There’s a worker shortage in this CPI instructor’s field, but he’s doing what he can to help

This spring, Central Pennsylvania Institute of Science and Technology instructor Ken Hassinger will send about 30 students into the world with certificates in heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration. Still, he said that won’t be enough to fulfill all the requests he receives from companies around the region.

“There’s not enough people getting HVAC training,” Hassinger said. “We’re running a shortage right now.”

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s O*Net database, there were 330,000 employees in the HVAC field in 2016, with 38,700 projected job openings over the next decade.

Hassinger — “Hass,” as his students call him — is determined to do what he can to help fill a void and send certified, well-trained HVAC workers into the field. In some ways, it’s personal. He’s worked at CPI for almost 13 years and did HVAC work in the area for 27 years before that. He said he was “kind of born into” the field — his father started doing HVAC work in 1949.

“I see my job to do something that used to be common but isn’t anymore,” he said. “I’m passionate about my father’s legacy.”

Hassinger teaches students from Bald Eagle Area, Penns Valley and Bellefonte high schools as well as postsecondary adults who range in age from 18-63. The class is largely hands-on, but guests from the industry are frequently brought in to speak to students. It’s important, Hassinger said, for the students to get a taste of real-life experiences and to hear from people who have been down the same path — a path that can lead to owning your own business.

“It’s important for them to hear, ‘this is what can be done, there’s possibilities here,’ ” he said.

Brian Redmond, owner of Redmond’s Complete Comfort in Beech Creek, spoke to the class on Jan. 19. For him, it was a return to CPI and Hassinger’s classroom, having graduated from the program in 2006 as an adult student. He remembers that guest speakers encouraged him when he was a student, and now that he’s on the other side, he’s been able to scout future employees from the class.

“Anytime we have the ability to pull from a local HVAC class, we have to take advantage of that,” he said. “Technicians are retiring, and we’re not hiring people fast enough.”

The shortage of HVAC workers has become more acute in this area in the past four years or so, Hassinger said. If you’re willing to work for it, the job placement rate is essentially 100 percent.

“With my program running at capacity, I’m still not able to fill all the requests I’m getting,” he said.

Penn College of Technology in Williamsport is the next nearest option for HVAC training, but beyond that, Hassinger said training options are limited locally. Two adults students in his class travel almost two hours from St. Marys to attend. One day, Hassinger hopes that CPI will offer an associate’s degree in HVAC, like Penn College of Technology does. For now, he’s committed to passing on his expertise in the field.

“It’s important to me that I can give (the students) something that’s an opportunity for them,” he said.

This story was originally published January 26, 2018 at 12:08 PM with the headline "There’s a worker shortage in this CPI instructor’s field, but he’s doing what he can to help."