HVAC

Press Release:

The Business and Employee Skills Training (BEST) Center at Genesee Community College is offering courses in HVAC/R and CNC starting this month. The renovation of two classrooms into HVAC/R and CNC laboratories has included the purchase of new equipment from grant funding. The CNC equipment purchases were made possible by an award of $400,000 from the Heckscher Foundation for Children Grant and additional SUNY support.

Developing new programs would not be possible without support from industry partners. GCC's Advanced Manufacturing Committee has been instrumental in guiding the skills, equipment, and curriculum needed for training and industry-recognized credentials", said Jennifer Wakefield, executive director of workforce development of The BEST Center.

A major supporter of the HVAC/R Program is Triton Mechanical. Triton Mechanical is a premier commercial refrigeration and HVAC service provider. 

"We respect our industry, our customers, our competitors, the environment, and above all, our employees. We are guided and governed by our core values of innovation, integrity, respect, and sustainability," said Jake Koch, president of Triton Mechanical.

Jake Koch's family has been involved in the heating and cooling business for decades. 

"I've been in the industry ever since I was a kid. I'm the fifth generation in my family to be involved in the industry. My great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather ran an ice delivery business; they were salesmen. My dad and my uncle ran a refrigeration company, and my family has been involved in it for a while," Koch said."

Koch, a resident of Hilton, has owned Triton Mechanical in Monroe County with his father Jeff, and friend Kevin O'Connell for more than six years. 

In 2023, Triton Mechanical purchased Turnbull Heating and Cooling in Batavia. The company originated organically, and the team - which also includes mom Wendy - has worked to make it a successful heating, ventilation, and air conditioning operation.

O'Connell has an extensive background in commercial refrigeration and HVAC. He began as a commercial service technician and has experience as a service manager, operations manager, and project manager. He is a certificated member of RSES (Refrigeration Service Engineers Society) and holds several NATE (North American Technician Excellence) certifications. Kevin oversees the technical training, compliance, and safety of the company.

"We are grateful for the generosity of Triton Mechanical for their commitment and investment in GCC's HVAC/R Program.," said Craig Lamb, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, "GCC's new vision and commitment to the applied technologies and skilled trades for the GLOW region will allow opportunity for a variety of students. Recent high school graduates, incumbent workers, and individuals who want a career change can find several opportunities at The BEST Center at Genesee Community College."

The first series of HVAC/R courses are scheduled from March 3 - March 20 on Monday and Wednesday evenings from 5:30 - 8:30 p.m. at the Batavia Main Campus. CNC FANUC Certification courses have several classes scheduled in February and March. For more information, contact Christa Palmer, coordinator of technical programs at The BEST Center at bestcenter@genesee.edu or call (585) 345-6868 to register.

The BEST Center at GCC is the recognized regional leader in developing the skilled workforce that powers local economic growth. The Center serves individual employees as well as businesses large and small with seminars, workshops and trainings designed to improve the performance of people and processes.

As permitted by the governor’s office, many gyms and fitness centers in Genesee County reopened on Monday, but there remains a great deal of confusion as to what the owners of these facilities need to do to keep their doors open.

That’s the word from County Manager Matt Landers, who addressed the legislature this afternoon at its monthly meeting at the Old County Courthouse.

Landers said the county health department reached out to about 25 businesses and “less than half of them understood the process going forward.”

“And that’s only a snapshot of what’s out there,” he added.

According to state guidelines, these varied facilities (gyms and fitness centers, yoga and Pilates studies, boxing centers, boot camps, and dance and martial arts studios, etc.) are subject to a county health inspection within two weeks of their opening to ensure proper protocols are in place and adhere to State guidelines to protect customers and staff.

“A lot of these facilities are opening and didn’t have follow-up guidelines or make appointments with the health department,” Landers said. “It seems that they were excited and opened without reading the second part of the information that came out.”

Landers said the county health department is currently performing these inspections, but city, town and village code enforcement officers may be called upon to assist.

“You don’t have to be a nurse … to certify that the HVAC system and safety plan is in place,” he said

He also mentioned the possibility of the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce setting up a Zoom information session for owners of these types of businesses.

Reopening requirements include:

• Developing a business safety plan;
• Having a heating, ventilation and air condition inspection by an approved professional;
• Completing an affirmation that the state guidelines are understood and will be implemented.

Once the business safety plan and air handling inspection are complete and an attestation form is submitted, Genesee and Orleans Counties will begin the process of scheduling inspections. These steps must be completed prior to scheduling an inspection. For Genesee County call (585) 344-2580, ext. 5555, and for Orleans County call (585) 589-3278.

In other developments, legislators:

-- Accepted $258,726 in funding from the state Department of Health to be used by the Genesee County Public Health Department for COVID-19 contact tracing, overtime and supplies, with expenses over that amount to be partially offset by state aid.

-- Re-appointed Kathryn Ribbeck and Janet Olivieri to the GLOW Workforce Development Board through 2022. Ribbeck is the human resources manager at O-AT-KA Milk Products Cooperative, Inc., Batavia, and Olivieri is human resources manager at Lapp Insulators LLC, Le Roy.

-- Approved a contract with Empire Access to provide an independent internet circuit for the Board of Elections’ two locations at County Building II on West Main Street Road. The contract will run for 36 months at a cost of $285 per month.

-- Created a full-time position of epidemiologist or community health nurse, effective Aug. 31, 2020, with the salary and fringe benefits allocated for in the 2020 health department budget. The position is fully covered by COVID-19 funding until June 30, 2022.

-- Accepted a $250 donation from Linda Keister in memory of Batavian Kathy Owen to go toward an environmental program for Genesee County youth at Genesee County Park and Forest Interpretive Nature Center in Bethany.