The North Florida Air Conditioning Contractors Association (NFACCA) hosted a Contractor Round Table Meeting on Thursday, November 20, 2025 at the Trane Facility, 8332 Cypress Plaza Drive, Suite 120, Jacksonville, FL.
Several dozen technicians and business owners, including several that used to work for the panelists, were in attendance. NFACCA Executive Director Ashley Casaceli moderated the event.
A distinguished panel of four successful contractors shared brief histories of their family businesses, stories from the field, hard-earned lessons, and practical strategies for building and sustaining a thriving HVAC company:
Billy Quillen, Owner and CEO of Air Solutions Heating and Cooling Inc. Billy started in the industry in 1980 in the sheet metal department at Air Engineers and progressed to service. In 1996 he transitioned to Carrier as a technical representative and trainer. In 2002 he and some friends started the company with 2 vans. They focused primarily on commercial and commercial service work building it to the 30 employees they have today. “We built the company through contacts and don’t do any advertising because we have a good reputation. And I’m a big believer in training, probably due to my background with Carrier.”
Jim Jones, President/Owner of Tropic Aire of North Florida. Founded by Jim’s father in 1959, Jim Jr. took over the business after his father’s passing in 1980, expanding the business to include refrigeration services, generators, solar energy and electrical and general contracting. Jim stressed the importance of knowing the business side and math before opening a company. “What we’ve learned and what is most surprising to me is that most people are good technical people, honest and ethical, but have no clue about a P and L statement. They have no clue about doing a spreadsheet and don’t know that figuring markup is a division process, not a multiplication process. And keep up with the changes. We want to stay on the cutting edge of technology. You may see us on Facebook or the internet but we don’t spend a lot on radio, tv, mail or print advertising,”
Lek Gjoka, Owner of Cool R Us A/C & Heating. Lek came to America in 1998 to pursue the “American Dream”, speaking no English, with no money and no experience in the HVAC industry. He became a citizen and worked at several jobs before hiring on as a warehouse employee at Weather Engineers, where his work ethic and thirst for knowledge quickly landed him a position as a top service tech. In 2006 He decided to go on his own, passed the licensing exam the first time and opened Cool R Us in 2007. The company now has 20 employees. “Sell equipment that you feel is the highest quality, strive for the best craftsmanship as possible and charge fair prices,” Lek stated as three things that helped him be successful. He also emphasized running the business today as if it is tomorrow. In other words, plan for the future – on day one, he hired 2 employees.
Dan Griffin, Owner of Weather Engineers, Inc. Dan’s father and a partner started the company in 1963, and Dan and his brother bought the company when their father retired in 1992. In 2009 his brother decided to do something different and it’s still a family-run business with the children very much involved. They have grown their customer base by merging with like-minded companies and currently have over 60 service vehicles and 110 team members. Dan spoke about the elusiveness of finding the right advertising program and the importance of employee retention. “As you grow, you need to closely watch where you spend your ad money. Keep your name in front of your existing customers but also consider that people die and families move so you have to reach the new prospects as well. And treat your employees well. It’s more rewarding and less expensive than finding and training replacements. We have many employees that have over 20 years of service with the company.”
Some common threads in the discussions were the importance of honesty, integrity, investing in training employees, and working hard to be profitable, not just to stay busy.
The panelists were very eager to answer questions and offered to meet with anyone seeking advice.
All the panelists were very eager to answer questions and offered to meet with anyone seeking advice.
For information about joining or sponsoring NFACCA, visit https://www.nfacca.com/ or contact Ashley Casaceli by calling 904.536.8453 or emailing mail@nfacca.com.
