AHR Expo Show Management has announced that the Council of Air-Conditioning & Refrigeration Educators (CARE) and the Partnership for Air Conditioning, Heating, Refrigeration Accreditation (PAHRA) have become the newest AHR Expo Endorsing Associations. These two organizations and the HVACR Workforce Development Foundation (HVACR – WDF), which became an AHR Expo Endorsing Association earlier this year, are leading advocates of the need for quality education and training.

“Attracting and training the next generation of HVACR professionals is vital to maintaining a vibrant and healthy industry,” said Clay Stevens, President of International Exposition Company, which produces and manages the AHR Expo. “We work closely with a variety of area colleges with HVAC programs, as well as career and technical schools to encourage instructors to bring their students to the Show when it’s held in their region.  As they are the up and coming generation that will be the technicians, designers, managers and future leaders in the HVACR industry, there’s no better learning experience than for them to see all the companies and products first-hand.”

CARE’s purpose is to improve the quality of education to meet or exceed established industry standards in the HVACR industry.  The organization’s mission is to address the needs of the industry practitioner with technical educational opportunities to acquire and maintain marketable skills and competency necessary to compete successfully in a constantly changing, technologically advancing market.

PAHRA was formed by major trade and professional associations in the HVACR industry to recognize secondary and post-secondary instructional programs that prepare HVACR technicians to meet industry-specific standards. Instructional program leaders prepare a rigorous self-examination of the way their program is organized and the level of instruction provided, then request a site-visit by an industry expert who determines whether the program is teaching students to industry standards.

The HVACR Workforce Development Foundation (HVACR-WDF) represents a unified industry undertaking to address the workforce needs facing the HVACR industry in the near future. The foundation is committed to raise awareness of the HVACR industry and the importance it plays in daily lives; create interest in the HVACR industry as an attractive and profitable career choice and enhance the quality and quantity of the available workforce for the HVACR industry.

Warren Lupson, AHRI Director of Education, said AHR Expo provides both CARE and PAHRA with an opportunity to bring together the HVACR education community with the business side of the industry. “With more than 60,000 attendees at its Show and an extensive worldwide database, AHR Expo allows us to communicate with audiences we normally wouldn’t reach. We look forward to working with AHR Expo to educate the HVACR industry about the importance of quality training.”

These sentiments were echoed by Kari M. Arfstrom, Executive Director of HVACR-WDF.  “AHR Expo provides us with an opportunity to make thousands of new HVACR professionals aware of HVACR-WDF’s mission.”

Stevens added it is appropriate that these organizations became Endorsing Associations just before the 2015 Show as the Chicago marketplace represents one of the most robust Vo-tech (vocational-technical) training areas in the country – hundreds of local students and their instructors have already registered to attend the world’s largest HVACR event, January 26-28, at McCormick Place.

AHR Expo is endorsed by 38 leading HVACR industry associations and is co-sponsored by ASHRAE and the Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI). The Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Institute of Canada (HRAI) is an honorary sponsor.

For more information visit the Show’s website at www.ahrexpo.com