ACCA Now September/October 2020

ACCA 2021 Annual Conference & Expo WORKFORCE • LEADERSHIP • OPERATIONS • FINANCE February 21-24, 2021 | www.accaconference.com Making an investment in your company is a no-brainer for a leading HVACR contractor like you. Each session is designed exclusively for contractors and presented by industry experts. Sessions cover a wide range of topics that will help you become better businesspeople and grow profit margins year-over-year.

T o p i c s I n c l u d e • Employee Productivity • Extended Warranties • Maintenance Agreements • Increase Profits & Revenues • Coaching/Mentoring • Personal Development • Company Culture

• Hiring & Retaining Experienced Technicians • Digital Marketing • Sales Strategies • Customer Service • Selling Quality Work • Generational Management • Targeted Marketing

Becoming the #1 Choice in a Crowded Market Gerry O’Brion | CSP

One Tribe. One Fight. Jacob Schick | Ceo

A passionate and fearless leader whose quick wit and stories of intestinal fortitude have a profound impact on everyone he meets, Schick is the CEO of 22KILL. This organization has created a community that raises awareness and combats suicide by empowering veterans, first responders, and their families through traditional and non-traditional therapies.

After years as an executive with billion-dollar brands, O’Brion now uses big company strategies to grow businesses of all sizes, regardless of their budget. He will have you look at your business with a fresh perspective, and have you re-examine how you are different from your competitors, and why that matters to your customers. This fun and thought-provoking dialogue will generate real ideas you can use immediately.

SEPTEMBER/ OCTOBER 2020

SERVING CONTRACTORS IN THE HVACR INDUSTRY

An IN-DEPTH LOOK at the 2020 ELECTIONS

ACCA-PAC REGISTER TO VOTE IN 2020 INDOOR ENVIRONMENTALISTS

contents Volume 9, Issue 5 / Published in September 2020

MANAGING EDITOR Melissa Broadus melissa.broadus@acca.org AD SALES Tom Murphy tom.murphy@acca.org 703-824-8875 ACCA NOWASSISTANT Zaneta Hubbard accanowsupport@acca.org ART DIRECTOR Lynn Riley Lynn Riley Design www.lynnrileydesign.com BLOGGERS & COLUMNISTS Hilary Atkins, Allison Bailes III, Jack Rise, Steve Coscia, Brooke Duncan, Tom Grandy, Adams Hudson, Barton James ACCA Now (USPS 9910) is published bi-monthly for $29 per year by ie3media, 2800 Shirlington Rd., Ste. 300, Arlington, VA 22206. Periodicals postage paid at Arlington, VA, and at additional mailing offices. ©2020 by ie3media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Postmaster send address changes to: ACCA Now 2800 Shirlington Rd., Ste. 300, Arlington, VA 22206.

CHARTING THE CAMPAIGNS 18 2020 election season is in full swing. What does that mean for contractors and their businesses? Jim Ellis, Senior Political Analyst for the Business-Industry Political Action Committee (BIPAC), shares some insight on what is at stake and the possible outcomes of the 2020 election.

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10 Capitol Insights 12 Service Savvy 14 Safe@Work

16 Tech Tips 26 Business Buzz 28 Training Tip

30 Legal Tools 32 Tech Challenge 34 Corporate Partner Spotlight: 1SEO

4 CEO Message 5 Outgoing Chairman’s Message 6 Now@ACCA

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Air Conditioning Contractors of America

ACCA Now is published by ie3media, Inc., on behalf of the Air Conditioning Contractors of America. www.acca.org

C EO ’ S COLUMN

Summer Reflection

ity installation and high-performance systems to homeowners and home buyers. Additionally, we also launched a partnership with RYNO Strategic Solutions, To The Point Home Ser- vices Podcast. Their podcast provides solutions to help HVAC, plumbing, electrical and roofing compa- nies learn how to grow their business with market- ing & operational solutions. And we have partnered with them on our new podcast, Clear the Air With ACCA, where we cover topics such as; where to find potential employees off the beaten track. Hire for character and train for talent, Warranty tracking. The do’s, the don’ts, the outcome, and the lost rev- enue, and what is a reasonable gross profit margin and do your technicians understand why you charge what you charge? We also are making our mark with getting a younger generation excited about HVAC. We revamped our internship program, and this summer, we had 5 interns in the marketing/communications department, 1 event planning intern, and 1 fellow working with our government relations department. They worked on a variety of projects that include, launching a new social media series, “HVAC Corner with Matt Akins, ACCA’s manager of HVACR Edu- cation, working on a new line of animated educa- tional videos, writing blog articles to keep members informed on current industry news and trends, and working on policy issues that impact our industry. To learn more about internship opportunities with ACCA, visit acca.org/about-acca/opportunities. It is our pleasure to serve you. WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT A top priority for ACCA is to encourage more people to find rewarding careers in the skilled trades. ACCA’s Workforce Development initia- tive is free to members in good standing and provides both direction and a variety of online resources to help business owners participate in attracting and training stu- dents to enter and thrive in the HVACR trade.

AS AN INDUSTRY, we made it through an especially challenging summer. With heat melting tempera- tures and COVID-19 concerns, contractors across the country experienced an uncharted territory head-on. We had hundreds upon hundreds of calls and conversations with ACCA members, providing them with resources and tools as we navigated through these difficult times. And now we are plowing ahead in a newworld of howwe do business. And as always, ACCA is still here to support and provide resources for you to continue to service your customers in a safe and smart manner. And remember, the ACCA resources avail- able to you are also available to your employ- ees. Any employee of an ACCA member company can receive ACCA’s weekly communications, as well as access to articles and trainings on the ACCA web- site. If you have team members you would like to have access to ACCA resources, email membership@ acca.org, and let them know the team members’ names, titles, and email addresses for them to be added to our email distribution list, and to access content through the ACCA website. We are constantly adding useful tools and infor- mation for our members, and this summer, we announced that Pearl Certification, a national firm that provides third-party certification of high-per- forming homes has joined ACCA’s corporate partner program. Pearl’s extensive relationships with real estate professionals help endorse heating, ventila- tion, and air conditioning contractors (HVAC). This more effectively markets their investments in qual-

Barton James is President and CEO of ACCA. He can be reached at barton. james@acca.org.

BECOMING AN RSI ACCREDITED CONTRACTOR GIVES YOU AN ADVANTAGE

As an HVAC business professional, your business needs to take advantage of the value of maintaining a close relation- ship with a professional trade association. ACCA is the HVAC’s premier trade organization that offers HVAC contractors the opportunity to become accredited for the New Homes Pro- gram and Residential Service and Installation (RSI) Program through our Quality Assured Program. Becoming an accredited contractor is a great way to grow your project opportunities.

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CHA I RMAN ’ S COLUMN

So Many Ways To Get More Out of Your Membership

Become involved in the ACCA Contractor Forum. It is the place for ACCA members to pose questions and seek advice from other contractor members. To start a discussion, log in to your ACCA account (www.acca.org/login) and then go to www.acca. org/communities and select “Contractor Forum.” Once in, select the “Discussions” tab, and you will see the green “Post new message” button. From there, it is just like sending an email. If you receive each message as it is sent (instead of a digest of all the messages), you can also click the “Start new dis- cussion” link at the top and bottom of every ACCA Contractor Forum email. To reply to messages, just click on “Reply to discussion” if you’re logged in online or “Reply to entire group” to post your message using your smartphone. When you’re reading and replying to the forum’s email messages, remember you are automatically logged in to the ACCA website. The Contractor Forum has answered and dis- cussed thousands of questions and topics. To all the new members, let this be your personal invitation to become involved in the important work of ACCA. I assure you that you will grow in knowledge and find that information to help grow your business. ACCA has also experienced growth in the number of our invaluable corporate partners. These manufacturers, suppliers, and vendors have made a huge commitment to ACCA and the well- being of the HVAC industry, providing significant financial support to ACCA’s advocacy and stan- dards development programs. Please show them your appreciation and support through a phone call and especially through a purchase order! ACCA relies on these dedicated partners for our educa- tion programs, seminars, publications, government affairs, and events. Finally, ACCA has some exciting items that will be introduced in the coming months. The ACCA staff, volunteers, and corporate partners have been tirelessly working through the summer to bring opportunities that will help finish out your year with a bang. Stay tuned and have a successful end of summer!

I HOPE THE SUMMER months have been good to you and by now you have developed a plan on how to con- duct business during the COVID-19 pandemic going forward. Apparently, many of you have discovered what a valuable asset the Air Conditioning Contrac- tors of America (ACCA) can be especially during this pandemic. ACCAmembership has exceeded all expec- tations and we all are grateful and hope that ACCA will continue to be a resource for your business. Now, ACCA needs your help. Our government rela- tions group has been extremely busy with the Pay- check Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness program, two stimulus packages, CARES Act, home energy tax credits, and a few state issues. You can help by contacting your Congressional representa- tives (ACCA has made this really easy) and of course through the ACCA-PAC. Please consider becoming involved in the government relations part of ACCA. With a unified voice and ACCA’s presence on Capitol Hill, you will have a powerful influence on legislation that affects your business and the HVAC industry. There are numerous needs at ACCA. There are five major committees – Events, Membership, Member Services, Partners, and Products – that do the volun- teer work of the association. This is the best way to become involved and the very best way to get your money’s worth from being a member. Every commit- tee I have served on has been a learning experience, and another way to experience the satisfaction of contributing to the HVAC industry. If you are inter- ested in joining one of the committees reach out to ACCA’s Committee Liaison, Melissa Broadus at melissa.broadus@acca.org or 703-824-8842. You can also become involved in our ACCA Man- agement Information Exchange (MIX ® ) Groups. ACCA’s MIX Group program is an organized forum of ACCA’s contractor members. Each ACCA MIX Group consists of eight to 10 ACCA members from non-competing areas, who usually meet twice each year. They typically travel to each other’s compa- nies to review each company’s sales, operations, policies, advertising, staff, strategies, facilities and more. The collective knowledge and experience of those groups is immeasurable.

Lanny Huffman is president of Hickory Sheet Metal in Hickory, NC, and ACCA’s 2020 –2021 Chairman of the Board. He can be reached at chairman@acca.org.

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NOW @ ACCA

K eingstein was a strong supporter of ACCA and its programs. He served on ACCA’s Board of Directors in the 90s before becoming Chairman in 1999. He was a long-time member of ACCA’s Masters of Achievements MIX® Group, served on several ACCA committees including the Commercial Contractors Committee, and served as a judge for ACCA’s prestigious Contractors of the Year Award for the past eight years. Keingstein’s influence on the HVAC industry and ACCA stretch far beyond the day-to-day business, as is seen through the memories shared by his friends and current industry leaders. “I had been a member of ACCA for a while before I met Bob at an ACCA conference in 1999,” said John Sedine, president of Engi- neered Heating & Cooling in Cedar Springs, MI, and ACCA past chairman. “Bob became chair- man that year, and at the chairman’s gala there were lighthouses on all the tables. During his speech he said the lighthouses represented ACCA as the light in the world of HVAC for con- tractors to find their way. I remember sitting there thinking how lucky I was to have joined ACCA and how excited I felt about being part of a large group of successful HVAC contrac- tors. A few years later he invited me to be a part of his MIX Group, and our friendship con- tinued to grow from there. Bob was an awe- some mentor who was fun to talk business and he helped me grow. He leaves a big legacy and will long be remembered.”

ACCA Honors Past Chairman Bob Keingstein

ACCA regrets to inform the HVAC community of the passing of ACCA Past Chairman, Bob Keingstein, president of BOSS Facility Services, Inc. in Hauppauge, NY. He passed away on

June 20, 2020, after battling lung cancer.

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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020

ACCA AND PAYROC TO OFFER CREDIT CARD PROCESSING SERVICES TO MEMBERS

ACCA has partnered with Payroc, a financial tech- nology company, that will provide ACCA members with discounted processing rates and world-class financial technology to further streamline their

business operations. Through this strategic collaboration, ACCA contractor mem- bers will be able to expand their credit card processing services through innovative software solutions and increase cash flow. Payroc will also offer members educational resources and per- sonalized consultation. “Payroc is excited to offer top-notch service and payment processing to the ACCA membership,” said John Mills, Senior Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at Payroc. “The Air Conditioning Contractors of America provides its members with exceptional resources and educational opportunities to help contractor businesses run more smoothly and having a proper financial processing system in place contributes to their overall success. We look forward to this long-term rollout plan that will help progress both our organizations,” “Payroc offers exceptional services that ACCA members will benefit from,” said Deb Weiner, ACCA manager of communications and strategic partnerships. ACCA prides itself on being able to pro- vide the tools and resources to help our contractor members have business success, and Payroc offers services that do just that.”

“Bob had a way of coming up with ideas and then being able to make them be so compelling to others that we all wanted to be a part of it,” said Mike Beaver, president of Beaver Brothers, Inc. in Salisbury, NC. “Working with other contractors was in his blood and so much of what he did with ACCA came out in our MIX Group and vice versa. Bob was ACCA and ACCA was Bob.” “I met Bob in the mid-90s, and it didn’t take long to forge a long-lasting friendship with him,” said Ken Bodwell, retired presi- dent of ISS Mechanical in Orlando, FL. “He introduced me to what it really meant to be in an ACCA MIX Group and sponsored me to join his. Through that experience, Bob, Past ACCA Chairman Jim Hussey, Past ACCA Chairman Skip Snyder, and I became like the four musketeers, close friends who never hesitated to reach out in the good times or tough times. Bob’s impact on the industry will continue to live on through all of us he helped over the years.”

ACCA FORMS PARTNERSHIP WITH RYNO STRATEGIC SOLUTIONS’, TO THE POINT HOME SERVICES PODCAST

ACCA announces that RYNO Strategic Solutions’, To The Point Home Services Podcast has joined ACCA’s corporate partner program. This podcast provides solutions to help HVAC, plumbing, elec-

trical and roofing companies learn how to grow their business with marketing & operational solutions. Exploring tangible steps for HVAC contractors, the podcast can help implement successful tactics to continue their growth and make improvements. ACCA’s corporate partner program enables HVAC industry suppli- ers and manufacturers to demonstrate an extraordinary commitment to ACCA members and the contracting industry through year-round support of the association’s activities. The corporate partner program also provides manufacturers and suppliers with increased access to ACCA’s nationwide network of contractors through tailored commu- nications and marketing campaigns throughout the year.

For more information about the To The Point Home Services Podcast, please contact PJ Sparks at tothepoint@rynoss.com.

For more information about ACCA, please contact Deb Weiner, manager of communications and strategic partnerships at deb.weiner@acca.org or by phone at 703.824.8862.

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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020

NOW @ ACCA

ACCA ANNOUNCES NEWHIRES AND STAFF PROMOTION

ACCA SEEKS 2021 NOMINATIONS

ACCA announces Matt Levinson as ACCA’s new member services coordinator, Tom Murphy as ACCA's new sales specialist, and the promotion of David Bixby to manager of codes and standards.

SERVICE MANAGER OF THE YEAR

CONTRACTORS OF THE YEAR

ACCA is seeking nomi- nations for the 2021 Residential and Com- mercial Contractors of the Year awards pro- grams. ACCA’s Con- tractors of the Year will be recognized at the ACCA Confer- ence & Expo in New

ACCA is seeking nominations

MATT LEVINSON joined the ACCA team as the Member Services Coor- dinator. He is responsible for delivering top-notch member service, connect-

for the Service Manager of the Year Award Pro- gram. Each year, ACCA presents the Service Manager of the Year award to one outstanding individual. This year, ACCA will present the award at ACCA’s Conference & Expo taking place February 21-24, 2021, in New Orleans, LA. Service managers who work for an ACCA member company in good standing are eligible and must be nominated by their company’s owner, president, or general manager. The ideal candidate promotes team- work amongst all departments, emphasizes the importance of continuous training and learning, develops programs to motivate employees, and focuses on pro- viding superior customer service. “Service managers play a distinctly important role in con- tracting businesses and ACCA is proud to recognize these out- standing individuals each year,” said Barton James, ACCA Presi- dent and CEO. “ACCA is excited to receive several fantastic nominations with great busi- nesses behind great managers.”

ing air conditioning contractors with member benefits for their entire team, while streamlining renewal processes and recruitment campaigns. Reach out to Matt at matt.levinson@acca.org.

Orleans, February 21-24, 2021. “ACCA is proud to honor two out- standing contractors who uphold the highest standards for proper HVAC system design, installation, and main- tenance procedures,” said Barton James, ACCA President and CEO. “Applicants should focus on the great things they have done this year to improve their business and support the industry, as this is a highly competitive nomination process.” Applications for the Contractors of the Year awards program are due by midnight on November 6, 2020. Once the nomination deadline passes, all Contractors of the Year nominees will be evaluated, and six finalists will be selected—three residential and three commercial. ACCA staff will work with each finalist to put together a judging packet. The official judging packets, including the six write-ups, photos, fact sheets, questionnaires, and videos, will be judged by a panel of ACCA past chairmen. The winners—one residential, one commercial—will be recognized at the 2021 ACCA Conference & Expo.

TOMMURPHY re-joined the ACCA team as the Sales Specialist. He is respon- sible for print and digital advertising, sponsorship, and partnership sales. He

is excited to be back with ACCA and to reconnect with the many ACCA mem- bers he worked with previously and to meet all the news members. Reach out to Tom at tom.murphy@acca.org.

Congratulations to DAVID BIXBY who was recently promoted to Manager of Codes and Standards. He has served as Man- ager of Codes for ACCA

since June 2016 and is now oversee- ing ACCA's standards operations and ensuring that we stay compliant with ANSI. Reach out to David at david. bixby@acca.org.

To nominate a service manager, contractors must submit the online form at www.acca.org/members/ awards/smotyaward. Nominations are due October 16, 2020.

Contractors must submit the online nomination form at www.acca.org/ members/awards no later than November 6, 2020.

View ACCA’s updated staff organization directory at www.acca.org/about-acca/ acca-staff.

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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020

Capitol Insights By Martin Hoover

Why Join ACCA-PAC?

few years and we may need different certifications, among other things. I certainly don’t want to be working in an explosive environment and I don’t want to be the guy that can’t sell a new air conditioner because I’m not certified or licensed to handle the new refrigerant. I don’t want to be in the dark about these issues and I want ACCA – our national trade association – to have a seat at the table when public officials are discussing these issues. The PAC helps ensure we have a seat at the table and enables staff to share with us well in advance what’s going on in Washington D.C. They protect us from getting blindsided with the next rule change or regulation. Every contractor needs to do their part and participate in ACCA- PAC so our team will have the tools and wherewithal to represent us and be our voice. Every now and then the Advocacy Committee may reach out and ask that you contact your Senator or Congressman. When they do you need to do it! Don’t sit around and think “oh well somebody else will do it”. You need to be in the game and step up to do your part. If you don’t, you sure don’t have any right to complain when things don’t go your way. I certainly don’t want to sit around and let folks that know nothing about my business and my customers make rules and policies that I have to abide by. Martin Hoover is president of Empire Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc. in Decatur, GA, Member of the ACCA Board of Directors, Chairman of ACCA's Membership Committee, and ACCA-PAC Leadership Committee Chairman.

W hen I first learned of ACCA’s Political Action Committee (PAC) I was a bit put off and felt frustrated that I would have to pay to be part of the political process. I quickly got over that as I learned that being part of a PAC has big benefits well beyond contributing money to candidates for public office. As an HVAC contractor, politics has a big impact on business. For instance, the Department of Energy can decide what products I can offer, OSHA tries to tell me how many people I need on a job if we’re in a confined space, the Department of Labor tells me who can be on salary and who has to be hourly. The government also decides how pay has to be calculated and accounted for, what records I need to keep, and what funds are available to assist in training. The list can go on for pages and pages. Being involved with ACCA-PAC gives me a seat at the table when these issues are first being discussed. It gives me an opportunity to speak to politicians in more intimate settings and educate them about what life is like in our industry, how their deci- sions impact my business, and what’s best for our industry. We all know how crazy it was there for awhile with rules changing all the time and refrig- erant prices jumping all over the place. How about when it was being decided what efficiency equipment would be able to be installed in which zone of the country? Or the debates and misinformation about what mini- mum efficiencies should be? We are also in the stages of creat- ing the next refrigerant phasedown and discussing the future of refrig- erants. Most likely there will be a mildly-flammable refrigerants in a

What is ACCA-PAC? Established in 1977 ACCA-PAC is a voluntary, nonpartisan political action committee (PAC). The PAC allows ACCA members to pool per- sonal, voluntary financial contribu- tions to support candidates seeking elective office at the federal, state and local level, who support issues important to our members. ACCA-PAC is a great way to give back to our industry and the first step to doing that is signing your ACCA-PAC prior approval form. You can sign it online at https://acca-pac. mmp2.org/welcome/prior-approval. By signing it, it does not obligate you to contribute to ACCA-PAC, it just means that we can share infor- mation with you about ACCA-PAC Activities. If you have questions about ACCA-PAC email Alyx Simon at alyx.simon@acca.org. Join Me By Signing Your Prior Approval Form

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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020

Create environments so comfortable,

they even make your bottom line feel good.

With ever increasing regulations, meeting industry efficiency demands while still maintaining optimal levels of comfort is becoming harder than ever. At Emerson, our affordable Copeland Scroll ™ two-stage compressors are an easy-to-apply solution that offers IEER improvements of up to 15 percent while delivering livable environments that enhance both the comfort and productivity of building occupants. Find out how you can help your customers meet a real need for improved indoor comfort by reading our ebook, “The Uncomfortable Truth” at climate.emerson.com/livability.

TheEmerson logo isa trademarkandaservicemarkofEmersonElectricCo.©2018EmersonElectricCo.

Service Savvy By Steve Coscia

Being Proactive

did not begin effectively, but with consis- tent and continual improvement, a culture of excellence can permeate a company. Implementing new service main- tenance and replacement procedures, to ensure customer health and safety amidst COVID-19, is easier to do when your company already embraces change and believes in continual improvement. Employees who believe in and trust man- agement do so because of past experience. There is a cause and effect relationship between a manager’s preparation (the cause) and whether employees get on board (the effect). Company culture is the result of lead- ership. Employees tend to follow a lead- er’s demeanor and when managers are ill-prepared for employee meetings, then the company’s culture may suffer. Con- sider your own company and the amount of time invested in a five-year plan. A strategic plan assumes best-case sce- narios in terms of leadership, employee morale and effectiveness. These three attributes impact company culture either upward or downward and ineffective employee meetings hurt culture. Peter Drucker, the famed management guru, is quoted to have said: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Drucker’s mes- sage implies that the best strategic plan will fail if company culture goes south. Being a servant leader is one sure way to boost company morale – serve your employees well so that employees will do likewise for your customers. The time we invest now, in being proactive and improving our company culture, may enable your company to sur- vive future catastrophes. As we adjust to a post-COVID-19 world, it is vital to keep a sharp eye on the rudi- ments that matter. Steve Coscia, CSP is an industry expert that helps HVACR companies make more money through increased customer retention, improved upselling, and reduced job stress.

N othing could have prepared me for this year’s business challenges. Most of my rev- enue is earned by conducting educational seminars. The COVID-19 eruption resulted in seminar cancella- tions and I thought this was the end of my consultancy. I was wrong. How? Keep reading. Supply and demand is contingent on economic factors such as sellers, buyers, price point, availability and market size. External influence on one or more of the aforementioned factors results in a dis- ruption. If demand for an affordable prod- uct increases exponentially, this puts a burden on supply due to increasedmarket size. But what if the supply is unlimited? About six years ago, my company partnered with HVAC manufacturers for an online education initiative. This initiative made sense because it enabled contractors to take high-quality virtual customer service courses, earn NATE CEUs and maintain their factory autho- rization status. And while this initiative started slowly, it picked up momentum with more HVAC manufacturers and additional online course distributors. Fast forward to earlier this year and you can imagine the perfect storm.

When COVID-19 hit, my company’s online course activity increased exponen- tially resulting in a big revenue boost. High- quality and affordable education is always in demand and limitless supply attracts more customers with greater efficiency. The above anecdote can be summed up in two words: Being proactive. Consider your company’s next five or ten years and ask yourself, “What is the one thing we can start doing now that will deliver a future benefit?” Naturally, it is probably more than one thing, but you get the idea. Proactive initiatives that deliver ROI usually have their origins in future thinking from years ago. Among my clients, the companies who weathered the COVID-19 storm did so because of four practices. These include:  Embracing change  Inculcating a continual improve- ment process  Consistent, honest & high-quality meetings to ensure all employees are on the same page  Ongoing education The absence of any of the above prac- tices would greatly hinder a recovery from a crisis such as COVID-19. In addition, these four practices were beneficial because they started years ago. Perhaps the practices

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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020

THERE’S ABETTERWAY TOGET AN EDGEONYOUR COMPETITION

STICKWITH FUJITSU GENERAL FOR AWIDE RANGE OF INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS AND TOP NOTCH TRAINING. There’s no need to do something drastic to gain a competitive advantage. The fact is, other HVACmanufacturers offer promises so thin you could poke holes right through them. Only Fujitsu can offer you the award-winning support and industry leading training you’ve been craving. And, you can offer your customers a full line of innovative products that will captivate the industry. Trust in Fujitsu...you’ll be spellbound.

Visit fujitsugeneral.com

SAFE @WORK

Mobile Device Distraction Is Not Just a Road Problem

Whether on an active con- struction site, in a fast-paced shop, or in any situation where several activities are taking place simultaneously, attention from everyone is key to helping keep a work environment safe. Distractions on the job can have catastrophic conse- quences. And while distrac- tions are all around, there is one type that can be easily eliminated: mobile devices. The Myth of Multitasking Safety-minded businesses generally take the necessary step of prohibiting mobile device use while operating machinery or while in areas where potentially hazardous activities are taking place. But without providing con- text, you run the risk of an employee ignoring the rule and causing an otherwise preventable disaster. Tell your employees this simple fact: People cannot multitask. Sure, the human brain can switch swiftly from

task to task. However, it can’t focus on more than one task at a time, even though it appears that way to an out- side observer. Imagine a forklift moving a heavy load. The driver can be doing everything correctly — sounding the horn at inter- sections, driving at a reason- able speed, scanning his or her path for obstructions, etc. — but if other people in the area have their heads down, reading a text message or checking the weather, there’s no telling what could happen. Hands-Free, but Not Worry-Free With increased awareness of the dangers new technology can present, solutions like hands-free accessories have popped up. But the problem is far from solved. Much of the research on using hands- free technology has focused on use while driving, but the lessons learned are easily transferrable to nearly any situation. Even with a Blue-

tooth headset in his or her ear, a mobile device user is still distracted. Removal: The Best Solution The best practice is to elimi- nate the temptation to use mobile devices altogether and require your employees to either keep their phones in their pockets or, better yet, store them away from the hustle and bustle of the work site. Practice what you preach. Job site foremen, managers, and other authority figures should model safe behavior, signaling to employees that casual use of mobile devices without a business purpose has no place on the job. Keeping attention on this important topic is key. Post signs, dedicate a safety meeting to the subject — do whatever you can to let your employees know that mobile devices can be a threat to the safety of everyone on the site.

This publication is intended to provide general information and recommendations regarding risk preven- tion only and should not be considered legal or other expert advice. The recom- mendations herein may help reduce, but are not guaranteed to eliminate, any or all risk of loss. The information presented may be subject to, and is not a substitute for, any laws or regula- tions applicable to your business. Quali- fied counsel should be sought regarding questions specific to your circumstances. © 2020 Federated Mutual Insurance Company. All rights reserved.

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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020

Tech Tip By Wes Davis

Indoor Environmentalists S eptember and October are prime months to perform maintenance agreements in preparation for the coming winter months. This year, due to the unprecedented COVID 19 pan- demic, peculiar circumstances support a unique opportunity to recommend HVAC enhancements. ACCAmembers who want to boost their fall maintenance agreements can visit this website for helpful resources: acca.org/ members/industry/residential-hvac:

 High performance registers to replace drafty, rattling, stamped- steel builder-grade models.  Dehumidification equipment  Zoning system  Duct sealing/duct modifications Health and Safety  Improved air filtration/purification  Dehumidification  Duct sealing Energy Efficie cy  Clean components, especially evapora- tor coils and indoor blower assemblies  Duct sealing  Duct renovations  Air balancing Technicians should also look for items purchased and installed by others like high-efficiency air filters that lower air- flow and incorrectly installed UV lights that could damage internal wiring casing and components susceptible to UV rays. Tell the Truth Yes, this is a time of uncertainty. In your customer’s eyes, you are an industry expert, and it is easy to prey on their fears. However, misrepresenting the truth is a terrible busi- ness. Avoid false claims about the efficacy of air filters, UV lights, and air purification systems. Technicians should base their rec- ommendations on proven science and inves- tigatemarketing claims in glossy brochures. We live in unprecedented times. Tech- nicians will benefit from truthful infor- mation that they can share with your customers. Plan for a few extra moments that are provided for each maintenance visit or service call, and spent to edu- cate your customers on the benefits of improvements to their HVAC system. You can help them stay healthy, improve per- formance, and be more comfortable. Wes Davis is ACCA’s Director of Technical Services. He can be reached at wes.davis@acca.org or 703-824-8847.

Now that summer vacation may become a staycation so that their home’s comfort system can get the upgrades or the TLC; it’s needed for so long. Do It Right The ANSI/ACCA 4 QM (Maintenance of Residential HVAC Systems) Standard was developed to establish the mini- mum requirements of acceptable resi- dential HVAC equipment maintenance. The standard is comprised of checklists for various equipment types; each checklist has inspection tasks and an associated rec- ommended corrective action. A committee created these checklists made up of con- tractors, manufacturers, dis- tributors, and utilities, and was ultimately vetted by the industry. The first step is to ensure your techni- cians are taught how to follow the ACCA 4 QM Standard (free PDF download). The second is to ensure your customers know the importance of following the standards procedures. Here are some resources for ACCA Members:  ACCA Comfort Tools: Preventive Maintenance = Savings  Customer Checklists: Teach Your Customers. Carpe Diem Maintenance visits and service calls are now more important than ever. They pro- vide an excellent opportunity to educate our customers who have a new apprecia- tion for their home’s environment, where they spend almost all their waking hours. Many will have an interest in improved ventilation and air filtration or purification. Use your marketing dollars to promote QM 4 Maintenance Agreements and add a little more time to offer corrective actions that will improve comfort, health, safety, and energy efficiency. Improvements like: Comfort  Air balancing (for hot/cold rooms)

 How to increase the number of fall mainte- nance agreements  Fall PM: Gain Loyal Customers Through a Maintenance Program

Market Opportunity Since March, thousands have begun to work from home. Some schools have opened, but many still provide classes online or a hybrid of classroom and online learning. More Americans are eating at home or ordering in. We stream movies instead of going to theaters. We exercise at home instead of going to the gym, and we read online rather than go to libraries. All of this means; America is at home. A lot. So now they spend their evening hours at home, and they spend their work- ing (or school) day at home. This makes their home’s indoor environment that much more essential. When you perform your maintenance visits this fall, it will be the perfect opportunity to slow down and recommend improvements that may have fallen on deaf ears in the past. It is incredible how spending all day at home varies from spending a few hours there before going to sleep and then rushing to work in the morning. All of those minor annoyances are now in your customers face all- day- long. Since many Ameri- cans will continue to work from home, their problems with their HVAC system will be in their face for months to come. This has a way of rearranging priorities.

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CHARTING THE CAMPAIGNS BY JIM ELLIS, SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST FOR THE BUSINESS-INDUSTRY POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (BIPAC)

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N ational media political analysts tend to concen- trate on the key Great Lakes swing states of Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin when discussing the presidential election because some combination of them will build the final leg of a winning coalition, but there are five other states that are arguably even more important. President Trump has a core of states from his 2016 winning coalition that he must keep in his column. These five, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Texas, are the founda- tion because they include swing states and others that are traditionally Republican but moving to the political center in recent elections and polling. Together, they are the national indica- tor because securing all five allows Mr. Trump to win the national election by carrying just one of the swing Great Lakes states. Conversely, if former Vice President Joe Biden can convert any one of the critical five southern tier states, he will almost assuredly clinch the Presidency. Arizona, Georgia, and Texas are the historically Republican domains that are nowmoving toward the ideological center, and thus no longer sure wins for the GOP nominee. Of these three, President Trump is best positioned in Texas, with Arizona being most diffi- cult. Georgia, in polling, is performing as a swing state, which is still probably good news for President Trump since Republicans typically under-poll in the South by at least a couple of percentage points. North Carolina and Florida are the traditional swing states that candi- dates from either party can win.

www.acca.org/qtech

Offer your employees on-demand training in quality HVACR installation, maintenance, and home performance Contractors often tell us they are looking for convenient, affordable ways to improve technician performance, reduce callbacks, increase job margins, and reward quality employees . That’s why ACCA has developed Qtech, an online training program that can help meet those needs. Qtech is made up of individual online courses built around ACCA standards. Courses are broken up into short 5-15 minute segments so that technicians can complete the class on their own time. Qtech courses allow the user to learn at their own pace, on their own time — from any computer.

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ELECTION 2020

As we approach November 4th, it is increasingly vital to stay informed on how the outcome may affect you as well as your livelihood. Moreover, it is important to stay up to date on how your state plans to handle voting during the pandemic. Many states have opted to offer state-wide mail-in ballots, with the intended purpose of reducing crowd sizes and promoting the safety of constituents on election day. If your state plans to use a vote by mail system this fall, it is vitally important that you take time to register to vote in advance. Registering in advance will allow you to receive a personalized ballot and will ensure that your voice counts. This election is important, so please take the time to plan to vote and stay educated on poli- cies and candidates who will affect small businesses and the HVACR industry.

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R emembering that the Presi- dent must win all five of these southern tier states, Mr. Biden’s best conversion oppor- tunity, when all is said and done, will be Arizona since we are seeing fundamen- tal demographic and political change developing in that state. Of the five Ari- zona polls released in July, Mr. Biden has led in three from between one and seven points. Another of the surveys projected the candidates deadlocked, and the final study in this category found Mr. Trump holding a four point lead. Therefore, we can expect Arizona to be a major battle- ground all the way to November. In the swing Great Lakes states, seven July polls have surfaced from the region, and Mr. Biden’s leads generally land within in a five+ percent range. Of the seven, Mr. Trump had the edge in only one, Wisconsin, from the Trafalgar Group, the only pollster to correctly pre- dict a Trump Badger State win in 2016. All of the aforementioned states are yielding close early polling results between Trump and Biden when overlay- ing polling with vote history and primary turnout figures. In terms of national voting patterns, does the presidential election fundamentally transgress into who wins the preponderance of just these key nine states? In a word, yes. The Senate races also look tohave their own firewall. The campaigns continue to evolve as we turn the corner toward the late primaries, and it is becoming clear that the Republicans are establishing a political safety net in order to protect their 53-47 chamber majority. Of the 35 Senate elections on the 2020 elections card, it appears that 13 are highly competitive, eleven of which are

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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020

ACCA TOWN HALL MEETING JOIN US IN New Orleans!

Join ACCA for a legislative and regulatory town hall meeting at the New Orleans Marriott in New Orleans, LA, where we will cover issues such as HFC phasedown, A2L refrigerants, tax reform, workforce issues, and more! Provide your voice in ACCA’s 2021 advocacy plan and join in the conversation of politics as they pertain to the HVACR industry. Learning more at www.accaconference.com.

already under Republican control. The remaining 22 are either safe or defini- tively leaning to one party or the other. The Republican political firewall con- sists of four states, and if the GOP candi- dates win in each place, then building a majority coalition becomes difficult for the Democrats to achieve. The most critical Senate race may be in Alabama. There, Democratic Sen. Doug Jones will defend the seat he won in a 2017 special election against retired Auburn University head football coach Tommy Tuberville who defeated former US Sena- tor Jeff Sessions in the Republican runoff election. Even though Democrats hold this seat, Alabama becomes the cornerstone of the Senate Republican firewall. It is, there- fore, a must-win campaign for the GOP. If they succeed in Alabama, and they should with President Trump on the ballot inwhat will be a top three state for him, the GOP majority number advances to 54, and this means Democrats would have to dominate the competitive seats still remaining on the board. The other three firewall states are not ones you typically hear about when

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reading stories about the Senate races. In any event, if Republicans convert Ala- bama, and small state Sens. Susan Col- lins (R-ME), Joni Ernst (R-IA), and Steve Daines (R-MT) all win, the chances of Republicans maintaining their majority, but likely in a smaller dimension, dra- matically improves. In a nutshell, the importance of the four- seat Republican firewall is tantamount to one party winning the Senate majority. If Democrats hold Alabama or break through in either Maine, Iowa, or Montana, odds are strong they will win Senate control. If the 30, the President’s victory margin exceeded six percentage points. Mitt Romney also won a total of 16 of those 30 districts during his run against Pres- ident Obama in 2012. D emocrats are favored to hold the House, but we have seen four elections since 1994, includ- ing 2018, where the minority party has swung 40 or more seats their way. Therefore, especially in this time of national upheaval, it is likely that any- thing could happen on November 3rd. JUST GOT 1000x EASIER! PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE SCHEDULING not, Republicans should return to lead the Senate in the next Congress. In House races, five incumbents, three Republicans and two Democrats have already lost their seats in primary campaigns, which brings the open seat total to 45. Nationally, Republicans must real- istically convert 19 Democratic seats if they are to gain even a one-seat major- ity in the next Congress. Currently, 30 Democratic members represent dis- tricts that President Trump carried, most of which he will win again. In 13 of

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HowDo I Participate in ACCA-PAC? ACCA members can visit the ACCA-PAC website to fill out a prior approval form and receive more information regarding ACCA-PAC. The Federal Election Commission requires that all trade association connected PACs obtain written approval from their member com- panies prior to communicating with members about the PAC. Granting prior approval simply gives ACCA- PAC permission to communicate with you about the role the PAC plays in advancing and protecting the industry’s interests. Visit to provide prior approval: https://acca-pac.mmp2.org/ welcome/prior-approval Or you can email pac@acca.org for more information.

What is ACCA-PAC? Sometimes Congress members need a small push to get them moving in your favor. The ACCA Political Action Committee (ACCA-PAC) serves this purpose by pooling contributions made by ACCA members to and donating these funds to political can- didates. These funds serve to give ACCA political gain with Congress members who will support ACCA member priorities in Congress. ACCA- PAC has been supporting member priorities since 1977 and continues to advocate on behalf of ACCA mem- bers today. Contributions to ACCA- PAC are completely voluntary and can amount from $1 a year to $5,000 a year depending on the member. Contributing ACCA members con- tinue to be elite members of the HVACR industry fighting on behalf of their businesses in Washington.

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