Yes, that’s right, TruTech turns 13 years old today! And like many 13 year olds, we are being introspective about who we are, where we came from and where we are headed.
As the title hints; we try to have fun with the work we do and not get too, too serious about ourselves.
Just like a child grows so much over an 8 year time span, a lot has happened since 2012 when we made our last birthday update blog post (on our fifth anniversary).
Let’s start by remembering one of our founders, James (Jim) C. Bergmann who passed away in 2016. He was a kind and generous man, who, along with his son, James (Jim) L. Bergmann initiated the customer focussed and educational aspects of TruTech which continue to shape the way we do business today. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you, Jim.
Staying on the topic of people, we are so grateful to our loyal employees, now numbering 15 fulltime and 2 part time. While all are unique individuals, they come together everyday with their minds set on helping our customers. From having the right stock of products available for fast shipments, to complete answers to all sorts of questions, to an easy to navigate website, prompt calibrations, in-depth technical resources, quick refunds and RMAs, to clear marketing messages and more. Our staff really want to make it fast and easy for our customers to work at a higher level.
In 2014, Jim Sr. sold his interest in the company to Eric Preston while Bill Spohn added to his interest by buying Jim Jr.’s shares. Since 2009, Eric, now VP and General Manager, provides guidance and direction for the bulk of the employees while as President & CEO, Bill provides strategic direction, networking connections and manages marketing. Eric and Bill work synergistically building TruTech into a better company every day. Jim Jr., better known as simply Jim Bergmann, has moved through a couple of companies incrementally increasing his influence on the HVAC diagnostic world. Now at his current company, MeasureQuick, Jim and his team have created the one and only multi-brand wireless tool platform that can stream data and run diagnostics to help all HVACR technicians work at a higher level.
As our business grew, we continued to add staff, products lines (now almost 90!) and many, many products. Accommodating all this growth required expanding, then moving our facilities, as shown in the image above. It’s really amazing to think back to our first sale on April 23, 2007 was a single testo 905-T1 (version 1) Stick Thermometer shipped from a spare bedroom in Jim Sr.’s house.
We continue to be humbled that our progress as a business has not gone without notice. In addition to receiving awards, like the INC 5000 awards shown above, in 2019, Eric and Bill were nominated as Entrepreneurs of the Year by Ernst & Young. Our efforts on behalf of our customers continue to earn us high praise in our third party managed customer reviews: Facebook, Google Reviews and Shopper Approved.
Bryan Orr, Zack Psioda, Gary McCreadie, Stephen Rardon, Mike Mayberry
Starting in about 2016, we’ve enjoyed great relationships with a number of social media influencers in the HVAC trade. Each one has their own style, followers, channels and methods. The variety is pretty intense. From Facebook pages, to Podcasts, to videos, to livestreams to Instagram posts and more, one thing they all share is a passion for learning, educating and sharing what they know. If you get a chance check out and follow some of our leading partners: Bryan Orr, Zack Psioda, Gary McCreadie, Stephen Rardon and Mike Mayberry.
Not to be left behind by the podcast generation, and at the encouragement of Bryan Orr, TruTech owner, Bill Spohn, started hosting two podcasts in 2017: RESTalk for RESNET and Building HVAC Science for TruTech.
Another outward change we made was to redesign our trusty logo which served us so well for more than a decade. The new logo incorporates elements of the old one, but allows for a more compact delivery in new media. We added the tagline Quality Tools, Essential Support in 2016.
We have multiple definitions for the three blue Ts in the logo besides TruTechTools:
- They are pillars of a blue collar workforce helping to support and benefit a green world.
- They represent the three important groups of people for us: Customers, Employees, Vendors & Industry Colleagues
- They stand for three things that we hope our efforts achieve through the work done by our customers: C-H-EE: Comfort, Health and Energy Efficiency (see vision and mission below)
- They represent the three customer groups we focus on HVAC/R technicians, Building Performance technicians and Air Quality for Consumers
- We also like the way the number of letters in our name stack up in an integral Pythagorean ratio of 3:4:5: Tru (3) Tech (4) Tools (5)
We have also recently crafted our Vision and Mission and Brand Promise:
- Vision: All people live and work in Comfortable, Healthy, Safe and Energy Efficient homes and buildings.
- Mission: Provide quality diagnostic tools and training for HVACR and Building Performance technicians to succeed in fulfilling our vision.
- Brand Promise: Making it fast and easy for techs to work at a higher level.
As we think about where we are headed, it’s impossible to ignore the impact that the CoronaVirus Pandemic has had and will continue to have on the world, including the world of HVAC. Perhaps you’ll be reading this 1 or 2 or 5 years down the road and the impacts will be well understood and accepted.
At this point, we really don’t know.
From our vantage point at this moment on April 23, 2020, we do know we won’t change the principles by which we operate. That is to take care of people; people in our families, our company, our community, our customers and our vendors.
For it is with this spirit of care for others we were founded, and with this spirit we will continue to serve and thrive.
Until next time.
TruTechGuy 