Nortek has donated seven packaged heating and cooling systems, valued at $35,000, to the Poplar Bluff Technical Career Center in what company officials say is the start of a long-term partnership with the HVAC-R program.

“We think you can make good use of these, breaking them down and fixing them up,” said Nortek Distribution Manager George Scherr on Wednesday, Feb. 7. “With more kids out there fixing stuff, we’ll make the world breathe easier, like our slogan says.”

The heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration program was previously on a five-year rotation to acquire updated units for students to practice servicing, according to TCC instructor Dan Parker. “We’ll run the ductwork and be able to do the whole gamut so students can learn how to use all the tools,” Parker commented. He pointed out that customers have been converting to self-contained units because of the “efficiency, and the maintenance is a lot cheaper.”

Owned by Madison Air based in Chicago, Nortek Global HVAC operates its main U.S. distribution plant out of a 716,000-square-foot facility equivalent to 16 acres in Industrial Park. What was formerly Nordyne, Nortek used to also manufacture in Poplar Bluff, until it reportedly shifted that portion of the operation to Mexico in 2013.

A couple of years later, a move to shutter the plant was ultimately reversed, according to Scherr, and today Nortek employs around 100 people locally – with no recordable lost-time injuries through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration over the past two years. “Our plans are to be here a long time,” stated Scherr, who has worked in the industry for over three decades, moving from St. Louis in 2001 when the operation first planted its flag in Poplar Bluff.

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Cutline: (Left to right) HVAC program student Alex Vass; TCC instructor Dan Parker; Nortek Distribution Manager George Scherr; and Scott Smith, Nortek buyer/material planner.