This year, Tri County Air’s instructor, Mark Jennings, taught the HVAC students at Charlotte Technical College (CTC). This ongoing partnership between Tri County Air and CTC has given us a unique opportunity to join together with P.A.L.M. (Professionals Actively Leading and Mentoring). Through the partnership with P.A.L.M., Tri County Air of Venice together with Executive Air of Miami were able to lead students from Charlotte Technical College in how to install an AC unit into a new home. The goal that P.A.L.M. has set in place is to partner with local companies that are willing to donate resources and labor to build an entire house. The homes they work together to construct are located in Miami and worth $200,000. This process gives real life experience to students so they can see what it takes to build an entire home. P.A.L.M. then sells the home with the proceeds of the sell being donated to charities, such as Future Builders of America.
P.A.L.M.’s efforts are only achieved with the involvement and support from the surrounding counties, similar to Tri County Air’s active involvement. Some of the donations that make this organization’s goals possible are: Trane donating all of the HVAC parts for free, having all of the permitting fees free, the National Association Home Builders giving a $10,000 grant, and more than $20,000 dollars donated locally. The joint efforts by all of these companies make this dream possible. Because of these donations, skills were created from working on this home, and they will stick with these students throughout their careers.
Tri County Air spent months teaching and equipping these students with the skills required to install ductwork, air handlers, and whole AC units. All seven of the students and their teacher (who is the install trainer for Tri County Air) were able to complete all of their tasks in a full day’s work. Since the job last week, the students have graduated the program, and Tri County Air has already recruited two students as employees to work out in the field using the skills that they have obtained from this program that P.A.L.M. orchestrated. Many thanks to P.A.L.M. and all of the other companies that made this happen.