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85% 20%


Facial coverage than other


•THE WHOLESALER® — JANUARY 2011 INDUSTRY NEWS


eye/facewashes Better protection


Virginia Air Distributors organizes all-women tour of Johnson Controls’ factories


WICHITA, KAN. – When Dana Marr graduated from college, she agreed to work temporarily as a service dis- patcher in her family’ s business – Wooldridge Heating, Air & Electrical in Lynchburg, Va. – as she prepared for what she thought would be a ca- reer in banking. Twenty-four years later she’s still there, having carved out a career in the male-dominated industry that she has grown to love. Dawn Richards tells a similar story.


She left a position with the Marine Corps to help her father during a par- ticularly busy time in his growing business — Childress Heating & A/C Inc. in Fredericksburg, Va. — and she, too, stayed, joining her sister, Dena Cooke, in the family business. Today Richards serves as of- fice manager and treasurer of the com- pany, while her younger sister handles accounts payable, con- tracts and change-outs. Last month, a fourth


woman brought these three women and 28 others together for the first-of-its-kind event — an all-women tour of the Johnson Con- trols factories in Wi- chita, Kan., and Norman, Okla. Until this October, Maureen Baker, who wears a variety of hats in the business she and her husband Ken have owned for 24 years — York distributor Vir- ginia Air Distributors of Mid lothian, Va. — had never toured an HVAC factory. “We’ve conducted


they organized a three-day, all-ex- penses-paid trip for 32 women to the two Johnson Controls manufacturing facilities. In addition to plant tours, the trip included a tour of the Wichita lab, discussions of quality processes, market product demand and the York dealer intranet and question and an- swer sessions. According to Baker, the tour at-


tracted women representing a variety of positions within the HVAC indus- try, including secretary/treasurers, residential sales managers, co-own- ers, human resource managers and office managers. “The goal of the trip was to expose women to the manufacturing process


York distributor Virginia Air Distributors of Midlothian, Va., recently conducted the first all-women tour of Johnson Controls’ factories in Wichita, Kan., and Norman, Okla. Here, the group of 32 women walks through the Wichita manufacturing facility.


twice annual trips to factories for the past 10 years, send- ing 20 to 30 people – and by people I mean men – on each trip,” Maureen Baker said. “But it occurred to me that we had never sent a group of women, despite the fact that more and more women are working in the industry. So we gauged the interest among our dealers and got a tremen- dous response to our inquiry.” As a result, Baker reached out to


See contact information on page 98


representatives from the York brand of Johnson Controls, and together


— to let them see how the products they sell are actually made, the quality that goes into them and the marketing initiatives and tools that are in place to support the sale of these products and ultimately, their businesses.” Conversations with women who


attended the tour indicate the trip eas- ily met this goal. “I’ve always seen products from the outside,” said Marr. “This trip gave me a whole new perspective by helping me under- (Turn to Women’s group... page 14.)


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