Job prospects are hot for students in an Oklahoma program that trains heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration technicians.
Graduates of the Oklahoma State University-Okmulgee program are in such high demand that one company is investing money in the school so it can produce more graduates.

Johnson Controls is giving $15,000 in scholarships, textbooks and instructional videos to the technical college from which it hopes to hire graduates to work in cities nationwide.  A national shortage of 20,000 technicians each year is projected in coming years as baby boomers retire and more homes, businesses and other buildings are built or modified.

An occupation report for HVAC mechanics and installers in Oklahoma predicts that employment will jump to 2,630 jobs in 2012 from 2,050 in 2002.  "We have 100 percent placement for our students," instructor Paul Margwarth said.  "You can make a good, honest living and find work anywhere in the country."  He said graduates of the two-year program can expect to start earning $30,000 to $40,000 a year.  "It's recession-proof," Margwarth said of the skill.  "Our employees don't get laid off. You will always need buildings to be heated, cooled or dehumidified."

Still, the program only is graduating about 50 students a year — half as many as a decade ago, Margwarth said.  He said the industry hasn't done a good enough job promoting itself as a good employer and technologically evolving profession.  Already, many technicians carry laptops with their tools to diagnose and repair digital components of building systems.  "It's not so much turning a wrench as using your mind and solving problems," Margwarth said. "It is vast, and it is very technical, requiring strong math and science skills."

Johnson Controls provides support to seven community colleges in the nation. The Milwaukee-based company also will help educate high school students in the Okmulgee area about careers in HVAC, said Shannon Lippold, operations program manager for Johnson Controls.  She said her company needs technicians for its 130 branches across North America and hopes OSU-Okmulgee will help fill the ranks.

"They have an excellent reputation in the industry as one of the top-notch public schools for HVAC training," she said.

Factors contributing to the shortage include a lagging number of HVAC program graduates entering the trade, an aging work force and an increasing demand to transform buildings into cost-effective and efficient facilities. 

Lippold said stereotypes still exist about jobs in her industry, which can pay experienced workers $60,000 or more per year.

"They aren't just dead-end jobs," she said. "They are careers." Greg Silvernail is a third-generation heating and air technician. He agrees that the job is mentally challenging but says it also can be physically demanding.  "Our knees and backs are all torn up from the summer season," he said, describing jobs done under houses or in cramped attics.  But work is plentiful for Silvernail and his brother and father, who operate an Oklahoma City company.  "As long as you do great work and take care of the customers, there's always work," he said.
Silvernail's company looks to local vocational technology centers when hiring entry-level workers.  He said he worries that many existing businesses won't survive because the operators are nearing retirement age.