Posted September 9, 2014 by Amanda Ventura
http://azbigmedia.com/featured/the-unified-group-membership-melds-businesses-cross-country
Interstate Mechanical (IMCOR) was sandblasting a cooling tower for a client of Chicago-based company Air Comfort when IMCOR employee Jeremy Ettesvold realized the metal was in worse shape than it looked from the outside. He contacted Air Comfort, sent a revised proposal with a change order and then rerouted a few IMCOR employees to pull and replace one of the tower’s metal panels by the end of that same work week.
This is the kind of integrity that defines the partnerships between The Unified Group (TUG) members such as Air Comfort and IMCOR. TUG is a group of 50-plus U.S. companies that share best practices by way of digital and in-person forums.
Kim O’Connor, service operations manager at Air Comfort Corporation, has been in the HVAC business for nearly 20 years. When she was promoted to her current position, she had a lot of industry experience but had never held a management position before filling the vacancy at her company.
“The first TUG forum I attended was a management forum,” O’Connor says. “After the speaker introductions, we went around the room and told what company you were with, your position and a little about yourself. I did this and mentioned my new position and that I had no management experience. During the breaks and at the group dinners throughout the three-day forum, the members took turns coming to me and offering support. My last day there, as I was looking around the room, I realized how fortunate I was to attend this forum. Where can you get 20 or 30 mentors in your exact field at one time?”