Sharkbite

The first-ever @plumbingnationals wrapped up on Friday (10/27/23) in Tampa Bay, Florida, and boy was it a blast. The energy was high as family and friends cheered on the five finalists who completed the last plumbing challenge of the competition.

The Plumbing National Championship was created to provide a one-of-a-kind platform to recognize the plumbing trade and the people who keep the country moving every day. The competition provides a platform for men and women in the industry to showcase their incredible training, dedication and skills in a series of head-to-head dynamic challenges showcasing the world-class skills of the trade.

The competition’s first round started in July 2023 in the form of a digital qualifying challenge. Competitors took a three-minute multiple-choice quiz that tested their knowledge across all areas of the plumbing trade. The top 20 scorers advanced to Round 2 in September and received a custom at-home challenge kit designed by industry experts to test their skills on a unique and dynamic task.

SharkBite Plumbing Solutions brand is showing its support for the trades by sponsoring the inaugural Plumbing National Championship, which culminated on October 27 at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Fla. Over four months, the field whittled down to the top 5 plumbers now competing for plumbing glory by winning the title of first-ever Plumbing National Champion and their share of a $20,000 prize.

The finalists were: Craig Childress from Massachusetts, David McDonough from Indiana, Joe Jaspers from Ohio, Justin Coutu from Virginia and David Shanor from Virginia. One of these lucky plumbers won this week’s final round of competition in a custom-built arena along with a $10,000 prize and a unique trophy. Second place won $7,000 and third won $3,000. The winners will be revealed on the television broadcast.

In December, CBS Sports Network will provide national exposure for the plumbing trade, telling the competitors’ personal stories and bringing them all the fun moments of the national championship competition where one plumber won the title of best plumber in the U.S., claiming the industry’s ultimate bragging rights. In addition to the opportunity to win cash prizes, each finalist received a custom VIP prize package from sponsors like SharkBite Plumbing Solutions. You can watch the finals on CBS Sports in December, specifc date yet to be announced.

Whether completing repairs, a remodel or a new build, having the right pipe connections is paramount to completing a quality project. There are a lot of plumbing technologies available to pros, but not every option improves a project’s quality and efficiency like push-to-connect fittings. The leader of push-to-connect plumbing, SharkBite, wants to reiterate the importance of using the best tools available, knowing quality products will help plumbers complete jobs fast and with confidence. In doing so, the Reliance Worldwide Corporation (RWC) brand is underscoring the reasons its fittings are always an asset on pros’ trucks:

• They’re compatible with PEX, copper, CPVC, HDPE and PE-RT, polybutylene and PVC pipes, allowing pros to transition from one pipe to another in any combination.
• Fittings don’t require tools, soldering or glue.
• They can be installed without having to wait for pipes to dry.
• Fittings can be buried once wrapped in self-adhering silicone tape.
• They can be installed behind the walls.
• They’re easy to install in tight spaces.

With these capabilities, push-to-connect fittings save time on the job site, improving versatility, efficiency and quality for pros. If you’d like more details to share with your audience, please reach out. I’d be happy to set up an interview, discuss a byline opportunity or provide further information.

As HoldRite approaches its 40^th Anniversary, company announces enhanced digital experience  

Reliance Worldwide Corporation (RWC) is a leading manufacturer of premium branded push-to-connect plumbing products, valves, secondary pipe supports, firestopping solutions, DWV testing and fluid control technologies for residential and commercial applications. RWC’s portfolio of brands includes SharkBite™ push-to-connect plumbing products, HoldRite™ engineered plumbing and mechanical solutions, Cash Acme™ valves and John Guest™ fittings and fluid dispense products.

In anticipation of HoldRite’s 40^th anniversary in 2022, RWC is getting ahead of the celebration with a new website centered on improving the online experience for end users. These advancements will greatly expand RWC’s digital experience for contractors by using their feedback to inform a new on-site search experience. This will make it easier than ever for customers to find vital information quickly. Additionally, the new website boasts enhanced product and resource filtering. HoldRite’s new website launch is the first of several website enhancements to roll out for RWC brands, including changes to SharkBite.com, CashAcme.com and JohnGuest.com — all to unify the overall brand and website customer experience.

“Our customers are busy and want to be able to find information quickly and easily,” said Chris Carrier, Marketing Director, Americas, Reliance Worldwide Corporation. “Improving the user experience became our top priority when redesigning the HoldRite website, and contractors will see continuous improvements in the subsequent brand webpages over the next year.”

The online enhancements seen on HoldRite’s website, include:

• New technical download center so visitors can find all relevant documentation in one place
• Improved “Where to Buy” functionality and site search experience
• Consolidated product pages with a clean user interface
• Faster submittal generator process
• Added filters to product categories
• Faster site and page speed

To further support professional contractors, RWC regularly evaluates its online experience to assess performance and uncover opportunities to optimize the experience. With website visitors growing in sophistication and need, RWC sought the opportunity to improve the HoldRite website to ensure plumbers, engineers, architects, mechanical contractors and electricians were able to efficiently find important product information in a timely manner.

To view HoldRite’s improved website experience, visit the U.S. site, here, and Canada’s site, here.

It’s fair to say that the last year has been a significant challenge for just about every industry. Even something as essential as plumbing hasn’t gone without being impacted by the changes that have come about due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, just because you’re facing these unique challenges, doesn’t mean that you’re not going to be able to overcome them. With that in mind, here are some things that you can do in order to keep your plumbing business afloat in a post-COVID world.

Stay safe

The most obvious thing to remember when working during the pandemic is to make sure that you, your employees, and your clients are all as safe as possible. There are plenty of ways that you can do this of course. If you’re heading out to clients then make sure that you have procedures in place so that you can maintain social distancing and that you’re always keeping yourself and your equipment clean and sanitized. This applies to your office and warehouse too. Of course, this is all alongside the other, more typical health and safety measures that you need to take. Safety should always be your number one concern, even once we’re all on the other side of this pandemic.

Present yourself properly

People are pretty frightened at the moment and they need to feel secure in whatever business they hire. They need to be sure that not only are you going to do the best job possible but that you’re going to be able to do it safely and securely. This means that you have to put your best foot forward at all times. Things like making sure that your website is as high quality as possible or using something like http://physicaladdress.com to set up a virtual mailbox that can help smaller plumbing companies look better established can make a huge difference. If you want to keep your business going during these tough times, your customers need to feel as though they can trust you completely.

Adjust your working methods

You may previously have had particular ideas about how your business is run. Everything from plumbers out on jobs to the manufacturing side to the way that the office itself functions. The reality is that in this new world there’s a good chance that you’ll need to rethink all of these in one way or another. From making sure that you’re compliant with safety regulations to ensuring that all of your staff are working to the highest possible standard no matter where they are. The modern world has changed and it’s up to you to change with it.

The reality is that, pandemic or no pandemic, your business is one that is always going to be necessary both domestically and commercially. Being able to adjust to the needs of the modern world in whatever form that takes is one of the most important things that you can do to stay ahead of the competition and to make sure that your business comes out of the totally unprecedented situation as cleanly as possible.