July 31, 2018 — Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) Vice President of Government Affairs Palmer Schoening has released the following statement in regard to President Trump today signing the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act:
"The issue of recruiting the next generation into the skilled trades is one of the biggest challenges facing our industry today. Not only does this legislation take an important step towards alleviating the labor shortage in the trades, but it also promotes more training and certification for technicians. HARDI applauds the President and Congress for their bipartisan efforts in keeping grants for CTE education in place by reauthorizing the Perkins Act through the passage and signing of the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act."
HARDI members have supported this specific bill for the past two years and at the last two HARDI Congressional Fly-ins with the understanding that it would generate an influx of professional HVACR contractors, who would enter the workforce with the tools and knowledge they need to compete for high-skilled, in-demand jobs in the HVACR industry.