Brian Friedman, Owner/President at Arco Comfort Air Heating, Cooling, & Plumbing

At Arco Comfort Air, our factory-trained technicians specialize in providing Cleveland and all Northeast Ohio with dependable heating, air conditioning, and plumbing services. From duct cleaning and indoor air quality improvement to emergency plumbing repairs, we are the trusted name for total comfort. Our goal is to make your life easier and more comfortable with convenient service that is available whenever you need it. We offer friendly, reliable, and same-day emergency services that are backed by exclusive warranties and a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Known for our customer-recommended service, quality results, and affordable pricing, Arco Comfort Air is your neighborhood heating and cooling contractor.

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Welcome to the podcast about the businessof running a business. This is iHeartRadio's
Cleveland's CEOs you should know and I'mKeith Contugis. So you probably didn't know
heating, ventilation and air conditioning orHVAC could be involved with virtual reality and
AI, but they're doing it atARCO. We sat down with the president,

(00:21):
Brian Freedman, to find out justwhat the heck they're doing over there.
Tell me a little bit about whereyour company is today. We have
a lot going on today, startingwith just how we're approaching training our technicians.
We've developed a program in which we'reusing virtual reality to bring younger guys
really trade. That's fantastic, it'sreally cool. So what we're doing is

(00:45):
a multifaceted approach where they're not onlydoing virtual reality, but they're working in
a lab and in the field.Wow, So okay, this is This
is fascinating because one of the issuesof you know, what used to be
called trades I guess it maybe stillis is getting younger up and comers.
Right, we know that plumbers andthose kind of really skilled electricians, skilled

(01:08):
tradesmen are it's a challenge to getnew people into the business. So what
they're literally wearing a virtual reality helmetand fixing virtual air conditioners or tell me
a little bit about what that's like. Yeah, So to your point,
we've we've gone out and approached themarketplace slightly different than the competition. You
know, we always hear about manpowerissues and lack of quality technicians and lack

(01:29):
of quality people joining the trades.So we've put a big emphasis into recruiting.
We're actually going out to the marketand bringing young guys in as apprentices.
Wow. So it's really been agreat We have three or four guys
in the program now. One justgraduated. It took us four months to
take a technician that had no priorexperience and now he's actually working and he's

(01:49):
a performing technician working out of atruck. Right. They're using the goggles
that are called the Oculus Oculu.Yeah, the Oculus. They're using that
to train. So we sign themcertain courses in certain paths that they follow
and they actually fix in virtual reality. They're actually working on furnaces and air
conditioners and heat pumps in virtual reality. And we have exponentially been able to

(02:13):
speed up the educational process to takea someone that has no previous experience in
plumbing and heating and make them aperforming technician. That's unbelievable. That's so
cool. So if someone is listeningto this and thinking that, you know,
maybe I was gonna get involved ina trade, how do they get
ahold of you at Arco to becomepart of this really experimental a privas program.

(02:37):
The best way it would be tovisit the website go arco dot com
and click on the employment opportunities andfrom there you can apply right there online.
So you're very proud and deservedly soof the fact that you've been in
business for sixty eight years as alocal company. Talk to me about how
you give back to the local community. Then, we've done a lot of

(02:58):
different programs. I mean, beinglocal has been a huge thing for us
and providing you know, local opportunitiesfor the apprentices and local employees that are
joining our team. But giving back, We've we've gone to schools, We've
gone to charitable organizations. We're partof, you know, outreach programs at
are rebuilding sections at a city ofCleveland, sections in a city of Akron.

(03:20):
We've donated equipment to some of theseyou know developers and builders. We've
done a really big outreach in termsof, like you know, charitable donations
and working with the local charities andschools. Talk about the ARCO difference.
What is that? Is it?Next day service? Is it? You
know, money back guarantees? Talka little bit about what makes you guys
special? So, right now,that's a great question. I mean in

(03:43):
this local marketplace recently has experienced amassive amount of private equity injection where a
lot of the players in the localmarket have been bought out by private equity.
So what does that mean for ahomeowner? We don't know yet.
Right it hasn't unfolded, It justhappened. What could it mean maybe a
downgrade in their service experience, adowngrade and the type of technicians that they're

(04:05):
going to experience in their home.You know, we pride ourselves on being
locally owned and operated, providing afive star service. We probably have thousands
of reviews online and continuing to justbe local and providing our customers without experience.
Another thing that makes us different iswe offer, especially in these times
that are a little bit difficult withthe tightening economy, we have zero percent

(04:28):
financing, which I haven't seen anyof the competitors offer interest rates, and
interest rates are crazy, right.Interest rates keep going up, and we're
keeping our interest at zero percent forsixty months making it affordable. So someone
doesn't have to put off that project. They can get started today with us
and get a very very low paymentleveraging the zero percent interest. So,
whether you're in Cleveland, Akron,basically all of northeast Ohio, it's go

(04:51):
argo dot com. I myself experienceda outage in a furnace on Christmas Eve.
It was challenging to get through that. And obviously that's a different time.
But how quickly if someone's furnace goesout in the middle of winter,
can you get out? How quicklyhas the supply chain challenge? How has

(05:11):
that affected your business? Those aregreat questions. So supply chain we were.
We took a lot of inventory into get ahead of that supply chain
issue. So as a matter offact, we received calls from new customers
that would say to us, Hey, my regular heating and cooling company or
my regular plumber can't get out herefor six to eight weeks. When can

(05:32):
you guys get out here? Wow? And because of our investment in a
large inventory and because of our largermanpower. The answer for that is tomorrow.
Wow, I could have a salespersonin your home today, a technician
in your home today. I couldbe installing your system tomorrow. And what's
some of the other things that arehappening, Like, you know, are
there new types of more efficient airconditioners coming out? Are their tax rebates

(05:56):
for those kind of things? Whyshould someone take a look at a project
even if maybe everything's kind of workingfine right now? There is always so
much happening in the hedion cooling industry. I mean, it's very dynamic,
constantly changing. As of now,there's that IRA, which is the Inflation
Reduction Act. There's billion set asidefor rebates for heat pumps and air conditioners
and other tax credit efficiencies that aregoing to be available out there. I

(06:17):
don't think the State of Ile hasyet exactly nailed down their specific rebate program.
But putting that aside, they've justgone from a thirteen seer air conditioner
the new minimum is fourteen seer.They're upping some of the furnace efficiencies as
well. And what does that meanthirteen seer to fourteen seer? What is
they tell I tell our customers it'skind of like the gas mileage on your

(06:39):
car. So a SEAR rating isbasically how efficient that air conditioner is kind
of like your miles per down ona vehicle. So the higher the rating,
the more efficient the air conditioner.So I have to ask you a
question. You and your team havebeen on calls in homes for sixty eight
years. What's one of the wackierthings that's happened on a call? You
found like a big bar goal,maybe a crazy beaver or something. Talk

(07:02):
to me about what might have you'veseen or someone else you know, is
see, we've been in a lotof houses. We have, luckily,
we have a lot of customers,so we've we've definitely been in a lot
of cities and we've seen a lotof different things. I mean, there's
been a lot that would probably makethat list. Animals and duck systems would
be one of them. Birds andevents system you know, things like that
that you'd be surprised to see,but it happens every once in a while.

(07:25):
Maybe a bald eagle here or too. Right, Absolutely, that's funny.
So one of the things we talkabout on CEOs you should know is
is you know, you're working alot. You're probably six seven days a
week some days and again performing Iwould consider life saving more pair work for
people's HVAC systems. So how doyou, you know, unwind center yourself

(07:48):
distress? What's some of the practicesyou use to make sure that you don't
get too overwhelmed by everything going onaround you. Yeah, it is a
good question. I mean, it'seasier to get sucked in and kind of
the more you work, the moreyou work, and with an ever changing
industry, it's just it's constantly youknow, you always want to stay a
step ahead of the competition and stayup to date and all the technology that's
out there. Yeah, so itdefinitely is tough to unwind. I took

(08:11):
up golf last year, said Iwas one thing, you know, trying
to get out with some friends andyou know, why not keep the ball
straight on the course would be onething I would definitely say is yeah,
and a way to unwind for me. Well, the good news is in
Northeast Ohio, you can only playlike two months out of the year,
so it doesn't take up too muchof your time, right, But spending
time with family and friends, youknow, just getting together and hanging out,
maybe getting a bite to eat orwhatever, something like that. Something

(08:35):
simple. Well, when you're talkingabout HVAC, then every hour counts exactly.
So the locally owned folks at Arcobeen doing this for sixty eight years
here in Cleveland, giving back tothe community and quite frankly on the cutting
edge of the HVAC industry. So, Brian, it's been a pleasure talking
to you. Thanks for coming into day, Thanks for having me.

(08:56):
It's been great begin here and thishas been IHR Radio CEO. You should
know. Today's show was produced byBob Coates and I'm Keith Hotchkiss. Let's
see you next time.