales Manager for Water-Right, will be taking on the role of account manager for Hague dealers in the New England territory. This will fill a formerly vacant role in the area while working to facilitate efforts between Water-Right and Hague dealers in that area.

The all-expenses-paid 3-day trip involved a variety of VIP professional and networking experiences, including the opportunity to build their own iconic RIDGID custom pipe wrench, a featured spot in a RIDGID photoshoot, a premium fishing excursion on Lake Erie and more.

Winners also received a behind-the-scenes tour of the RIDGID plant, getting a sneak peek at the latest RIDGID innovations that have yet to hit the market and providing insight for future product developments. “You think plumbing, you think RIDGID,” said John Thompson, contest winner and owner of Thompson Family Plumbing in Hesperia, California. “It’s iconic. We’re proud and honored to be here and see how this company operates and develops tools for tradesmen and women.”

“Having these hardworking professionals come into our facilities and hearing them talk with the men and women who make the products they use is inspiring for all of us,” said Becky Brotherton, manager, marketing communications, RIDGID. “Getting to spend a few days celebrating the passion of the RIDGID Experience winners is something we look forward to every year.”

Details on the next RIDGID Experience Contest will be announced in early 2020. Visit the RIDGID Facebook page for details. Emerson’s professional tools business, which includes RIDGID as well as the Greenlee and Klauke brands, provides the industry’s broadest portfolio of advanced, reliable tools and technologies for the mechanical, electrical and plumbing trades globally. Visit emerson.com/professionaltools for more information.