By Chris Richmond on January 22, 2022
San Antonio HVAC company Comfort Air Engineering has a fantastic track record of customer service and support as proven by their fantastic Google reviews. They have grown since 1964 and have solved the most complex building engineering problems for their clients but even more remarkable is how they have achieved that growth.
Like most companies, the Freund family of businesses prefer to train their staff and grow from within but what happens when new hires in the trades industries can’t be found? Unlicensed or unqualified contractors are now everywhere and consumers need to learn to ask upfront questions when hiring so they don’t end up with a disaster.
The Freud family applied their problem solving creativity and have found that by creating partnerships with the local high schools to introduce students to the trades and by sponsoring and teaching in trade school classes at the college level today that they can guide learners to a trades career and hire the best.
They also help support these new staff through summer internships from the University of Texas (San Antonio) and by even providing scholarships that allow the students to graduate with less debt and big in their career on a successful footing. Trade Licensing is the blocker to finding and retaining staff, due to the 4-year apprentice program that is just the start of lifelong learning in the industry. Freund Enterprises has now grown to one of San Antonio’s largest building engineering contractors, and will soon branch out to apply this successful model in other cities.
Patrick Freund is an example of leadership in a combined HVAC and plumbing business as he is the third generation of this family enterprise. Freund helps lead over 150 staff that solve engineering problems. Not only do they respond to customer service issues for the HVAC and plumbing business, but they also help their clients with preventive maintenance and engineering design.
Patrick has seen the business in San Antonio and the industry change over the years. He says one misconception that the public has is that one plumber is just as good as any other plumber and that price should decide who they hire. He warns that there is a lot of experience and knowledge that needs to be taken into consideration to make the best decision about who will solve your problem for good. Hiring someone who isn’t licensed just for a quick job can open you to all sorts of problems further down the road.
Patrick reminds us that the best consumer is an educated consumer and says you need to ask who you’re considering
-how they are involved in the industry
– and how long they’ve worked with the industry associations.
Freund Enterprises is a proud member of the ASA (American subcontractor association) and the Texas Air Conditioning Contractors Association.
For San Antonio HVAC residential and commercial help, please visit Comfort-Air Engineering, https://www.comfort-air.com
For Plumbing projects, please visit Primo Plumbing, https://www.primoplumbinginc.com
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