PAHRA elects new officers, board members

Arlington, Va. — The Partnership for Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Accreditation (PAHRA) recently announced new officers and Board members of the organization.

Michael Honeycutt, CEO of Workforce Development for the City of Durham (N.C.), was elected President. He will succeed Dr. Gerard Kennedy, Executive Vice President of the Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling Contractors National Association (PHCC), who will now serve as Treasurer. Dr. Kennedy had served as PAHRA’s president for the past five years. Rounding out the leadership are Warren Lupson, Director of Education for the Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), who will serve as Vice President; and Donald Prather, Technical Services Manager of the Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA), who will serve as Secretary.

Elected or re-elected to the PAHRA Board were Jim Bullington, Trade & Industry Education Program Specialist for the Oklahoma Department of CTE; Donald Frendberg, Principal of Phase 3 Insights LLC; Talbot Gee, CEO of the Heating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI); John Lanier, COO of North American Technician Excellence (NATE); Mark Lowry, Director of Operations & Administration of Rotary International; and Stephanie Murphy, Chief Financial Officer of AHRI.

“The PAHRA organization and Board will have strong goals in the coming year,” said Honeycutt. “First will be to continue the outstanding endeavors led by Gerry Kennedy and those who served with him in maintaining the standard of leadership and professionalism for which PAHRA is known. From that foundation, PAHRA will continue to explore ways to partner with educational professionals across the country to champion excellence and competence. Our industry now has a solid network of partnerships, collaboration, and cooperation, and PAHRA is proud to be an integral part of that network,” he said.

Lupson added, “Every day we are improving the quality of training offered at all levels of education. We are developing and implementing evaluation standards, and establishing and enhancing procedures, policies, and standards to ensure a basic set of educational quality.”

PAHRA recently completed a precedent-setting partnership and collaboration agreement with the AHR Expo in Chicago. For additional information on the activities of PAHRA, visit pahrahvacr.org.