Carrier has officially opened a new 16,000-square-foot training center at its Charlotte offices, with a ribbon cutting ceremony and open house attended by Carrier’s commercial HVAC leadership and other valued guests last month. The new training center, where Carrier University is headquartered, represents a nearly $4 million investment in training the next generation of skilled HVAC technicians.
Carrier University was founded in 1929. The new training center is located alongside other Carrier offices, less than two miles from Carrier’s Charlotte factory, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
The new training center hosts more than 1,200 students for in-person courses each year, ranging from one week to 13 weeks of instruction time, depending on the course. Another 7,400 students receive virtual instruction through Carrier University. Courses cover a wide range of areas, including technical skills, HVAC service, HVAC controls, HVAC design and sustainable building solutions.
“Dr. Willis Carrier invented modern air conditioning in 1902 and since then, we’ve developed industries. Not only the HVAC industry, but significant industries built around the HVAC space. And we are super proud of that. But the piece that we are even more proud of is that we’ve helped develop careers. For folks within our organization and beyond,” said Gaurang Pandya, President, HVAC Americas and Commercial HVAC EMEA. “I started my career as a trainee at Carrier more than 25 years back and have continued to grow across the board. The training program we have has helped develop some of the best people that we have today.”
The training center includes four classrooms and a product lab featuring many fully functional systems, including equipment supporting light commercial and applied training courses. The curriculum is accredited by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) and meets the requirements for continuing education credits and professional development hours for the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Professional Engineers (PE).
“There’s been countless hours, millions of dollars of investment that brought us to the point. For us to be now opening the new training center’s doors to our industry, to our customers, to the community - it’s really special,” said Steve Ribaudo, Vice President and General Manager, CHVAC Americas. “Carrier is committed to sharing our expertise to assist our technicians, sales engineers and others in the HVAC community in developing the skills they need to provide the best experiences possible for their communities, their customers and their buildings.”
