Industry News

RIDGID®, a part of Emerson’s professional tools portfolio, is celebrating a major milestone this year: 100 years of designing and building innovative tools trusted on jobsites around the world and handed down from generation to generation. On Saturday, July 29, the company commemoratedthe occasion by inviting employees past and present, along with their families, to an open house event filled with food, music, entertainment, children’s activities, plant tours, and more. Nearly 1,000 employees, retirees, and their family members attended the festivities.

“All year we have been celebrating our anniversary alongside our customers and tradespeople around the world,” said Craig Sumner, president, professional tools for Emerson.“Bringing the celebration home to our Elyria headquarters was a great way for us to gather with the people who made our 100 year milestone possible: our employees, retirees, and their families. These are the people who built and continue to build the products that set us apart.”

The festivities included a beer tent where adult guests could sample “RIDGID Wrenched 100 IPA,” a specialty beer developed in collaboration with Unplugged Brewing Company in Elyria. Families spentthe day playing carnival games, inflatable darts, inflatable golf and taking rides on giant trikes while listening to live music. A highlight of the open house included plant tours, where attendees learned about the company’s plans for expansion and their continued commitment to growth.

“We made this a family affair because we wanted to treat our employees and retirees to a full day of fun andcelebration,” said Jordan Weber, employee engagement manager for RIDGID. “Inviting our retirees back made this occasion extra special. Seeing their faces while witnessing the innovative changes we’ve made to our manufacturing facility and hearing about their experiences over the years was an important way to recognize how far we’ve come throughout our 100 years in business.”

RIDGID has had a manufacturing presence in Ohio since the company was founded in 1923. The 27-acre complex in Elyria is the world headquarters for the brand’s operation and considered a hub for innovation with a recently renovated state-of-the-art shipping and receiving area that helps the company deliver products faster and more efficiently. Over the next several years, the company has plans for additional investments in the area, transforming the southeast corner of Elyria into a vertically integrated, automated manufacturing center of excellence.

To learn more about RIDGID, visit RIDGID.com.

Can a hydronic system effectively – and efficiently – provide heating, cooling, domestic hot water AND heat recovery ventilation in a residential home?  John Siegenthaler, P.E., a favorite to the webinar series, will discuss design details, challenges and lessons learned from a from a recent project profile of a modern hybrid approach utilizing an air-to-water heat pump system that checks all of the boxes during this 90-minute extended edition.

You’ll learn:
→  Back-up heating.  When is it necessary?
→  Can a single 44 watt circulator supply all space heating flow for a 2,300 square foot house?
→  Does chilled water cooling and heat recovery ventilation require separate duct systems?
→  Can panel radiators operate at supply water temperature below 100 ºF on design days?
→  Where does an “extended manifold” piping system make sense?
→  How are 3-way diverter valves applied in air-to-water heat pump systems?
→  What are the advantages of multi-zone heating combined with single-zone cooling?

Siegenthaler is a seasoned industry leader and passionate teacher, eager to share his over 40 years’ experience in the understanding and proper application of water-based engineering principles with our audience. He is the principal of Appropriate Designs and a regular contributor to industry publications.

Coffee with Caleffi technical training webinars are free and intended for contractors, designers and wholesalers.  A Certificate of Attendance is emailed to attendees following the webinar for continuing education consideration.  Want to join us?  Simply register today.

Residential heating contractors can hone their boiler technology and hydronic skills and knowledge by participating in a Weil-McLain^® 2023 School of Better Heating training program this fall. The School of Better Heating program is an annual series of comprehensive condensing boiler technology training seminars from the leading North American designer and manufacturer of hydronic comfort heating systems.

The Condensing Boiler Technology & Hydronic Fundamentals course will be available in one- and two-day sessions and feature seminars and hands-on training for condensing gas boilers, including Weil-McLain’s ECO^® Tec Series 2 high-efficiency premium residential boiler. This year’s training schedule kicks off in Pittsburgh on September 12 and will continue through November at various locations in the Eastern and Central regions of the country, including:

• September 12 – Pittsburgh
• September 13 – Cleveland
• September 13-14 – Westchester County, N.Y. (Two-day session)
• September 19 – Stevens Point, Wis.
• September 21 – Milwaukee
• September 26 – Duluth, Minn.
• September 26-27 – New England / Raynham, Mass. (Two-day session)
• September 28 – Twin Cities, Minn.
• October 10 – Detroit
• October 12 – Cincinnati
• November 2 – Akron, Ohio

Each course will cover the following objectives:

• Hydronics basics and fundamentals
• Design, construction and operation of condensing boilers
• Proper installation, venting, piping and wiring, as well as set-up and programming of controls
• Boiler start-up, maintenance and troubleshooting

Registration for this year’s School of Better Heating classes is $99 for the one-day sessions and $199 for the two-day sessions, and includes reference materials, breakfast and lunch and a certificate of completion. For more information or to register online, visit www.weil-mclain.com/residential-training.

Oatey Co. to sponsor PHCC Connect 2023 Cleveland, offering tours of its local manufacturing and training facility and sponsoring Women in Industry Luncheon

Oatey Co. is proud to announce its sponsorship and participation in PHCC Connect 2023 Cleveland, the premier national conference for plumbing, heating, and cooling professionals in the United States. The event will take place on October 23-26, 2023, in Cleveland, Ohio, at the Huntington Convention Center.

As a Cleveland-based company and one of the oldest and most respected names in the plumbing industry, Oatey Co. will be a part of a showcase of Cleveland hometown brands, joining forces with Ridge Tool Company (RIDGID), Moen, and Merit Brass. These companies will be positioned in a central area of the Exhibit Hall and some will also be offering plant tours to celebrate and showcase Cleveland manufacturing.

“Oatey Co. is incredibly proud to sponsor and participate in PHCC Connect 2023 Cleveland, an excellent opportunity for industry leaders and plumbing experts to come together, learn, and share ideas,” says Patrick Aquino, Oatey’s Vice President of Wholesale Sales.

Katherine Lehtinen, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Oatey, added: “We look forward to giving attendees and media an insider’s look at the world of Cleveland manufacturing as well as Oatey’s many innovations and contributions to the industry since its founding more than a century ago.”

“We are excited to welcome these industry leaders to Cleveland and to showcase our region’s position as a hub for advanced manufacturing,” says Gordon Taylor III, Chief Sales Officer at Destination Cleveland, the destination marketing and management organization for the region. “While exploring our city and touring the innovative local businesses, conference attendees will see firsthand that Cleveland is The Land of building meaningful connections.”

As a Cleveland-based sponsor, Oatey will offer tours of its 160th Street manufacturing operations, providing an opportunity for attendees to gain a behind-the-scenes understanding of the company’s world-class facility, learning about the chemical and mechanical processes that bring the highest-quality plumbing products to life.

Then, attendees will enjoy a hands-on experience at Oatey University, a best-in-class training center for industry tradespeople, inspiring innovative new products and advancing the state of the art in the plumbing industry. Oatey social media ambassadors Nick Parlet (@plumbingsk8r), Colin Luttrel (@colintheplumberllc), Rob Broccolo (@prodrains) and Evan Berns (@re.plumb) will be on hand at Oatey University to welcome facility visitors. They are looking forward to connecting with fellow industry members, sharing their knowledge and personal stories about promoting the plumbing trade.

Once registered for the PHCC Connect Conference, attendees can sign up to participate in this tour, which will take place on Wednesday, October 25, 2023, from 7:30 AM to 11:00 AM ET.

That same day, Oatey is proud to sponsor a Women in Industry Luncheon hosted by the PHCC National Auxiliary and Women in Piping and Plumbing. Oatey’s Lehtinen will open the event, which will include an interactive panel discussion, featuring women who work in the plumbing and HVAC industries. Panelists will share their personal stories, challenges faced, and thought-provoking ideas for how the trades can become even more welcoming and inclusive.

Lehtinen will also highlight The House That She Built, an organization whose mission is to help generate awareness of the skilled trades. A new children’s book, also titled The House That She Built, educates young readers about the people and skills that go into building a home, telling the true story of a home built by all female tradespeople. Each luncheon attendee will receive a copy of the book and be asked to read it to a child in their life or a local elementary school classroom. Lehtinen sits on The House That She Built Executive Leadership Council.

After registering for the conference, attendees can sign up to attend the Women in Industry Luncheon, which will take place on Wednesday, October 25, 2023, from 12:30 PM – 2:00 PM ET. Each luncheon attendee will receive a copy of The House That She Built.