HVAC

Like many others in the plumbing industry, Chase Wenger started out on the weekends helping his dad, who is co-owner (with Chase’s uncle) of C.V. Wenger Inc., Chambersburg, Pa. “When I was a kid, I hated cleaning the house so I would leap at any chance to go to work with my dad. We’d stop for gas, and he’d buy me a soda and a candy bar, and we’d ride around to jobs and spend the day together,” says Wenger. “Those are some of my fondest memories,” recalls Wenger. “I put my first boiler in with my dad when I was in elementary school, and from that point on I was hooked.”

Chase owes a lot to his dad, uncle and grandfather—who started the company in 1954—who all become mentors in some fashion. “They taught me to do the best I can no matter what, to be resourceful, and to think outside the box, while always encouraging me to learn more,” says Wenger.

In addition, Dan Holohan is a huge mentor for Wenger as well, even if he doesn’t know it. “I recall telling him one time about a steam system I put in from scratch, he shook my hand and told me, ‘Congratulations, that automatically makes you 65 years older kid, great job.’”

Wenger likes to think that that every tradesman he’s ever met/worked with was a mentor, continuously trying to learn something new from everyone he meets. Although he fondly recalls shakily holding the flashlight for his dad as a young boy’s mind wandered around almost as much as the flashlight beam, searching through the truck for the 5th time for that screwdriver he’s sure he left back there. “If you want to keep a kid indisposed for a bit, just assign them a mission they can’t complete if you have that one thing they’re searching for hidden in your toolbox. LOL,” says Wenger.

Moving on Up

Chase made his way to washing trucks and stocking shelves, eventually moving on to help with installs. Then one especially busy day, a lead guy didn’t come to work. “I was instantly upgraded to a full-fledged tech/plumber. As I learned more, I decided I needed to get my Masters Plumber License. From that point on, I started to design my own systems in addition to installing them,” says Wenger.

And while Wenger’s official title of Supervisor/Lead Field Foreman has him lead larger projects—from commercial to residential—from both installation and service work, as well as troubleshooting and tech support roles for other technicians, one of the most rewarding things to me is helping out someone in need, whether it’s replacing a broken well pump, resolving his/her water quality problems or restoring a customer’s heat in the dead of winter. “Although, making a customer’s dirty, brown-stained, sulfur-smelling water into delicious crystal clear water is especially satisfying for me,” says Wenger.

Wenger also enjoys replacing old worn-out systems—wells, water systems, drainage systems, heating/air conditioner systems, etc.—with new efficient ones while cleaning them up and generally making them better all around.

Wenger’s main specialty is well pumps, water treatment, excavation, in addition to regular service/install work with anything the company offers. Oh, and by the way, Wenger is also a licensed Master Electrician, HVAC tech, and he runs a sheet metal shop.

But with all hard work comes some play time, right? “It’s always a tricky balance, but you just need to set specific boundaries and make time to do the things you want to do.” For Wenger, kayaking, reading, spending time with my family and friends is time well spent. A bucket list item? “Definitely kayaking over more waterfalls, or trying wing-suiting in Scandinavia.

Moving the Industry Forward

Moving forward, the industry needs to continue to eliminate the stereotype of the plumber as an unclean, uneducated worker would be a good start, says Wenger. Also, “We need to showcase how rewarding/satisfying the profession/industry is, offering education/training. A lot of people dislike working on things that they don’t completely understand, and paying them what they’re worth,” says Wenger.

Social media has helped the trades’ image problem. “It’s definitely helped me meet others in the trade, well beyond my regular service area,” says Wenger. “I’ve learned a lot from seeing how others do things and talking with them. I like to think everyone can teach you something in life—even if it’s simply what not to do.”

In the end, it’s about passing the torch. “I tend to forget that I’m not the new guy anymore, even after 15 years. I certainly hope I can be a role model for others both in the trade, and those considering joining this marvelous trade, and any other trade out there. It’s a wonderful career to have,” says Wenger.

Salary guides provide detailed breakdown of earnings across the HVAC, plumbing, roofing, cleaning, electrician, handiwork, landscaping, and painting industries

Jobber, the leading provider of home service management software, today announced the launch of comprehensive salary guides to help home service entrepreneurs hire and retain the right people to grow their home service business and scale operations. Jobber’s salary guides outline salary information for the HVAC, plumbing, roofing, cleaning, electrician, handiwork, landscaping, and painting industries. Guides feature easy-to-read graphics that display average salaries organized by state, years of experience, and title.

With job openings outpacing qualified candidates in many home service industries, hiring and retaining employees have become major challenges. The fierce competition has left many home service entrepreneurs with questions about what qualifies as a fair salary for employees in today’s market. Jobber’s salary guides are designed to address these questions and provide home service leaders with the information they need to grow their teams.

“When home service companies expand their teams, they strengthen their communities by providing meaningful local job opportunities and the training and skill development needed to build lifelong careers,” said Sam Pillar, CEO & co-founder of Jobber. “Our salary guides are just one of the ways Jobber is helping to equip home service businesses with the resources and tools they need to compete with large organizations and achieve success.”

A few highlights from the salary guides include:

Average Annual Salary for Experienced Roles by Industry:

• HVAC Service Manager: $72,899
• Journeyman Plumber: $56,054
• Experienced Roofer: $50,558
• Experienced Cleaner: $35,299
• Journeyman Electrician: $58,180
• Experienced Handyman: $66,086
• Experienced Landscaper: $41,553
• Industrial Painter: $40,598

Average Hourly Rates by Industry:

• HVAC Technician: $20.29
• Plumber: $22.64
• Roofer: $17.95
• Cleaner: $12.58
• Electrician: $23.00
• Handyman: $24.30
• Landscaper: $14.62
• Painter: $17.00

Data for Jobber’s salary guides was sourced from Payscale, the world’s largest salary database made up of more than 65 million salary profiles and 15,000 job titles.

To learn more about Jobber’s salary guides, visit https://getjobber.com/resources/salary-guides/. For additional resources around hiring best practices and other management best practices, visit https://academy.getjobber.com/.

Grenada, Miss. — Milwaukee Tool is excited to announce construction on their newest facility in Mississippi. Located in Grenada County, Mississippi, Milwaukee’s latest expansion will accommodate the company’s growing power tool accessories and power tool business, and will also serve as a centralized repair facility. The new location will create more than 800 new jobs, and is planned to open in mid-2023.

“We’re thrilled to, once again, expand our footprint in the state of Mississippi, where we’ve been able to recruit some of the best talent in the country,” said Steve Richman, Milwaukee Tool Group President. “Our success is the result of our talented people and the culture we’ve created; it is unparalleled in the industry. We are committed to investing in new talent, and the right opportunities to continue meeting the needs of our distributor and user partners with the speed and agility that defines who we are as a company.”

Milwaukee® is investing more than $60 million into advanced technology and manufacturing equipment at their new 563,000-square-foot Grenada location. The facility will house critical accessory manufacturing capabilities, and will join the company’s other service hub in Greenwood, IN, as one of Milwaukee Tool’s main axis points for service operations.

Milwaukee Tool, which employs more than 10,000 people in the U.S., has continually expanded their footprint domestically and globally as their company experiences incredible double-digit growth. In Mississippi, the company has invested more than $209 million in domestic expansion projects over the last 5 years and employs 4,400 people.

More About Milwaukee’s Growth & U.S. Investments

Milwaukee Tool is a global company with manufacturing, distribution, and operations presences across North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The company has designed, engineered, and manufactured products in the United States for nearly 100 years.

In the last year, Milwaukee® has invested $216 million in domestic expansion projects. In addition to this new Grenada location, the company’s other domestic presences include Greenwood, Olive Branch, Clinton, and Jackson, MS, as well as in Brookfield, Menomonee Falls, Milwaukee, West Bend, Mukwonago, and Sun Prairie, Wis., Cookeville, Tenn., Chicago, Ill., and Greenwood, Ind.

The Most Comprehensive Cross Reference, Parts and Equipment Database Tool for HVAC

Bluon, Inc., the rapidly growing company focused on upgrading the HVAC industry, today announced the launch of BluonSearch, the most comprehensive parts and equipment cross-reference database in HVAC.  BluonSearch represents a giant leap forward in enabling HVAC distributors to quickly determine their customers’ needs and satisfy them using their local inventory – all through a highly intuitive, brand-agnostic tool providing instant access to over 300,000 unique model numbers and 3 million unique parts, with over 40 million listed cross-references.

Distributors lose a staggering portion of potential part orders – estimated at up to 50% – by not having an easy-to-use, comprehensive database enabling them to determine what part, or equivalent part, their customer actually needs. BluonSearch solves what is a shockingly pervasive problem in the HVAC industry, costing local distributors billions in lost potential revenue, and technicians countless hours of lost time.

BluonSearch is the rebirth of XREF, acquired by Bluon in 2021, that provided basic access to replacement parts and cross-reference information for HVAC distributors nationwide. Bluon and its unique team of technicians and database engineers spent nine months pouring over the immense database adding specifications and new connections and most importantly, ensuring data accuracy. The result is BluonSearch, an entirely new, updated database that allows even the most novice employees to instantly add decades of experience to their daily interactions with customers.

“We are excited to provide our customers with a much-needed, comprehensive equipment and cross-reference tool,” said Adam Curry, vice president of software at Bluon. “It turns out that the world of HVAC parts and equipment is kind of a mess. The industry is large but fragmented, so we’ve had hundreds of manufacturers produce millions of parts, but no one has created a truly brand-agnostic map for navigating it all. This lack of a simple search tool is a hidden tax on the industry, costing billions in missed sales and lost productivity. BluonSearch is a huge leap forward for HVAC distributors and their customers.”