HVAC technician and guest speaker Dustin Neff last week gave Rotarians a detailed overview of Lewisville ISD’s leading-edge vocational and technical education program, which prepares high school students for future career success in the trades.
HVAC is an extremely lucrative field with a significant shortage of technicians, Neff noted. “I’m a third generation air conditioning contractor. My grandfather started doing it in 1949,” he said. His father, Keith Neff, followed suit, learning the trade from a young age, and by the time Dustin Neff was in high school, he was carrying on the family tradition.
Today, he is the General Manager of Triple A Air Conditioning & Heating in Flower Mound and is heavily involved in LISD’s vocational program for the HVAC industry. As part of the initiative, the school district built a sprawling workshop at the Technology, Exploration and Career Center - WEST (TECC West) lab, located near the Lewisville High School Natatorium on Round Grove Road. The HVAC vocational program can position graduates to immediately move into good paying jobs, avoiding college debt, Neff said. Alternately, graduates can continue on to get an associates degree or use their ability to earn money in the trade to help pay for college, should they desire a four-year degree.
The average technician age is 55, Neff explained, and there will be a huge drop in the labor force as workers in the Baby Boomer and Generation X cohorts retire. LISD’s vocational program will help mitigate this shortage and equip the next generation with practical, marketable skills that will serve them well for years to come.
The state-of-the-art HVAC equipment at the TECC West lab includes six fully operational gas systems and heating systems. Neff and a colleague also recently met with several juniors and seniors in the program to do practice interviews and teach soft skills for navigating customer relationships, as well as the hands-on technical skills to install and repair heating and air conditioning units.
“I have a real passion for helping students and helping people, and I love to help business owners,” said Neff, who hopes to hire some of the program graduates at his company.
The full TECC West building includes instructional opportunities for several other trades, ranging from automotive repair to electrical, welding, audio video production, and cosmetology. Students are at the facility for two periods a day and can come out with job-ready certifications, opening doors to a future career. For more information, visit the TECC West website at www.lisd.net/teccw.