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And now, starting for the Los Angeles Lakers, a 5’ 10” forward from South Pasadena, Krikor Chiranian! [cheers and a loud applause ring throughout the Forum.] “Hey, as a young boy I loved basketball and my dream was to play professionally in the NBA,” says Krikor.

But with most young kids dreaming of becoming a professional athlete, reality sets in at some point, and fortunately for Koko, he got a taste of the trades early on, and there was no looking back.

Fun Fact: How do most of you know Krikor as Koko? Koko Drains (@koko.drains) was named after Krikor’s nickname. “My given name is Krikor, and since I can remember, my family would only call me Koko. In my career in drain cleaning, everyone has always known me as, and called me by, Koko. So, it really stuck with me,” says Koko.

Starting in the trades at the age of 20, Koko went on a call for a kitchen sink drain stoppage with his father, a veteran of the plumbing trade for nearly 50 years. “My father had to call on a man named Ole Bugarin to clear the drain stoppage. Ole came out with his Gorlitz Go 50 1/2” cable and cleaned the kitchen drain from the clean out, and I looked at my dad and said, ‘That’s what I want to do.’ There was just something about that moment while watching Ole clear the drain. It opened my eyes to a new part of plumbing that I found appealing and satisfying. I asked Ole if he would hire and teach me, and he did,” says Koko.

Koko worked for a single company for 11 years specializing in drain and sewer cleaning, and became adept to the work very quickly. “With the experience gained my confidence grew.” Says Koko. “One thing led to another, and I was eventually able to go on my own at age 31. As time passed, we became busier, leading to the hiring of my wife and two technicians. I’ve been self-employed for eight years now with plans for continued growth.”

Now, owner of Koko Drains, South Pasadena, Calif., Krikor Chiranian has been self-employed for the past eight years running a successful drain and sewer cleaning business with a side of waste drainage repair and replacement. In addition, Koko also provides camera inspections with marked pipe location, repairs and cleans of drains or sewer pipes by way of cabling and hydro jetting, as well as toilet and garbage disposal installations. As mentioned, Koko also repairs or replaces waste drainage piping, clean-out installation, pipe descaling, as well as trenchless rehabilitation services, and more. His go-to tool is his sewer inspection camera. “The camera tells all within an underground drain pipe, allowing proper diagnosis,” says Koko. Another daily go-to tool is Koko’s hydro jetter, which allows Koko to move a blockage out of a pipe, and, at the same time, cleans the drain or sewer pipe.”

While Ole was instrumental in mentoring Koko early in his career in drain cleaning and other plumbing essentials “teaching him everything he knows,” does Koko himself consider himself a role model for the younger generation entering the trades?

“Absolutely,” says Koko. “We pave the way for future generations. People are influenced mostly by not only what they see, but also by what they hear. To have a successful plan, it’s very important to stop and think before we act—teaching the younger generations the way to honestly and properly accomplish tasks is critical.”

According to Koko, the industry could do a better job promoting more women or minority contractors in the trades, “allowing for the attraction and eventual growth of a more diversified workforce, especially in leadership positions,” says Koko.

Being self-employed and the owner of a business makes it a bit easier to balance work/family time. “My wife schedules our work and personal life events; therefore, my wife schedules time off for me to spend with my family,” says Koko.

The free time is spending time with family, listening to and reading self-development audiobooks/books, and thinking of new ways to improve and grow the business. And, there’s social media. “Social media has allowed us to share our knowledge with others, and we can learn new ways of doing a job through other tradespeople’s perspective,” says Koko. “With social media, the new tools and equipment that are available to contractors are displayed, and they have brought new ideas for our company to utilize and grow. Also, we have made many new friends and customers through social media, building a network of reliable and respectable people.”

In the end, what does Koko love most about his job? “The gratitude our customers show us for getting the job done is the most rewarding. Also, the ability to be in the field, seeing new faces and places. In the trade, we are always seeing and learning something new.”

Lindon, Utah — Aquatherm announced that it has added Southern Pipe & Supply as a distribution partner.

Founded in 1901, Southern Pipe & Supply is one of the largest privately held, independent distributors of brand-name plumbing, HVAC, industrial, mechanical, and water works supplies in the Southeast, with more than 100 locations in Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, Arkansas, Florida, and Tennessee.

“Southern Pipe has always aligned themselves with the brand leaders in the marketplace,” said William Jolly, Director of Purchasing – Southern Pipe & Supply. “We are honored to partner with Aquatherm, the leader in polypropylene piping systems.”

Glen Miller, Vice President of Sales, Aquatherm North America, said the company has been strategically adding distribution to support its contractor customers.

 

“Southern Pipe & Supply is a perfect fit with Aquatherm’s Culture of Excellence,” Miller said. “We are excited to have them as a distributor partner.”

Launched during Jobber Professional Development Day, Boost by Jobber will help launch, grow, and strengthen small home service businesses

Jobber, the leading provider of home service management software, today unveiled Boost by Jobber, a grant program to further support the hard-working entrepreneurs within the home services sector. Aspiring entrepreneurs, new business owners, and longtime home service entrepreneurs are invited to apply for free grants ranging from $1,000 to $20,000 depending on the category their business qualifies for. Twenty home service businesses across 50+ industries such as lawn care, plumbing, residential cleaning, and painting, will be awarded $100,000 in total. Applications are now open through May 5, 2021. Finalists will be announced in July 2021 with the list of winners announced in August 2021.

“Home service entrepreneurs impact their local communities and neighborhoods in meaningful ways,” said Sam Pillar, CEO & co-founder at Jobber. “They employ millions of people while operating behind-the-scenes to keep homes, offices, and other spaces safe and in good working order—yet, despite their important contributions, small businesses are largely underserved when it comes to business financing. Boost by Jobber helps address this gap by providing service business entrepreneurs with some extra working capital that may not otherwise be available through traditional banks and government grant programs.”

Royce Ard, who owns My Amazing Maid with his wife, Tamara, further validates this statement. “Typically when I see a grant, I’m almost always assuming it’s for a specific cohort and I wouldn’t qualify,” explained Ard. “Loans are very, very, very hard to get. As far as going to a bank and getting $10,000 for a small business like ours, you’re not going to get it.”

Boost by Jobber grants are organized into categories that reflect various stages of company growth, from ideas on paper to recently launched ventures to established businesses—as well as an additional category for COVID-19 support. Five winners will be selected from each of the following:

• Almost-entrepreneurs (pre-business): Those who have the drive to start and run a home service business, but need funds to get started.
• New business owners (0-3 years): Entrepreneurs who are in the early stages of building their team, client list, and services.
• Experienced business owners (3+ years): Entrepreneurs who are ready to scale their mature business to the next growth stage.
• COVID-19 support: Entrepreneurs seeking financial support or resources for their team’s well-being.

Jobber spoke with dozens of service professionals to better understand the impact extra cash flow could have on a business, to create the grant categories, and to determine the dollar values assigned to each grant. Whether a company is looking to purchase new equipment, increase marketing dollars, launch a new service, train teams, or is in need of financial relief, funds from the Boost by Jobber program can make a big difference in helping small business owners be more successful.

“People don’t understand the value of the cash flow,” stated Steven Knight, Partner at Mosaic Home Services Ltd. “It’s not necessarily only helping the business. It’s helping the business owners. Their ability to lead people and calm down. Cash flow helps them be a better business leader.”

Boost by Jobber is one of many initiatives within Jobber’s home service ecosystem that is dedicated to supporting the home service entrepreneur, whether it’s through the company’s award-winning business management software, resources such as Jobber Academy, community building via the company’s Entrepreneurship Group on Facebook, and more.

To learn more about Boost by Jobber or to apply, visit: http://boostbyjobber.com.

The National Science Foundation’s Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Maui, Hawaii, uses the largest mirror of any solar telescope in the world. Thanks to its 13-foot-wide mirror, it collects seven times more sunlight than any other solar telescope, producing the clearest, highest-resolution images ever taken of the sun.

Not surprisingly, a solar telescope of this size produces a lot of heat. With a working lifespan of about 50 years – after more than two decades of planning by the National Solar Observatory and its partners – there is a lot that goes into keeping the telescope cooled so it can provide groundbreaking scientific insights.

And that’s where Viega comes to the table.

An enormous, unique project

Eventually, there will be more than seven miles of thermal piping within the telescope and support buildings, explained Lou Szabo, Facility Thermal Systems Site Coordinator for the National Solar Observatory. He spends his days helping to finish construction and commissioning the equipment that recently began collecting images of the sun.

Much of the piping was prefabricated years ago, as various parts of the facility and telescope were being built (construction has taken about 10 years). Traditional methods, mainly welding, were used. But then the project came to a crossroads.

“As the various science instruments are installed and other devices added to the telescope, the final piping needs to be completed or modified, and oftentimes in close proximity to optics or one-of-a-kind electronics that are worth millions of dollars – things that would take many years to reproduce if damaged,” Szabo said. “We can’t have any joining methods that use heat or fumes. It has to be a very clean process.

“The only way to install these remaining piping runs is with a joining system that meets the ‘no heat, no fumes, no dust’ requirements – and Viega hit that mark. We can go into these critical areas with very little equipment and complete press joints within inches of sensitive equipment, and the crews don’t have to worry about damaging it.”

As the need for a press-fitting solution surfaced, Szabo was already aware of Viega. He’s been in the piping trades for more than three decades and had previously used Viega.

He also knew that Viega had a large variety of fitting choices and, more importantly, offered plenty of technical support.

“When I presented the press system to the lead engineers and the decision-makers, I had to bring the best system I knew of,” he said. “Viega had been around the longest and had the best technical support if we had a question or got into a bind. We knew we had the reliability of the system behind us. It was really the only choice. I wouldn’t have been comfortable with others.”

Another factor to account for is the ozone conditions. The telescope is located at Haleakalā Observatories, at 10,000 feet in elevation, on the island of Maui. This location allows for great conditions for observing the sun but brings with it other unique elements, too.

“There is a high ozone content in the atmosphere here. Ozone was attacking a lot of rubbers and things, so we use HNBR sealing elements in all of our fittings,” Szabo said. “Some of the coolants we use are more exotic, and the HNBR holds up.”

The bulk of the coolant used is Dynalene HC20. The manufacturer lists both HNBR and EPDM as compatible materials, but the EPDM seal isn’t as resilient with the ozone presence, so Viega’s HNBR sealing elements are the right fit.

Inner workings of the telescope site

A series of primary loops come from the main mechanical/utility building, where all the chillers are located. The loops run to heat exchangers, followed by secondary and tertiary loops. There are dozens of pumps and tanks involved in the complex setup.

Piping in the system includes everything from 6” carbon steel piping to ½” copper tubing. Stainless steel is also used. The miles of piping run coolants and air to keep the telescope project at an appropriate temperature and to keep everything working smoothly. Viega ProPress fittings up to 3” in diameter and MegaPress fittings as large as 2” are used throughout the site.

The mirrors and transfer optics are cooled in a variety of ways, including cooled liquid and air. For example, air a few degrees below ambient temperature is typically blown on the back of the mirror cells.

The Dynalene coolant runs at a very low temp, some as low as –2 degrees F, some around 45 degrees. The coolant is also environmentally friendly, which was important for the culturally sensitive site that carried with it many environmental guidelines. Propylene glycol mixtures are also used in some of the scientific chillers.

“A challenge we have in the middle of the Pacific is having fittings available, and that’s why we try to keep our setup as simple as we can,” Szabo said. “It’s also why we went with MegaPress and ProPress. Much of it is available on the islands, whereas other systems are more difficult to get.

“We try to keep a stock of certain fittings and materials on hand and stay ahead of the game. Oftentimes we’re looking at a two- to four-week lead time to get less-common fittings to the island. Thankfully our supplier, PACE Supply, can often get us common fittings within a couple of days.”

Szabo said they strive to keep the piping runs as simple as possible to both limit flow restriction and allow the use of standard elbows, adapters, tees and couplings, which are more readily available on the island.

One-of-a-kind solar research

Plans for the Inouye Solar Telescope (named for the late Daniel Inouye, the U.S. Senator from Hawaii who played a crucial role in getting finances approved for the project and was a big advocate of STEM and science) started 25 years ago. Dr. Claire Raftery, Head of Education, Outreach and Communication for the National Solar Observatory, said innovating how to build something so complicated – and then get it funded – was a massive undertaking.

There was an extensive survey done to determine the location of the telescope. A few hundred sites worldwide were reduced to a short list of 72, which was whittled down to a six. From there, only three met the specific requirements that scientists were looking for, and the location in Maui was chosen.

The Inouye Solar Telescope’s unique location combines clear and vivid blue skies needed to observe the faint corona of the sun with a high elevation and low air turbulence of the atmosphere above the telescope. Thanks to all these things, the telescope can produce the best images of the sun ever taken so that scientists can learn more about the dynamic star.

“We’re studying an object that there’s still a lot of mystery around. Many questions remain unanswered because we don’t yet have the capability to answer them,” Raftery said. “We need more detail, higher resolution – and these are things this telescope will bring to the table. It’s really a fortuitous time to be working in the solar physics industry.”

The telescope is expected to be operational for at least 44 years – four solar cycles – which is one of the benefits of ground-based astronomy, Raftery explained.

“We can expand the abilities of this project much longer than we could from space,” she said. “It’ll never really stop being finished. We can adapt and improve. The team will continue to bring new science experiments online through the life of the telescope.”

Part of the federal requirements from the National Science Foundation include returning the site back to the way it was found, so in 50 years they won’t simply turn off the lights and walk away, but instead the project will eventually be removed from the site after it has run its course.

But with that prospect decades into the future, for now everyone involved with the project is exhilarated as the telescope begins recording images of the sun.

“I remind the crews that they are the only ones in the entire world working on this unique system,” Szabo said. “This is truly a one-of-a-kind project.”