All right, everyone. Thank you for joining. Did
you know the ESCO HVAC podcast? So today we're
spending some time with Chad Green from Hercules.
How's it going? Good. So yourself? Doing great.
You know, we're hanging out at the Allied Air
DSR conference where all of the DSRs, all of
the technical service advisors around the country
gather every year to learn about the new equipment,
new products, changes in refrigerants, A2L mitigation,
like everything that's changing. And so one of
the things that I think we really should be spending
a lot of time focusing on, because there's all
these really cool things coming to the industry,
but we don't always tell everyone what's cool.
It's like we've got a lot of recruiting to do.
We have an abundant amount of recruiting to do.
I'm a union member in Colorado. I've been in
this my whole life. Awesome. My dad got me into
it when I was a young man. My dad's been in it.
My grandpa's been in it. And my dad always told
me, I knew it wasn't going to be smart. I wanted
to race professional motocross for my full -time
job. That didn't end up very well. So my dad's
like, you've got to get a job. You've got to
get a real job, son. I liked being outdoors.
I liked playing with my hands. I didn't like
school. I didn't like book work. I was not good
on computers. I liked taking things apart. My
dad's like, pursue HVAC. You know, you got a
job for life, my dad always said. Absolutely.
No matter where you go in the world, everybody
needs to be heated, cooled, or their products,
refrigerated products, right? Yeah. I did it
as a summertime gig as a residential company
in Colorado, and I knew it fit my brain. And
right now they're saying in Colorado, the national
average, I believe it is, is for every... five
top journeymen that are leaving yeah we have
one and a half skilled trades person or one and
a half person pursuing a trades after that i
just came back from the ua's international the
itp week training conference right and so they
were saying next year 130 000 technicians short
is what we're looking at that's crazy and 40
of our industry is going to retire in the next
10 years yeah i mean when you think about it
like when you look at our industry I see a lot
of guys looking like us. Yes, sir. Getting kind
of close, right? And in 10 years, I started thinking
about it. I was like, man, in 10 years, yeah,
I would be getting into that point of getting
real serious about it. And so now we've got to
really be thinking about how do we show all of
this great industry, this cool stuff that we
get to see. how do we show the new recruits how
do we show the the young men and young women
the boys and girls that tinker with their own
bicycles or skateboards or computers like how
do we show them that you know what you might
not be looking at or even the parents right you
need to start the parents because you know your
parents are always uh you know go outside and
get out of my hair kind of parents right like
yeah they want to get your kids to go outside
and do stuff, but maybe these parents need to
start taking their kids to career dates, right?
Show them the opportunities of all these different
avenues instead of just hearing the same thing
at school. Yeah. Be a computer person, become
a doctor, you know, go to big time colleges and
have thousands of thousands of dollars in debt,
hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. And,
and maybe not even pursue your career path afterwards.
Right. You know, my sister loved my sister to
death. She went to equine science degree. Yeah.
She has a full on degree. She went to Germany
for it. She doesn't work there. She doesn't do
anything with it. She's in the rodeo side of
the industry, though. She puts on rodeos. At
least stayed in the field. I try my hardest when
I'm at family events or friends and family events
or wherever I may be to talk to people and educate
them when they're just trying to have a small
talk with people and their kids. I actually got
two people signed up for the local union in Colorado
this year. Oh, really? Who are friends of the
family. Yeah. So their kids finally just graduated
high school. Yep. Got that diploma. I got them
in contact with people at UA. And they know nothing
about mechanics. They know nothing about HVAC.
They know nothing about welding. Right. But now
they're enlisted in the union. And I'm not saying
everybody has to go union. Yeah. But they did
get in the union and now they're pursuing a path.
One wants to become a master welder and the other
one wants to become a HVAC service tech. Yeah,
it's crazy when we start like opening up and
actually talking to people about our jobs. I
know for myself, like most of my friends and
family know that I'm in HVAC, right? Almost every
single one of them calls me when the residential
furnace breaks, right? None of them ever asked
me about. the grocery store that they buy their
produce in that I used to keep running. Nobody
talks about the data centers. Nobody talks about,
you know, the chillers. And so most people don't
even understand what HVAC actually is. And for
me, I think that's one of the big things for
doing recruitment is like telling our friends
and family, hey, if you have anyone that has
any questions about HVAC or any of the trades,
I'd love to at least have that conversation.
absolutely i always try to you know i coach my
kids youth hockey team so i'm having conversations
with the kids on the ice they're you know there's
14 year olds now right they're like what do you
do how do you like it how'd you get involved
you know and yeah just educate them and talk
to them and a lot of people like well i want
to do computer stuff i'm like these computers
are 50 to 60 % of our work now while working
on an HVAC equipment, especially if you start
playing with these big chillers or big air chillers.
It's all done off this computer. If somebody
wants to pursue a computer path but doesn't want
to go to the full IT market. You want a secure
IT job? I can show you where one's at. Absolutely
correct. Let me tell you what, the first time
I ever plugged a computer in on an old train
air chiller. I don't know, that was probably
in 2012. I had to go out in the middle of Nebraska
on a data center, and long and behold, there's
an old train air chiller out there, and I had
to plug a computer into it to make it work. Exactly.
So there's a lot of avenues other than just banging
some sheet metal together, hanging it, right,
or new construction type stuff. There's just
so many avenues. You can be a software CAD designer
in the HVAC industry or the electrical side of
it or whatever it may be, but it's... I guess
as an industry, we've got to figure out how to
get more people involved in this industry. What's
the word I'm looking for? Gosh, I don't know.
Maybe as a parent, try to just advocate for trades
to be put back into school. It's huge. We have
to start getting some type of hands -on. Physical
style classes where we're going to really suffer
in the long term. Yeah. My son's a freshman this
year. We had to pick between three high schools
for him to go to school. And unfortunately, the
school that was the furthest away, which would
have been 20 minutes each direction for us, they
had automotive and shop class. Oh, okay. He can't
walk that school because there's a couple of
major highways he has to cross to get there.
So we ended up going with the local school really
close, only a couple minutes away, but they have
Lincoln Tech associated with it. Yeah, absolutely.
So that was a bonus, right? I bet you. But maybe
parents need to start researching the schools
that kids go to to try to figure out, hey, maybe
my kid might be interested in doing arts and
crafts or woodworking or metalworking or automotive
or something like that. Just because you're an
automotive doesn't mean you're a grease mechanic.
Nope. I mean, those automotive guys, engineering,
right. There's so many things, so many things.
Um, and we just, as a parent, I feel like I let
my kid down because I didn't advocate for that
kind of stuff to stay in school. Right. I'm only
44. So I didn't know that then. Right. Um, um,
but now I do know it. So now I'm trying to do,
I still part of the union, Colorado. We do vocational
trainings. We go to around the schools in Denver
metropolitan area. Yeah. Um, they still promote
that stuff to the schools and nice it in the
high schools and just trying to get those guys
to. open up their eyes and see what's out there
other than just four walls and a computer screen
in front of them yeah and that's the word that
we really we need to be able to get out right
we just we need to be able to help people understand
that there are some really amazing careers out
here waiting for people to fill yeah and you
know it's simply a matter of having that conversation
being willing to like tell our stories. I mean,
that's really the beauty of like a podcast, things
like we're doing, right? We get to tell a story.
Hopefully somebody will listen. Hopefully you
right now are listening and it's resonating with
you because it really is up to all of us to recruit.
Yes, it is. We have to fill our boots. Yep, we
do. We have to spread the word. We have to spread
the talent. We have to just enlighten people.
and other avenues than just you know doing the
career path of a blue collar or a white collar
kind of job right you know you don't need to
follow the you know the path of going to school
or college maybe whatever it may be um i mean
i make pretty decent money doing what i do i
work very hard to get where i'm at yeah um i
put in a lot a lot of hours uh seven days a week
just a lot of family home time um but at 30 years
old i had a house right i had multiple toys i
had hvac paid for hvac paid for it all and i
got it from being debt free from college because
my employer paid for me to go to school right
and most of your large employers even being non
-union they do run their own you know educational
programs they pay for because as a qualified
person i do that employer benefit because i can
go to that job they're trusting me and i can
get the job done good name for the company happy
customer On down the road. Yeah. Yeah. I've seen
many successful programs around the country that
work on that principle. I was working with one
in Ohio where their high school. Right. They
have exploratory program your freshman year.
You see all sorts of different hands on style
careers. And then by your sophomore year, you
pick it. But by the time you get into your junior
year, you're working with either the UA or a
local contractor. And you're going to have a
career like headed out, like you're going to
have a debt free career either direction you
go. And I'm like, man, if we could just start
duplicating that more often and connecting our
contractors and our distributors and the schools
and helping get that word out, I think we'll
all be successful in the long run. I think it's
an effort that needs to be put in for sure. I
do, too. And in order to see if it's success
is you got to put that first step forward, though.
So that's awesome that Ohio does that. That's
really impressive. One particular school blew
my mind. They actually sent three of their –
was it three or four? One, two, three. It might
have been four of their students, high school
students, to our conference this year. I'm like,
man, I got it. So props to Stebbins High School
out there, anyone in Ohio. Keep it going, Stebbins.
That's right. Yeah, so they had high school seniors
that had already been doing internships, As juniors
and as seniors in high school, one was already
in his union sheet metal apprenticeship program.
So that's a thing. So like with HVAC excellence
accredited programs that's using our employment
ready certifications, there's a bundle of those
that are accepted as the UA. So the UA will accept.
those certifications going into the program.
So these high school students were going through
their HVAC curriculum. They were doing their
employment ready certifications. And so they
were already in their first year apprenticeship
program as a senior in high school and already
doing work as a first year union apprentice before
they even got out of high school. And then they
had two guys that were non -union and one that
was a commercial refrigeration. Wow. I'm like,
where are all of these like what this is like
the perfect model it is and they work with their
local community college so they've got students
going as soon as they come out they're going
somewhere yeah and they have these like amazing
career paths and so we just have to spread the
word of we do we we can all do this but it's
going to take everyone yeah if someone you know
If you have that friend or that family member
that's got a son or daughter and they're just
not 100 % sure what they want to do, it's worth
saying I could tell you something that you could
do that would actually make you a lot of money.
A lot of money. And then leave it there. Yep.
Yeah. Leave the carrot. Right. Yeah. Let them
come back and bite on it. Absolutely. And I guess
that was kind of really the avenue that I went
with it. I got an early taste out of it. You
know, 16 years old, working in just a summertime
gig for a small mom -and -pop shop in Castle
Rock, Colorado, banging some sheet metal together
on new track homes. And I was like, I worked
like 15 hours this week, and this is my paycheck?
Yeah. There's something to this. Yeah. Yeah.
And it just kept going and kept going. And, of
course, I chased the dollar. Yeah. I did the
residential thing for a couple years, got tired
of crawl spaces, went to the union, joined the
commercial industrial side of it. I got through
school within five years, had my journeyman's
license, leveled up really, really quick. So
I became a level three master journeyman. I got
my welding certifications and everything like
that. Probably about seven years I got that all
accomplished because you only go to school a
couple nights a week, right? And I was making
very good money, very good money. So it's done
well for me and my family. I mean, we don't have
the big fancy house at the end of the street,
the big fancy cars. You live well. I live well.
I got a roof over my house. Yeah. And I love
what I do. I do. Um, I get to travel right now.
Um, cause I've worked my way up in the industry.
Yeah. You know, factories lead help too. They
need technical people at the factory levels.
You know, it's, it's been fun. It's been a lot
of fun. Um, I just got to figure we as an industry
nation nationwide need to figure out how to get
more people involved in it. So I don't know how
that goes down. I'm trying to figure it out and
help out where I can. Local union in Colorado,
I do vocational education visits to a couple
high schools there. Yeah. Keep on plugging. Yeah,
that's exactly right. Just keep on plugging.
Sure. Hopefully we'll get some people back in
the door. So tell me about your tech support
and training. what do you guys do in the world
of education so right now at hercules industries
uh we have our little technical lab uh we have
live running equipment in there um we basically
train our contractors who buy our product yeah
um and all the material i learned here at the
factories meet trainings all the information
i get from here is what we use for our trainings
back at our office so we're basically just given
word of factory information right to the contractors
um teaching them how to read the manual fabulous
manual yes and then you know the the the troublesome
calls that come in how to work through them and
and stuff like that we do job site visits um
we do tech phone calls so you have a toll -free
tech line at hercules that pro We provide support
for our products. We have seven techs across
our footprint. Nice. So we do a lot. I'll go
to job sites, help people fix problems if something
just can't click for them or they can't figure
it out or can't figure it out with a phone. Sure.
So we'll make site visits and stuff. dive in
depth maybe do some product design with uh with
the contractor to help make sure the equipment
they're choosing is going to meet the right application
they need and stuff so right uh i got multiple
hats on my head so that sounds like yes yeah
some days i wonder what i did to myself sometimes
like self -inflict they are they really really
are yeah um but it's uh it's rewarding in the
end i go home i'm happy about what i do I'm not
stressed. I mean, there's a different type of
stress. Yeah, absolutely. I get up in the morning.
I look forward to going to work. It's a big deal.
Yeah, it is. And, you know, you go home and you
might have been chewed out by a couple of mad
customers or just a rough beat up day. But it's
just it's still in the end. It's still satisfying
to me. So I agree. Yeah, it's just. It fits with
my pea -sized brain, I guess. At work, we learn
more about Hercules. Yes. Yes. But how'd you
get in the industry? I had actually married into
a small family business. Okay. Refrigeration
and HVAC. And I wasn't sure about it, but I was
mechanical. Okay. I'd started out as a... I had
a mobile DJ business as a teenager. Okay. From
like 14 into my early 20s. And went to school
for a year for TV, radio, film, and realized
that I wasn't a four -year degree person. And
so I got into the trades. Yeah. In the trades.
That's where I really found like myself, my skills.
I knew that I, same way. I liked fixing things.
I liked working on stuff. I just didn't know
what that meant until I was in a job where I
got paid to do that. And then it was for after
that, it was like, well, the more that I learn
how to fix, the more I can get paid. I think
I want to learn how to fix more stuff. Yeah.
Yeah. And that was it. And it just keeps on growing.
Yeah. You get hooked. You absolutely do. Um,
Cool thing about it is you learn how to use your
hands, right? Oh, man. And the diversity of things
you're going to go work with. You might be one
day banging some sheet metal, next day fixing
a compressor, next day pulling some control wire,
right? But then you go home, you tinker things
at home. Learn everything around the house. Yeah.
Eventually. Yeah. And then next thing you know,
you're remodeling your own house by yourself
and saving yourself money and putting extra money
into your remodel. Absolutely. building your
own house. You know, there's a lot of avenues
that come from learning how to work with your
hands. Yeah. A lot of people don't realize that
like when you get into these kinds of trades,
like you're in the trades, right? You're learning
a lot of stuff. You are. So the, the money that
we make, yeah, that's great. But the money that
we save is a whole nother story. Yes, sir. That's
a fact. And then you get to save that money and
use it for, you know, splurge vacations with
the family. Enjoy my family, buy a boat, whatever.
Great Christmas gifts. And then regret the next
day because it's the loudest, annoying gift your
six -year -old could ever have. But they got
it. They got it. That's a fact. Well, that's
cool. I see you didn't even know anything about
it, and you were doing a different avenue and
got married into it, and now look at you now.
HVAC took me there. Yes, sir. And I'm not saying
just HVAC, but it could be a master welder. It
could be a plumber. All the trees. Electrician.
There's so many avenues in the construction industry.
project managers, you know, a lot of, a lot of
stuff that comes into play. So, um, yeah, anybody,
you know, anybody who's lost in this world and
don't know what they do, check out a trade, check
out a, check out a trade. That's all I can say.
That's the name of this podcast. I think we're
going to, I get trademarked. All right, man.
Well, I sure appreciate you joining us.