Lee Rosenberg enters HVAC Corridor of Fame

“These have been some thrilling and hard days of legislative exercise towards acquiring a state legislation and he was at all times prepared to step up and assist in no matter manor he might,” Taylor mentioned. “Lee has at all times had a coronary heart for serving to different HVACR contractors in studying the best way to construct and handle worthwhile companies.  He was a driving power in making the MIX Group program develop and develop.  Lee made quite a few shows at ACCA conferences, sharing his expertise and information of what goes into making enterprise. 

“Together with his spouse Betsy and son Michael, they constructed a really smooth-running operation whereas serving to not solely his native prospects, however his native opponents and communities, all of the whereas being a robust advocate for ACCA,” Taylor shared.

 Stan Johnson and Rosenberg first met whereas on a producer’s junket for the manufacturers most profitable contractors of that 12 months. 

“It was a visit the place we additionally took prospects,” Johnson recalled. “My first impression of Lee was that he believed in taking good care of his prospects even whereas he was on trip. I realized through the years that for Lee, that prolonged to taking good care of our business, too. He believed that taking good care of and serving to fellow contractors develop and develop was good for everybody in our business,” mentioned Johnson.

In the course of the 1995-2000 time period of Texas Governor George W. Bush, Lee Rosenberg was nominated Chairman of the Texas Division of Licensing and Regulation’s Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractors Advisory Board, which enforces HVACR contracting legal guidelines within the state and general business professionalism. He was additionally a serious contributor within the growth of what’s now the North American Technician Excellence (NATE) certification program.

“It was a studying interval and really, very worthwhile,” Rosenberg mentioned of these years from the mid-80s into the Nineteen Nineties. “That’s what helped me. It spurred me on. I realized from different profitable contractors that in the event you run this enterprise proper, and what you’re doing, you may make revenue on this enterprise. And certainly, we turned fairly worthwhile, a lot in order that we turned a goal throughout one of many early rounds of HVAC enterprise consolidation. Blue Dot made me a suggestion I couldn’t flip down, and we bought that first enterprise in 1998. For one to 2 years it was going fairly {smooth}, however we finally determined we weren’t very glad. So we left, however our son, Michael stayed on, in gross sales.”

Consulting and Enterprise 2.0

Following the sale to Blue Dot, Rosenberg went on the highway as an HVAC, plumbing and electrical enterprise marketing consultant, wanting to assist in the success of fellow enterprise homeowners

“I wished to determine the best way to assist contractors much more. I used to be touring between California and Texas, and I loved it,” he mentioned.

It was throughout that point that Rosenberg joined a bunch of main HVAC contractors in designing what was to develop into ServiceNation, a serious service trades enterprise help group first envisioned by Matt Michel, who had been a Lennox advertising worker. At its beginnings, co-founder Rosenberg was chairman and Michel was president.

In 2003, Rosenberg, spouse Betsy and son Michael received again into the swing of enterprise possession. They co-founded Rosenberg Indoor Consolation, which is now Rosenberg Plumbing and Air, following its acquisition in 2022 by Hometown Providers of Tulsa, Okla., a enterprise consolidator with 25 places in 5 states. As earlier than, the enterprise is 55% residential and 45% gentle industrial HVAC service agreements and system replacements. In order that was two HVAC companies, each of which have been so good they have been acquired. Not too shabby.

Rosenberg Plumbing and Air operates out of the identical constructing as did Rosenberg Indoor Consolation. The house has grown from 3,000 to 10,000 sq. ft. however might use more room. They’ve 60 workers, 35 automobiles, and plenty of enjoyable. Michael Rosenberg is president, and Betsy helps to maintain all of it collectively.

Know Your Numbers

It’s frequent information that an HVAC firm worker will determine to open their very own firm, and not using a stable understanding of “the enterprise” of HVAC. Lee Rosenberg’s recommendation to fledgling contractors? KNOW YOUR NUMBERS COLD, particularly in the event you’re an ex-technician who desires to personal their very own enterprise.

“You may be capable of repair something, however that’s a lot totally different than working a enterprise. You’ve received to drill it right down to all of the totally different belongings you do: residential, industrial, substitute, new development. You’ve received to know the numbers associated to the kind of work. That’s the one manner you’re going to determine how properly or how poorly you’re doing in sure points of the enterprise,” Rosenberg suggested.