WHVACR 16th Annual Conference

For Roseann Sdioa, April 15, 2013 began much the same way every Patriot’s Day had for the past 15 years. Her plans were always the same— to see the Red Sox play at Fenway and then, head over to one of her favorite Boylston Street bars to watch the Marathon with friends. Everything seemed perfect, even the weather was cooperating on that beautiful sunny day. And then, the unthinkable happened. Two bombs exploded and Roseann was just steps from the second blast.

She remembers the flash by her feet and thinking it was too late to run. She remembers feeling that if she were to close her eyes, she may never wake up. And she remembers the selfless kindness of strangers, without whom, she may have lost her life instead of just part of her right leg.

Although not a marathon runner herself, Roseann avidly enjoyed running three to five miles a day. Today, as she works through her recovery, she is challenging herself to run again and hopes to inspire others to work through their own loss with courage and conviction. She hopes to raise awareness for those in desperate need of prosthetics.

Emily Saving is the Executive Vice President of HARDI, the trade association for HVACR wholesalers and their supplier partners. In her role, Emily oversees the various staff and departments in fulfillment of HARDI’s mission – to make HVACR distribution the channel of choice for HVACR suppliers and contractors. She has worked in various capacities for HARDI for 7 years, and before that worked in the insurance industry. She received both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from The Ohio State University, where her loyalty (and student loan debt) are undying.

Lori Tschohl is the managing member of Eagle Pipe & Mechanical, an HVAC contractor specializing in commercial gas pipe. Eagle Pipe & Mechanical is a preferred contractor with two of the major utility companies in Washington State.

Lori has a unique journey to owning an HVAC company, Lori’s career started as a McDonald's crew member over 35 years ago. She climbed the ladder to a ten million dollar franchise in 2011, then in 2012 Lori began two Pandora Jewelry stores in Idaho and Utah. Since May of 2019 she is now full time focusing on the growth and development of Eagle Pipe & Mechanical.

Lori has recieved numerous awards for community and charity, and a supporter of Ronald McDonald House Charities in New York and Washington.

Lori was the recipient of the Women of Influence Award from the New York Business Journal in 2010.

Angie Snow is the co-owner and Vice President of Western Heating & Air Conditioning in Orem, Utah. At Western, Angie focuses on employee engagement, overseeing the administrative staff, human resources, marketing, finances and business development. Angie was awarded the Service World Woman of the Year Award at Service World Expo in 2016.

Angie is currently serving on the Executive Board of Directors for Women in HVACR. She has a strong desire to improve and give back to the industry and open the doors for women in this industry. Angie is also a coach, presenter, and mentor with Snow Business Coaching. She enjoys helping her clients (both in and out of the HVAC industry) find a balance between home and business, all while reaching their business goals. She is an Advisory Board Mentor for Service Nation Alliance.

Bryan Orr is an HVAC/R and electrical contractor in Orlando, Florida. He is the founder of HVACRSchool.com and the HVAC School Podcast. Bryan has been involved in technician training for 15 years and writes regularly for the ACHR NEWS, RSES Journal and SNIPS magazine.

One of the original founders of Women in HVACR, Ruth King is the Channel Manager for HVACChannel.tv; television on the Internet for contractors. She is also President of Business Ventures Corporation. Ruth has worked in the plumbing, heating and air conditioning industry since 1987. Her work includes consulting in sales and marketing, finance, technical training, and operations challenges.

Ruth has been instrumental in helping business owners understand and profitably use the information generated from the financial segment of their businesses. She has a knack for helping business owners truly understand financials.

She is especially proud of one contractor she helped climb out of a big hole. He started with a negative $400,000 net worth 15 years ago and is still in business today…profitably and with a positive net worth.

After twelve years on the road, doing 200 flights per year, she knew there had to be a better way to reach business people who wanted to build their businesses and train their employees. She began training on the Internet in 1998 and began the first television like broadcasting in 2002. Channels currently include www.profitabilityrevolution.com and www.hvacchannel.tv.

Ruth holds an MBA in Finance from Georgia State University and Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Chemical Engineering from Tufts University and the University of Pennsylvania, respectively.

She holds a Class II (unrestricted) HVAC contractor’s license in Georgia.

Ruth is passionate about helping adults learn to read, photography, and marathon races. She helped start an adult literacy organization in 1986 that currently serves over 1,000 adults per year and ran the Boston Marathon and 11 other marathons so far.

Ruth has written many manuals and books including the popular HVAC Operations Manuals: Best Practices for Running a Profitable Service and Replacement company.

Her latest book, The Ugly Truth about Cash, joined Stephen Covey, Napoleon Hill, Dale Carnegie and 33 other esteemed authors in the top 37 books start up businesses (and other business owners) should read. This book preceded by the #1 Best Selling Book, The Courage to be Profitable and two other award winning books, The Ugly Truth about Small Business and The Ugly Truth about Managing People.

She contributes a monthly financial column to HVACR Business as well as columns in Reeves Journal, AC Today, Snips, and many other regional publications. Ruth is part of Jim Blasingame’s Small Business Advocate brain trusts and appears frequently on his national radio program. She has also been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal radio Network, the Big Biz Show, and many regional and local radio programs.

Ruth has spoken for national and state association meetings, national and local trade shows, manufacturers, distributors, and others in 49 of 50 states. (She is looking for a reason to go to North Dakota). Ruth is a down to earth, thought provoking speaker who provides audiences with ideas that will inspire them and help them earn more profits. She is available for Radio and TV interviews, in store book signings, discussions, lectures and seminars. She is available world wide depending on her schedule.

Sarah Hammond is the President of Atlas Electric and Air Conditioning, Refrigeration and Plumbing Services, Inc., a company located in Alton. Atlas Electric & Air Conditioning is over 35 year old family business that has been in operation since January 1983. The company services expand from Laredo, Brownsville, Corpus and up to Austin. Today the business enjoys a 3,000 sq ft facility, 28 employees and partnership service locations throughout the Valley. Sarah helped create an in-house financing market which provides a stronger financial position.

She also oversees management of Hummingbird Trailer Park, which is a winter Texan park for her family that is over 20 years old and at maximum capacity every year. She further manages rental Alton X-Plex and other real estate and have invested in other entrepreneur ideas such as QLUE, Inc. a mobile application.

Sarah maintains an active3 role in the community on behalf of Atlas and serves on several boards: She has previously served as Chair of SCI Women’s Business Center, previous Chair of Organization of Women Executives, Current: President of Femfeshionals RGV, and is a Collective Director 1 of 7 in the US for FemCity. Her passion is to help women grow business locally. She has served on Texas Boards, and currently is a board member for the Greater Houston Better Business Bureau and South Texas Board.

In December 2017 she graduated with a certificate in Scaling Business from Stanford University Graduate of School of Business. In 2016 she was the recipient of the Women In Technology for South Texas College and in 2018 chosen as the Mission Chambers Executive of the Year. In December she was awarded the 2015 Global Champion for Women Economic Development Award in Dubai. She was inducted into the SAMEAWS 2015 Global Women Leaders Hall of Fame. She was also featured in the Special Edition of the Amazons Watch Magazine as one of the top 20 global women to watch in 2016. In 2014 she was awarded the Small Business Person of the year award for the Rio Grande Valley and in 2015 RGV Hispanic Women of Distinction – Rising Star Award.

Although business and community involvement is important, what brings most happiness to Sarah is her family. She is married to Marty Hammond and together they have three strong daughters. She has lived here in the valley her whole life and married her husband from Alabama whom settled here and has coached arena football and currently is still coaching.

Since entering the HVAC industry in 1980, Eugene has taken on many roles ranging from field technician and system designer to company owner, teacher, administrator, consultant and author. Eugene is presently the Director of Technical Education and Standards at the ESCO Institute.

Eugene has twenty-five years of teaching experience and has taught air conditioning and refrigeration at many institutions including high school vocational programs, proprietary post-secondary institutions, and community colleges. In December of 2015, Eugene retired from his tenured teaching position at Suffolk County Community College, in Brentwood, New York, to join the ESCO Group and relocate to Southern California.

Eugene earned his dual Bachelors Degree from The City College of New York (New York, NY) and his Masters of Science degree from Stony Brook University, (Stony Brook, NY) where he specialized in Energy and Environmental Systems, studying renewable and sustainable energy sources such as wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, and hydropower. He earned his Certified Master HVAC/R Educator (CMHE) credential from HVAC Excellence and the ESCO Group in 2010. Eugene also carries ASHRAE’s BEAP credential, which classifies Eugene as a Building Energy Assessment Professional. He is also an active3 member of many industry societies.

Eugene served as the subject matter expert on over fifteen HVAC-related educational projects. His most notable work is Cengage Learning’s Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Technology title, which is presently in its 8th Edition (2016). This book is used in over 1,000 schools both in this country and abroad to help individuals learn, and master, the skills required to service, install, design, service, and troubleshoot HVAC/R equipment. Other book credits include The Complete HVAC Lab Manual (2019), Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Technology, 6th and 7th Editions (2008, 2012), Residential Construction Academy: HVAC, 1st and 2nd Editions (2005, 2012), Pressure Enthalpy Without Tears (2006), Heat Pumps, 1st and 2nd Editions (2003, 2016), and Psychrometrics Without Tears (2014). In addition to his book credits, Eugene has written the production scripts for over thirty HVAC/R educational videos and has written articles for the industry’s newspapers, magazines, and other periodicals.

Eugene was selected as one of the top three HVAC/R instructors in the country for the 2005/2006, 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 academic school years by the Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) and the Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration (ACHR) News.

Colleen Keyworth is the VP of Sales and Marketing for Contractor’s Online-Access, an HVAC-focused Search Engine Optimization and Internet marketing company located in Port Huron, Michigan. Growing up and working in her family’s HVAC business, she has a clear understanding of contracting as well as the realities that contractors face in owning and operating a profitable business. Online-Access was originally launched out of the family business in 2000 to meet the marketing needs of their own HVAC company. Today, Online-Access works with hundreds of HVAC contracting companies throughout North America on a daily basis. Colleen’s communication skills (along with her complete lack of shyness) has been instrumental in expanding the company’s sales efforts as well as product base. Colleen is currently serving her 5th year on the board directors for Women In HVACR, the industry’s premier women’s organization. She also serves on the board of directors for South East Michigan ACCA. When she is not traveling, she enjoys doing local event planning as a side business and hobby.