College Among Finalists for 'Excellence in Training' Award

Pennsylvania College of Technology has been nominated by the Air Conditioning Contractors of America the nation's largest trade association representing heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration contracting businesses for an "Excellence in Training" award.

Penn College is on the short list of finalists for the honor, which will be presented at ACCA's 2005 Annual Conference and Indoor Air Expo in Austin, Texas, next month. Other nominees are ACCA Arizona, Phoenix; and Peaden Air Conditioning and Heating, Panama City, Fla.

It is the first time that an educational institution has been nominated for the honor.

"These finalists represent the 'best of the best' in the HVACR industry, and will continue to raise the bar with their example," said Paul T. Stalknecht, president and CEO of the trade association, who visited Penn College in February 2003, when ACCA's first student chapter was formed on campus.

The Jeff Forker Award for Excellence in Training is presented to an ACCA member who has championed education and training initiatives, and who has made outstanding progress in raising the HVACR industry's professional standard by:

• Making a formal management commitment to the training process for all employees
• Implementing in-house management and technical training programs for technicians, or by employing 75-percent North American Technician Excellence-certified technicians
• Conducting an ongoing process of quality review and improvement for training/education
• Recognizing employees who are personally committed to continuing education or training
• Developing new training methods

The organization's "Excellence in Training" award was renamed last year in honor of Forker, a longtime advocate of industry training and certification and publisher of Contracting Business magazine, who died Jan. 22, 2004, after a lengthy battle with cancer.

Winners will be announced at various events throughout the conference, to be held March 9-12 at the Renaissance Austin.

For more information about ACCA, visitonline. For more about the HVAC majors at Penn College, visiton the Web or call the School of Construction and Design Technologies at (570) 327-4518.