The heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration industry is experiencing a growing shortage in qualified workforce, as well as a constant lack of employees undergoing professional training to fill the requirement for educated workers. This is also coupled with insufficient opportunities for exploring different career paths within the industry, which only leads to youth both unaware and disinterested in the prospects of a career in HVAC. 

Combined, this leaves the up-and-coming youth without the skills required to succeed in the industry with an ever-increasing demand for rising HVAC/R stars. Even if they end up wanting to pursue a career in the heating and air conditioning industry, they could lack the basic competencies for the 21st century, such as problem solving in the workplace, critical thinking, and technological literacy. 

This is what led us to partner with GPS Education Partners and help get the HVAC/R industry back at the forefront of high-schoolers’ interest. We have created a work-based intermediary service that combines hands-on experience with learning to provide our youth with both the insight into excellent career opportunities and the knowledge threshold for their future efforts. We want to see our young colleagues ready to take on the world of HVAC. 

Outcomes from the school year

Starting in 2018, the Gustave A. Larson Company launched the HVAC Industry Awareness Program alongside GPS Education Partners. The goal of the program was to raise awareness of career potentials within the HVAC/R field and get students interested by exploring different business cultures and work environments in our company, as well as in our partners’ companies.

The standard day in the life of a student is divided into work-based training and traditional classroom learning. Each student has a mentor that helps them with their daily responsibilities and assists them in acquiring lifelong skills they can apply both in the heating and cooling industry as well as other technical fields. 

Some of the skills students acquire include proper teamwork, adequate self-management, accurate decision-making, good self-awareness, as well as a multitude of industry-related qualifications and knowledge. More importantly, each student has the opportunity for first-hand experience of the different careers within HVAC. 

The three-year mark is the perfect place to draw a line and assess the achievements attained through this program, year by year:

• During the pilot year, 50% of all participants found a place in the HVAC/R industry.

• During the second year, we have made additional investments into developing an even earlier career awareness program that functions as a pipeline for youth apprenticeships. 

• During the third year of the program, and despite all the challenges due to COVID-19, an incredible 100% of all participants either got hired by G.A. Larson, one of their industry-customers, or are going further down the HVAC/R career path. 

The improving results keep us motivated to continue advancing our HVAC Industry Awareness Program, as well as confident in its ongoing success. It is incredibly rewarding to see our mission pan out successfully and witness the emergence of rising talents in the HVAC/R industry who are taking big strides toward future professional success. 

Partnerships highlighted

The Gustave A. Larson HVAC Industry Awareness Program would not be possible without our committed, reliable, and professional partnerships across different fields. First and foremost, we are proud to highlight the symbiotic relationship with GPS, a community-based non-profit dedicated to helping our youth find career prospects in different specialized industries. 

However, the support of GPS Education Partners in our continual efforts to raise awareness about HVAC/R career opportunities would mean little without other partners that make our mission possible – our local high schools, business partners, and specialized tech schools who supply youth already set to pursue a career in the technical field. 

High schools

The Gustave A. Larson Company partners with our local high schools to secure an influx of youth interested in expanding their career prospects and exploring an evolving technical field such as the HVAC/R industry. 

We would be hard-pressed to continue this awareness program if not for the pleasant and helpful high-school administration willing to assist us in finding high-schoolers eager to develop their employment opportunities while continuing to earn their standard high-school diploma. 

Customers

As the leading wholesale distributor of HVAC/R products and equipment in the Midwest, Plains, and Mountain states, we have an established network of certified business partners we cooperate with on a daily basis.

This gives us the chance to both branch out our education efforts across different specialized fields of our partners, as well as secure a multitude of job opportunities once the program ends. Without our partners, we would not be able to do either of these things. 

Tech schools

Finally, we also partner with educational institutions that focus on technical science to enlist technically-savvy students capable of filling out specialized job positions within the HVAC/R field. This helps us meet the rising demand for a qualified workforce capable of fulfilling the specific demands of the industry for technical careers that do not require a four-year college degree. 

The Larson Company partners with GPS to raise awareness of HVAC career prospects

The Gustave A. Larson Company and the non-profit organization GPS Education Partners have joined forces to highlight incredible potential for building a strong career in the HVAC/R industry. Together, we tirelessly work to meet the growing demand for educated professionals in the HVAC/R field by raising awareness of the industry potential for employment and fill the gap being left by the aging workforce and the ever-rising space for employability.

GPS Education Partners and GA Larson provide ample education and on-site and work-based training opportunities with the leading wholesale HVAC/R distributor in the Midwest, Plains, and Mountain states. By taking on different roles within the process and exploring diverse career opportunities, students are able to make their choice in the constantly-growing and evolving HVAC/R industry. Grab hold of your future – join our training and awareness program today!