Comfort Supply's Blog by Clay Blevins

Ruud’s annual report of regional shipments and sales for its commercial products recently showed 19% sales growth for the brand in Tennessee from 2010 to 2012, which is the highest in the Southeast by 6%.

Additionally, Tennessee ranked second, behind Florida, in the three-year average of commercial shipments of quality Ruud HVAC products. Tennessee moved an average 14,598 units from 2010 to 2012, or 16 percent of the total Southeast distribution area.

Florida had the highest average shipments, claiming 31 percent of the total market, followed by Tennessee, Georgia (15 percent) and North Carolina (13 percent).

It’s impressive that Tennessee represents such a significant, growing chunk of Ruud commercial shipments. Considering that Tennessee’s adult population is much smaller than many of our peer communities, you’d think that commercial construction in states like Georgia and North Carolina would be higher than Tennessee, which doesn’t appear to be the case. Companies are investing in Tennessee’s workforce. They’re building and expanding their headquarters and purchasing more Ruud HVAC equipment.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Tennessee’s adult population is roughly 33 percent smaller than both Georgia and North Carolina. In 2012, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development announced major corporate expansions and/or relocations, including Nissan (Smyrna), Nike (Memphis), Oberto Brands (Nashville), Agero (Clarksville), HCA (Nashville) and Tractor Supply Co. (Brentwood), among others.

Ruud’s report also revealed a three-year upward trend of commercial shipments within Tennessee. South Carolina was the only other state to show positive year-over-year-over-year growth.

The statewide statistics certainly mirror Comfort Supply's trend as a Ruud distributor. For example, in 2011, our commercial sales grew roughly 40% year over year.

The states included in the assessment were Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

We are pleased to announce that Comfort Supply has partnered with the Electric & Gas Industries Association (EGIA) to offer new financing and a contractor benefit program for our customers. We will be EGIA’s first Energy Partner group member in Tennessee.

By providing EGIA membership and benefits for our customers, we can offer contractors one of the hottest financing packages out there. EGIA’s GEOSmart Financing Clearinghouse takes the hassle out of financing and helps our customers get the advice that they need in one convenient location. Coupled with the kickoff of our contractor benefit program, we’re truly excited about the growth opportunities this partnership opens up for our dealers.

EGIA is a nationwide nonprofit organization with over 15,000 independent members and affiliated companies. Through its Energy Partners program with manufacturers, distributors, utilities and government, EGIA provides member contractors the tools, training and networking to accelerate their business growth and profitability. EGIA also supports utilities and government in achieving their goals related to the development of sustainable markets for energy efficiency and renewable energy products and services.

Dealers who enroll in EGIA will have access to the Financing Clearinghouse and GEOSmart consumer financing. This provides a wide selection of consumer financing packages, including no payment, no interest programs, government backed loans and financing for credit challenged customers.

EGIA membership also includes access to the Leadership Academy, a monthly seminar series taught by industry experts. Seminar topics include sales, marketing and operations best practices for contractors, for example:

As an added bonus for dealers, Comfort Supply will cover customers’ $250 EGIA membership fees until December 2013.

Contractors interested in learning more about the Comfort Supply/EGIA partnership can visit EGIA.org/ComfortSupply. There you can find details about available member benefits, instructions for membership signup and applications for the financing program.

The program kicks off Sept. 1, 2012.