By Walter Arnett

The year, 2019, started off with a bang in Atlanta, for the HVAC/R industry. The AHR EXPO in January was a huge success with over 2,100 exhibits on display and over 60,000 attending to gain information on products and ideas. I hope you were one of the many. If not, ask your supplier to brief you on the news. This annual EXPO is always well worth taking the time to go to for learning how to better your company and business for the future.

Also, in January, the HVAC Insider family lost one of our longtime members. Arthur Penchansky, the Director of the Keystone/Garden State Issue, passed away after a battle with pneumonia. He had been with the paper for some 25 years covering Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware with the industry news. He will be greatly missed by all of us, as well as his many friends and customers.

I also have received the sad news of the passing of Jules Farinhas, of PDI Supply, Inc. He was very instrumental in starting the family business as Port Distributors Inc. in the early 1970’s. I called on the company when I began the HVAC Insider in 1992 and the Farinhas family became my friends immediately. Jules will also be missed by his longtime friends and associates in the HVAC industry.

Through the years, we have seen some crazy periods of the weather, but I don’t think it ever has been as messed up as this year has started out to be. Today’s report said Florida is going to experience a sunshine period of summer-type high 80-degree summer temperatures to end February, while the rest of the Southeast suffers rain and floods. I have begun to think about the years Jean and I enjoyed living in the Tampa Bay area, especially during the winter. We’ll talk again next month.