More than 55 HVAC industry professionals from across the nation came together for The Unified Group’s 2025 Construction Forum, held September 24-27 at the Renaissance Boston Patriot Place Hotel. The group shared expertise and best practices on a wide range of topics, including onboarding and offboarding processes, employee reviews, labor tracking, managing change orders, and much more. The session also included a tour of Unified Group member Environmental Systems, Inc.’s (ESI) nearby facility.
“The opportunities to engage with the (Unified) Group are priceless. From large to small group discussions, to chatting in between events, this is a great group of people,” Ashley Duncan of General Sheet Metal said.
After an introduction by event MC Gary Myers of Intech Mechanical, day one began with a presentation by Mike Keenan of VHV Company and Brian Howard of Legacy Mechanical on the tools and strategies they use to measure Prefab/VDC in the field. Jen Clark from General Sheet Metal and Ben Robertson from Air Controls followed by providing insights on their labor tracking practices, offering practical takeaways to improve efficiency and performance. Day one wrapped with a tour of Environmental Systems, Inc.’s facility in Taunton, Mass. The tour was divided into eight stations: sheet metal, pipe fabrication, safety, engineering, CRM, startup, service, and the training room.
Grant Wiegmann of Wiegmann Associates said he was impressed by the facility and the tour. “I really got a lot out of this, including inspiration,” he added.
Another Group member, Casey Corbin of Legacy Mechanical said, “the people at ESI were great, and it was extremely impressive to see all of their presentations.”
Day two started with a discussion of onboarding and offboarding processes by Rob Ritz of frēijē Engineered Solutions and Jeff Baker of Intech Mechanical. Several members noted they intended to implement what they learned at their companies when they returned home.
The day’s momentum continued with a Best Ideas Session, in which Gordon Rehdantz of Air Controls shared a clever approach to keeping field teams fully stocked on large projects — the “NOS (Never Out of Stock) Box” — and Ben Robertson, also from Air Controls, discussed his experience with Kojo, a platform that streamlines spending, sourcing, and requisitioning to improve efficiency.
Forum attendees went to Fenway Park for a Red Sox game for day two’s closing dinner and activity. Unified Group Members had a blast soaking in the iconic ballpark atmosphere and cheering on the Sox. Experiencing Boston’s vibrant energy and the magic of Fenway made this night truly special.
“The best part of the meeting for me was realizing that, no matter the size of the company, we all deal with similar issues,” Brian Howard of Legacy Mechanical said. “Since nobody in the meeting is a competitor, it allowed us to openly share ideas with each other.”
The third and final day included a panel discussion on workforce management focusing on crew skill set and getting the right people on the job. It also included a standout group discussion facilitated by forum MC Gary Myers on closeouts, avoiding return trips, improving O&M processes, and more.
“One of the highlights from this forum was the common theme of strong culture and team-first mentality among all of the companies in the Unified Group,” Jimmy Roth of General Sheet Metal said.
This year’s Unified Group Construction Forum equipped members with fresh strategies and valuable new connections to take back to their businesses. Upcoming Unified Group Forums include Safety, Design Build, and Service Management. If you want to learn more about attending a meeting or becoming a member of The Unified Group, contact Janet Kelleher at KelleherJ@TheUnifiedGroup.com.
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