Ask HVAC owners what's holding their growth back and many give the same answer. They can't find enough good technicians. Derrick Conyers decided to stop waiting for the market to fix that.
Conyers founded Su'Coy Heating, AC & Duct Cleaning in 1996, and the company has served Washington, DC and Maryland ever since. Su'Coy is one of the largest Black-owned HVAC companies in Maryland. When good technicians became hard to find, Conyers founded the Su'Coy Community Learning Center, which has trained and mentored hundreds of apprentices, some with grant support through Prince George's County. He talked about what he's learned on Out of the Truck, the HVAC business podcast hosted by Sarah Gonzales.
Why Treat the HVAC Technician Shortage as a Training Problem
When there aren't enough trained technicians to hire, an owner has two choices. You can compete harder for the few who exist, or you can train new ones. Conyers chose to train.
Building your own pipeline takes longer at the start. The payoff is that you're no longer bidding against every other shop in town for the same people, and the technicians you train learn your standards from their first day. Conyers is open about the effort it takes. "It is hard work until you learn it," he said.
The Traits That Predict a Good HVAC Technician
When Conyers looks at a trainee, he watches for four traits: attitude, communication, attendance, and curiosity.
The list says a lot about where a good technician starts. Technical skill comes with training. Showing up every day, talking well with homeowners, and wanting to know why a system behaves the way it does are much harder to teach.
How Treating a Crew Like Family Keeps Technicians for Years
Training technicians only pays off if they stay. Conyers's answer is to treat his team like family, and his crews stay with him for years. For an owner who has paid to train someone, keeping them is worth as much as finding them.
Four Years Without a Paycheck
The early years at Su'Coy were lean. Conyers went four years without paying himself a salary before the business turned. That part of the story is worth hearing for any technician weighing a shop of their own, because the first years of a company rarely look like the later ones.
"I never gave up because I love the trade so much," he said.
Where the Trade Goes Next
The conversation ends on what's ahead for the people doing the work, including what AI will and won't change for technicians. It's a fitting close from someone who has spent his career making sure the next generation has a way into the trade.
Watch the Full Episode
The full episode on the HVAC technician shortage has the video, a chapter list, and the complete transcript.
For another way to grow technicians faster, Jason Neal explains how he trained his own son in two years instead of ten. And if you've solved a hiring problem in your own company, the show is looking for owners who can tell other HVAC owners how they got out of the truck.
