NEW ORLEANS MARRIOTT
NEW ORLEANS, LA
APRIL 2-5, 2023
Monday • April 3, 2023
10:30 AM -
 11:30 AM
Salon A-C
Finding and keeping great employees is one of the most important aspects for the service industry. But what if things go wrong? Join this session and you will learn:
As a first-generation HVAC guy, Aaron started with no industry knowledge, experience, or vision of what was instore for the future. Aaron found a home with a small family-owned company. In 2001 along with his 2 brothers, Aaron launched Reliable Comfort Heating and Air Conditioning and the future was set. Over the past 20 years through the highs and lows and a dedication to reading, learning, and applying best practices Aaron and his brothers built a company that was based on service, dedicated to excellence, and focused on teamwork. Aaron is married to the Wonderful Angie and has 4 girls. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling, outdoors, live theater and sports.
Monday • April 3, 2023
10:30 AM -
 11:30 AM
Balcony I-K
When technicians don’t know what they’re doing and need troubleshooting help. What do you do? If you found a simple and easy-to-use app, a “secret weapon” that helped you diagnose and troubleshoot equipment like a seasoned pro, would you try it?
Join this session and learn:
Wes Davis serves as the Director of Technical Services for the Air Conditioning Contractors of America, supervising the contractor accreditation program. He wrote Bob’s House and served as committee secretary on three ANSI-recognized standards Before joining ACCA, Wes was a licensed HVAC contractor in Hilton Head, South Carolina and served in the US Army.
Monday • April 3, 2023
10:30 AM -
 11:30 AM
Salon F-H
Often misunderstood and the current drivers behind the Great Resignation, the Gen-Z’s (Ages 25 and under) have expectations in the workplace that are value-driven and aligned with their personal morals. This session will help you:
Derrek brings his experience as a business owner, communications professional, and athlete into his coaching and training. Having founded and grown a successful fitness coaching business, he understands how to inspire and motivate teams to reach their goals. A frequent public speaker, his coaching and training style reflects this communications background by his ability to break things down into easily understood pieces and bring new insight into topics.
Monday • April 3, 2023
1:15 PM -
 2:15 PM
Salon A-C
Contractors rave about ACCA’s MIX Group® Program and how it has transformed the profitability and efficiency of their companies. Would it help you to connect with other non-competing contractors to share ideas, best practices and seek recommendations? In this session you will:
Learn the value of MIX Groups®
Learn the preparation you need to do before joining a group
Hear what to expect in a group, including some of the most popular activities groups engage in and areas they focus on
After attending this session, be sure to attend the ACCA MIX Group® MIXer, sponsored by Heartland Home Services, later in the evening where you can meet with MIX Group® members and potentially join or form a group.
Grizzard is ACCA’s Director of Membership and MIX Group Coordinator. He is by nature an ‘arranger’ and passionate about helping others connect and grow. He has over 20 years of trade association experience and more than ten years facilitating peer groups like ACCA MIX Groups. He started his career as the manager of an independently owned True Value Hardware store where he developed his love for the trades.
Monday • April 3, 2023
1:15 PM -
 2:15 PM
Salon F-H
Years of declining job applicants has led to creative solutions. Business must creatively overcome the great resignation, record low unemployment, and more. In this session, you will learn:
Branka Minic is the CEO of Building Talent Foundation (BTF). Prior to her executive role at BTF, she was the president of Future Work Consulting, advising donors and global entities on the latest research, best practices and policies for addressing youth unemployment. Branka has spent her career as an expert in the staffing industry, developing and her research deals with best practices to reduce youth unemployment, and specifically the protocols for implementing successful workplace mentoring and apprenticeship programs.
Joe Strada, owner of Strada Electric & Security, began working at the young age of 14. Joe never attended college, but all of his life he dedicated himself to his trade and providing high-quality customer service. Joe began developing his commitment to excellence at the age of 19. In 2003, he co-founded the company known today as Strada Services. From hard work and teamwork, Joe Strada has successfully transformed Strada Electric into a company that has provided over 10 years of electrical service to the state of Florida.
Tuesday • April 4, 2023
7:15 AM -
 4:00 PM
Tuesday • April 4, 2023
7:30 AM -
 8:30 AM
Beauregard
Lend your voice to this committee as it delivers the products and services that ACCA has to offer our members through numerous sources including internet sales, on-line training, training and education downloads and anything else that provides value to membership.
Tuesday • April 4, 2023
8:45 AM -
 9:45 AM
Salon D-E
This popular session returns as ACCA welcomes top manufacturing industry leaders for an interactive discussion of current events affecting manufacturers and the HVACR supply chain. Leading manufacturer representatives join ACCA for a live Q&A session where contractors can ask key questions and address industry representatives directly.
Editor-in-Chief
ACHR News
President, NA Residential & Light Commercial HVAC
Carrier
Senior Vice President, Environmental Business Development and Program Management Office
Daikin Comfort Technologies
Vice President, Sales & Marketing
Johnson Controls
Tuesday • April 4, 2023
10:00 AM -
 11:00 AM
Salon A-C
Our nation’s veterans sacrifice their youth for this county. When they are ready to enter the civilian workforce, they are often vulnerable to joblessness and homelessness. This session with Anthony and Bill will show you a highly successful new program that:
Anthony Maynor has spent his entire career, since before graduating from high school, working in the heating & air conditioning industry. Since then, he has owned and operated a successful HVAC business for 20+ years, receiving multiple industry awards and accreditations.
He has a degree in Heating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Technology from Wake Technical Community College.
Anthony has been actively teaching heating and air conditioning certification and continuing education classes through the local community college, HVAC distributors, the U.S. military and state & national contractor trade associations to those in the HVAC service, installation, and inspections fields since 2006.
Bill Timberlake’s career has encompassed project management, facilities maintenance and shipboard power-plant experience. During his 24-year career military service with the U.S. Navy, Bill served in various roles including direct responsibility for Presidential Infrastructure Program construction/renovation projects.
Most recently, Bill was a full-time instructor of Heating & Cooling (HVAC Technology) for 7 years at Wake Technical Community College in Raleigh where he taught numerous classes within the 2-year program.
Bill is also the owner of William Timberlake Residential Engineering that specializes in Residential HVAC Designs to include full compliance of ACCA Manual J, S & D procedures.
Tuesday • April 4, 2023
10:00 AM -
 11:00 AM
Salon F-H
What would happen if a valuable team member was gone today? Are you creating the positions for the right people or trying to fit people into preconceived positions? Ultimately – the way define your business shows intrinsic value and compensation where it matters most. In this session, you will learn:
Josh Vanderplate is the CEO & Continuous Improvement Officer at Vertex Mechanical. He is a Certified Working Genius Facilitator, Executive Leadership Mentor, and Strategic Team Developer with a certificate in Executive Leadership from Cornell University. Josh has facilitated significant business transitions and growth through enabling leaders to activate and implement a culture of honor and improvement that most business owners only dream of experiencing. He has led companies in General Contracting as well as HVACR industries.
Tuesday • April 4, 2023
10:00 AM -
 11:00 AM
Balcony I-K
Consumer buying behavior changes as generations age, technology advances, and macrotrends make their influence known (e.g., covid). With a world wide web of knowledge at their fingertips, homeowners don’t lack information on new products or your social reputation. Beyond their desire for a lower cost solution and a contractor they can trust, what other factors will drive their purchasing decisions in the coming year? In this session we will:
As the founder of nonprofit and for-profit businesses, my focus has consistently been on growing the cleantech industry. I’ve raised grant and investor funding, developed product from the first discovery interview to sale, hired great teams to execute on the vision, and won a leadership award at a national conference. My passion and focus is on growing Pearl Certification, a company I co-founded that is changing the way people improve and sell homes.
Tuesday • April 4, 2023
11:15 AM -
 12:30 PM
Salon D/E
Join recent ACCA awards winners, some of the industry’s best contractors, for roundtable discussions on a variety of topics. Come prepared with questions and your own ideas. Pick their brains and learn how they took old and new problems, generated ideas to address them, and then introduced profitable solutions. They may lead the table, but YOU lead the discussion.
Tuesday • April 4, 2023
12:45 PM -
 1:45 PM
Salon A-C
Heat pumps offer a clear path to using “clean” energy, such as renewable energy. The recent Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has plans to incentivize heat pump installations and there are other legislative efforts under development to incentivize manufacturers to produce more heat pumps. However, there are many factors that need to be considered. Join us as Codes & Coffee goes live to discuss issues like:
ACCA Team Members David Bixby & Ed Janowiak will co-present.
Manny Chaves has owned an HVAC business for 45 years. Married to Octavia Chaves for 44 years with two children and four grandchildren, Manny is a US Navy Veteran Graduate of Northeast Institute of Industrial Technology in Boston.
He is currently Chairman of the ACCA Codes Sub-Committee and the longest serving Board member of the Air Conditioning Association of New England (20+ years).
Tuesday • April 4, 2023
12:45 PM -
 1:45 PM
Balcony I-K
Every contractor wants, or should want, a strong risk management culture. The foundation of this culture is leadership driving results within the organization. In this discussion you will learn:
Stewart Van Duzer is a first vice president and director of special projects – risk management at Federated Mutual Insurance Company. He attended Maryville College (Tennessee), and graduated in 1983 with a business degree. He was promoted up the ranks of marketing leadership. Stewart is a past chair of the Commercial Lines Team (CLT), Promotion and Implementation Team (PIT), and Product and Pricing Team.
Tuesday • April 4, 2023
12:45 PM -
 1:45 PM
Salon F-H
Discover how heating and air conditioning contractors can tap into a little-known government program to gain access to free money from the government. This is not a loan or grant, but simply a rebate of payroll taxes. While unknown to most HVAC contractors, this tax rebate program is designed to reward HVAC contractors financially for maintaining their employees. In this session you will learn:
Brian Anderson is the COO of ERTC.com, the nation’s largest ERTC company. Brian began his career in corporate America, eventually walking away to embrace full-time entrepreneurship. As a serial entrepreneur, he has focused extensively on supporting heating and cooling contractors across the United States with business and financial strategies to grow revenues and increase profits.
Sean Anderson is the owner of Anderson Air in Pensacola Florida. Anderson Air is a Bryant Factory authorized dealer serving Escambia and Santa Rosa County Florida.
Tuesday • April 4, 2023
2:00 PM -
 3:00 PM
Salon A-C
Networking is both an art and a skill. But why is it so important? Join Matt and Ben as they help you understand how and why to make connections. In this session You’ll learn:
Matt Marsiglio has been the Operations Manager for Flame Heating, Cooling and Electrical, located in Warren, MI, since 2011. In addition to his duties within the company, Marsiglio is an ambassador for the HVAC industry through his work as an instructor at Macomb Community College. Matt is a frequent speaker at ACCA events.
Tuesday • April 4, 2023
2:00 PM -
 3:00 PM
Balcony I-K
The desire to grow is not the same as having a growth mindset. As a previous owner and operator, Chris outlines the traps that can derail your growth and how to dig out or avoid them altogether.
You will learn:
Chris has been in the home services business since the age of 16. He has trained hundreds of front-line employees from office staff to field personnel. He has consulted businesses in plumbing, electrical, and HVAC from various sizes starting with owners in a truck, up to multiple location, multiple trade businesses in how to strategize and execute on their plan. In 2018 Chris joined The Blue Collar Success Group where he continued to share his knowledge and passion of the trades to motivate others to achieve their goals, and he now serves as the President of The Blue Collar Success Group.
Tuesday • April 4, 2023
3:00 PM -
 6:00 PM
Grand Ballroom
ACCA 2023 connects vendors and sponsors with key leaders who make the purchase decisions for their HVAC companies. When it’s time to make a purchase decision, those face-to-face meetings will make a huge difference—one that pays off for every invested company. Our contractors research in advance, come to the show floor to evaluate their options, and then buy! Contact: sales@acca.org
Tuesday • April 4, 2023
3:00 PM -
 4:00 PM
Beauregard
The technical materials that ACCA offers our members must be developed and maintained by industry experts. Join us to help create and explain new standards as they are needed and ensure that any ANSI certified products remain qualified/certified.
Wednesday • April 5, 2023
11:00 AM -
 12:00 PM
Salon F-H
In today’s world, using data to inform and drive your business is critical, but where do you start? In this interactive workshop, you’ll learn what best-in-class businesses track and measure to get visibility into the areas they need to improve. Knowing these numbers will also allow you to establish benchmarks and set goals to set your company up for success.
Michael Sauer has a passion for seeing businesses succeed. As Scorpion’s Master Business Coach, he has nearly 20 years of experience as a certified speaker, mentor, trainer, professional consultant and business coach. Michael works exclusively with trades businesses to develop customized programs to help them achieve and exceed their respective leadership, management and sales goals.
Wednesday • April 5, 2023
11:00 AM -
 12:00 PM
Balcony I-K
Taking place for the first time in several years, the popular Distributor Forum provides a platform for ACCA’s distribution partners and contractors to network understand key industry issues, trends, and solutions. Bring your questions and ideas.