The Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors National Association (PHCC) honored Daniel Judd of Leesburg, Virginia, with its annual Plumbing Apprentice of the Year Award, sponsored by Delta Faucet. The award was presented on October 12 at CONNECT 2018 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

After his fourth year in a certified apprenticeship program was completed (Fairfax County Public Schools’ ACE Program), Judd began to work full time for his family’s business, David Judd Plumbing, serving Northern Virginia since 1992.

From an early age, Judd was exposed to the plumbing industry by shadowing his father – master plumber David Judd – and credits his dad with inspiring him to pursue the trades. “One of my earliest memories was going to a job site with my father. It was a new house, and my dad immediately handed me a shovel and put me to work, telling me I needed to dig a trench from here to here,” Judd says. By the end of that day, Judd admits that he had a sense of satisfaction that he had completed a job and done it well. “I think that was when my appreciation for hard work began,” he says.

During his last two years of high school, he enrolled at Monroe Technical Center in the HVAC program and went on to earn an associate degree in business management. He is currently pursuing a degree in accounting.

Judd joined the Fairfax County Public Schools Plumbing Apprentice Program in 2015 and “impressed both his instructors and classmates with his ‘can-do’ attitude, high standards, drive to get the job done right and willingness to share his on-the job successes and challenges,” as was noted during the PHCC Awards Luncheon at CONNECT 2018.

Judd competed in the 2017 PHCC Educational Foundation Plumbing Apprentice Contest during CONNECT 2017 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and earned first-place honors. In March 2018, he earned first place in the Virginia Plumbing Apprentice Competition and was named PHCC of Virginia’s 2018 Plumbing Apprentice of the Year.

Today, as an employee in a family business, Judd knows how to get along with the most challenging co-workers: siblings. His older and younger brothers are part-time workers in the business and Judd often has to supervise them. “I think it’s a shared respect for my father that makes it all work,” says Judd.                                                                                 

About PHCC

The PHCC National Association, formed in 1883, provides legislative advocacy, education and training to approximately 3,300 plumbing and HVACR businesses and 65,000 technicians. Members of PHCC have access to a wide variety of services designed to increase their professionalism, grow their business and improve profitability. For more information about PHCC, visit phccweb.org.

About Delta Faucet Company

Founded by Masco Corporation in 1954 with the introduction of the single-handle faucet, Delta Faucet Company is proud to be America’s faucet innovation leader, featuring Delta^®, Brizo^® and Peerless^® products. A WaterSense^® partner of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Delta Faucet is a global organization that offers kitchen faucets, bath faucets, shower heads, shower systems, toilets and related accessories, selling products in more than 53 countries. For more information about Delta, visit deltafaucet.com.