NCI Names the ?Best of the Best? During 2017 Annual Summit Event

During the National Comfort Institute (NCI) Summit 2017, held April 2-4 at the We Ko Pa Resort and Conference Center in Scottsdale, AZ, HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning) contractors were recognized for excellence in Performance-Based Contracting?.

There were three Contractor of the Year Awards, the Annual Training Award, the newly re-named John Garofalo Implementation Excellence Award, the David Debien Award, Vendor Partner Award, and last, but not least, the Chairman’s Award. During the closing banquet and awards ceremony, NCI President Rob Falke and Chairman Dominick Guarino recognized several companies in these categories.

For the Contractor of the Year awards, the criteria are as follows:

• Implement Performance-based testing
• Create and follow a Performance-Based business culture
• Have a strong service department which is service agreement based
• Engage in selling system renovations regularly
• And have training as part of the company culture.

Furthermore, there are three categories for the Contractor of the Year Awards:

• Contractor of the Year – Small? Companies under $1.5 million in gross sales
• Contractor of the Year – Medium? Companies with $1.6 to $3.9 million in gross sales
• Contractor of the Year – Large? Companies with $4 million plus in gross sales.

And the winners are:

2017 Contractor of the Year – Small Size Category

Winner: Canco ClimateCare, Newmarket, Ontario, Canada – Owner Nancy McKeraghan (second from right) and Sales Manager Will Horner accepting (second from left).

Also pictured: NCI President Rob Falke (far left) and NCI CEO Dominick Guarino (far right).

‘Runners-Up: Healthier Air, Vashon, WA; and Air Force One Heating and Air, Canyon Lake, CA.

 

 

2017 Contractor of the Year – Medium Size Category

Winner: — Ball Heating and Air Conditioning, Biloxi, MS – General Manager Jim Ball (center left) and wife Seneca Ball (center right) accepting.

Runners-Up: Basnett Plumbing, Heating, and Air Conditioning, Littleton, MA and GV’s Heating & Cooling, Glenview, IL.

 

 

2017 Contractor of the Year – Large Size Category

Winner: All Pro Plumbing, Heating, and Air, Ontario, CA ‘ accepted by All Pro Service Manager Mike Greany (center).

 

Runners-Up: Thomas E. Clark, Silver Spring, MD and Davis Services, Spartanburg, SC.

 

Next is the NCI Training Excellence Award. NCI looks for companies with the following attributes:

• Training is part of the company culture
• The company provides employees with constant internal and external training and education
• The company has well-designed training facilities conducive to learning
• The company shares knowledge and training with other NCI members.

This year’s winner is:

2016 Training Excellence Award

Winner: TM Johnson Brothers, Cambridge, MN – President Tom Johnson (second from left) and wife Corrie, as well as Technician Quinten Maslonkowski (second from right) accepting.

Runners-Up: Vincent’s Heating and Plumbing, Port Huron, MI and All Pro Plumbing, Heating, and Air, Ontario, CA.

 

The next award was newly renamed in honor and memory of NCI Business Coach John Garofalo who lost his battle with cancer last year. The former Implementation Award is now known as the John Garofalo Implementation Excellence Award and the criteria are as follows:

• The company regularly delivers measured performance in every aspect of its business
• There are visible benchmarking/scoreboards with up-to-date performance results posted
• The company has strong leadership
• The management team sets ethical standards, with humility
• The management team is constantly looking for ways to improve
• The entire team is willing to embrace change.

NCI decided to re-present this award to the inaugural winner from 2016, John Boylan, who was very close with John Garofalo.

2016 John Garofalo Implementation Excellence Award

Winner: Lakeside Service Company, Brighton, MI ‘ accepted by Lakeside General Manager John Boylan (2^nd from right).

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Also pictured (left to right) are NCI’s David Holt, Dominick Guarino, and on the far left, Rob Falke

 

2017 John Garofalo Implementation Excellence Award

Winner: Four Seasons Air Conditioning and Heating, Kingville, TX – Four Seasons President John Altman was not present to accept the award.

 

NCI’s David Debien Award is presented in memory of Houston Contractor David Debien who, despite a life-long battle with diabetes which eventually took his life, dedicated himself to non-stop learning, developing and teaching strong technical skills, and teaching others in his company to test and measure HVAC system performance.

The requirements for this award are:

• The individual must have strong technical skills, especially in air-side and combustion testing
• They must perform diagnostic testing on service and installation projects
• The winner is one who teaches others in his/her company to test and measure performance
• This person is a constant learner, always seeking to improve their knowledge.

This year our winner is:

2017 David Debien Technical Excellence Award

Winner: JN Electrical Temperature Control, Bowersville, GA ‘ accepted by Owner Jason Nikkel (second from right).

Also pictured (left to right) NCI CEO Dominick Guarino, NCI Curriculum Developer and Trainer David Richardson (who was the very first winner of this award 10 years ago), and on the far left, NCI President, Rob Falke

 

Runner-Up: David Coziahr of Coziahr Heating and Air Conditioning, Council Bluffs, IA and John Ellis of So Cal Air Dynamics, Northridge, CA.

 

NCI’s vendor partners are also recognized for their participation in the NCI Members Reward program. Known as The Preferred Partner of the Year award, the criteria are as follows:

• This vendor partner must exhibit strong support of the NCI membership with special pricing, discounts, or rebates
• They seek to constantly improve their member relationships and offer member benefits
• They promote NCI training and membership to its customer base

The vendor-partner assists NCI training around the country by providing hosting locations.

2017 Preferred Partner of the Year

Winner: Goodman Air Conditioning and Heating, Houston, TX – Mike Henson (second from right), director of national accounts, accepting.

Also pictured (left to right): NCI’s Dominick Guarino, Steve MacAleese, and to the far right, Rob Falke

 

NCI’s highest award is the annual Chairman’s Award. This is presented to the one company that meets and/or exceeds the following criteria:

• Strong supporter of NCI and our shared mission
• Implements all aspects of NCI’s methods in service, sales, and installation
• Excellent sounding board for NCI’s leadership ‘ provides great feedback
• Great contributor of ideas, energy, time.

This year’s winner is:

2017 Chairman’s Award

Winner: Masterworks Mechanical, Craig, CO – Former Masterworks owners Dave DeRose (center) accepting.

 

 

The National Comfort Institute (NCI) is the nation’s premier Performance-Based training, certification, and membership organization, focused on helping heating, air conditioning, plumbing, and electrical contractors grow their businesses and become more profitable. To date, the organization has trained and certified more than 25,000 industry professionals in a variety of disciplines including system diagnostics and design, indoor air quality, air balancing, carbon monoxide analysis and combustion efficiency. To learn more, please visit the NCI website at www.nationalcomfortinstitute.com.