Industry Education Effort Supports HVAC Talent Pipeline

A workforce shortage sparked a collaborative effort among Trane, educators and local leaders to create new HVAC career pathways for Collinsville high school students.

Sometimes it’s the small comments that open the door to opportunity. During a 2022 conversation with city leaders in Collinsville, Illinois, Jessica Gagliarducci, a Trane Comprehensive Solutions account executive, learned that a shortage of skilled heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) labor was creating challenges for the city.

That local need made sense. Projected demand for heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration mechanics and installers is expected to grow by 6 percent in Illinois between 2024 and 2034, leading to more than 1,000 job openings for these rolesⁱ. As the conversation continued, it was clear that the labor shortage represented a broader community workforce need.

Gathering the Right Voices to Make a Difference

Recognizing the opportunity to connect education and workforce development needs, Gagliarducci helped convene a group of representatives from Collinsville Community Unit School District #10 (CUSD), Madison County, the city of Collinsville and Collinsville Area Vocational Center (CAVC) to tackle the challenge.

CAVC provides hands-on skills learning for high school juniors and seniors during the school day, serving 12 area high schools. Since Joe McGinnis, M.Ed., CAVC director, took over six years ago, he has raised the bar for student performance, driving an increase in interest and attendance at the school.

During the winter of 2023, the group’s discussions reinforced the need for a stronger talent pipeline to fill local HVAC roles. As a result, an HVAC program already being considered as part of CAVC’s planned expansion quickly became a top priority for area leaders in response to regional job demand.

“When we talk with those local companies and they’re sharing their challenges in finding a workforce and developing a workforce, it was pretty evident that the HVAC program would be a great addition,” said McGinnis.

Building the Talent Pipeline

Trane, known for supporting HVAC education and committed to building the talent pipeline for the next generation, agreed to help support the expansion. Through its education and industry programming partnership with the National Coalition of Certification Centers (NC3), Trane helped align HVAC programming with broader industry needs. Led by Trane’s Industry and Educational Programming team, this collaboration is designed to help expand student access to energy career pathways.

“We were excited to bring this level of industry relevance and real-world learning to students across the region who will now have access to CAVC,” said Mariah Presley, Trane’s Education and Industry Programs lead. “This sort of industry-education alignment is what students need to be competitive in a commercial HVAC pathway and explore life-sustaining careers in the trades.”

“Trane’s focus throughout this process was on expanding the field, growing the workforce, and benefiting students’ careers,” said Brad Skertich, Ph.D., superintendent for CUSD. “Their ability to think outside the box and show support really helped us move this project forward. We were impressed that their support came even before we were a client.”

Making the Case for Technical Education with the State Board of Education

To move the expansion forward, the group needed state funding first. Trane helped support the push for state funding by presenting with the local group at an Illinois State Board of Education meeting in the spring.

The presentation focused on the key role that HVAC professionals play in the community. The group’s presentation helped drive approval of a $25 million state grant to support the expansion, which was awarded in the fall of 2023.

Benchmarking a Potential Technical Education Program

Trane also provided a benchmark opportunity for Collinsville School District’s leadership team that summer, inviting them to tour one of the premier Trane/NC3 Climate and Energy Control Technologies Labs in the Midwest region at WSU Tech, a technical college in Wichita, Kansas. WSU Tech trains students for high-demand jobs, including HVAC and energy careers alongside a decade-long partnership with Trane.

The visit proved well worth the 400+ mile trip for the Collinsville team.

“That visit helped us grow the vision of what this expansion could be and what CAVC is capable of, and we especially liked their idea of establishing an endowment,” said McGinnis.

“We soon incorporated WSU Tech’s endowment approach for supporting continuity in funding and ensuring long-term success of the program’s HVAC lab, which was a key takeaway for us,” he said. The lab was added in alignment with the school upgrades to set the foundation for longer-term success for the program and school.

Funding can be challenging for CTE. According to a June 2025 U.S. Government report, for most states, federal funding alone cannot meet the costs or demand for secondary CTE, indicating chronic underfunding. As a non-taxing school district, CAVC depends on state CTE grants, federal Perkins funding and tuition from sending districts.

“Given these realities, we have to have a pot of money we can control,” explained McGinnis.

“Based on the WSU Tech model, we have since started accepting sponsorships from local companies or national corporations and rolling that into an endowment for the betterment of the school,” he explained. “We already have roughly $2 million committed to our endowment.”

Bringing It All Together

The new program serves 40 students a semester and the program’s new HVAC lab serves up to 20 students at any one time. 

“Trane helped define the baseline skills and learning outcomes needed for an HVAC program like this,” said Presley. “Technology changes so frequently that it can be difficult to always have the latest and greatest of every tool in an educational environment, but focusing on relevant, transferable skills makes the difference.”

McGinnis pointed out the key role that Trane played throughout the process:. “Each step of the way, Trane‘s been influential in helping us level up our program.”

Expansion Approved for the Collinsville Area Vocational Center

The CUSD approved the final plans for the expansion in mid-March 2025, and a formal groundbreaking ceremony was held in late March that year. This fall, 48 students applied for the one-year program’s inaugural year.

“Our initial enrollment, we turned away 8 kids,” said McGinnis. “We had 48 register for it, but we only had 40 seats.”

McGinnis shared that the HVAC program will ultimately offer multiple certifications, currently being finalized. These will include OSHA-10 certification and certifications from the National Coalition of Certification Centers (NC3).

“If you look at their NC3 partnerships and kind of the work being done, it’s primarily at the community college level, so we are excited to add this at the high school level,” said McGinnis.

The school also will offer EPA certification.

“That is the ticket to being able to work in the industry because they cannot work on refrigerant-charged systems without it,” he said.

McGinnis is pleased to see the school’s progress:. “We keep taking what we want to do here at CAVC and push the boundaries in what is happening at the high school level for career and technical education. And Trane’s been right there with us, saying, ‘Yes, that’s a great idea,’ or helping us find that next step.”

Direct-to-Career Opportunities for Graduates

“These students now have access to HVAC programming that can take them directly to a career that offers competitive wages, insurance and even retirement,” McGinnis said. “And for the community, that will be something really valuable to offer to the 1.4 million residents in the two counties CAVC serves.”

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