If you believe the statistics — and a whole slew of press — Generation Z is an emerging generation of men and women who are trading in their schoolbooks and strapping on tool belts.

How the Pipe Trades Giants happens.

It was a very good year ...

Booming construction and remodeling boosts the industry.

Nonresidential construction - education, healthcare, hospitality, etc. - keeps the industry afloat.

Positive attitude prevails despite faltering economy.

Plumbing and mechanical contractors are making the most out of a down economy.

Contractors are working on internal processes to prepare for an improving economy.

Contractors focus on marketing, sales training and business diversification to get more work.

Housing sales gain ground and green construction continues to grow.

Just over a third of respondents reported increased revenue last year from 2012.

Bradford White and its renewed support of Explore the Trades with a $17,000 grant.

Sorry Umma, located next door to H Mart in Westminster, serves up Korean-style hot pot with premium meats.

Major Asia-Pacific stock exchanges traded mostly lower on Thursday amid more economic data and earnings reports.The Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed that the seasonally adjusted unemployment r...

Wi-Fi 8 (also known as IEEE 802.11bn Ultra High Reliability) is expected to arrive around 2028, prioritizing an enhanced user experience over speed by optimizing interactions between devices and access points. While it retains similar bandwidth specifications as the previous standard, Wi-Fi 8 aims to improve network efficiency, reducing interference and congestion for a more reliable and adaptive connection. PCWorld's Mark Hachman reports: As of Nov. 2024, MediaTek believes that Wi-Fi 8 will look virtually identical to Wi-Fi 7 in several key areas: The maximum physical layer (PHY) rate will be the same at 2,880Mbps x 8, or 23Gbits/s. It will also use the same four frequency bands (2, 4, 5, and 6GHz) and the same 4096 QAM modulation across a maximum channel bandwidth of 320MHz. (A Wi-Fi 8 router won't get 23Gbps of bandwidth, of course. According to MediaTek, the actual peak throughput in a "clean," or laboratory, environment is just 80 percent or so of the hypothetical peak throughput, and actual, real-world results can be far less.) Still, put simply, Wi-Fi 8 should deliver the same wireless bandwidth as Wi-Fi 7, using the same channels and the same modulation. Every Wi-Fi standard has also been backwards-compatible with its predecessors, too. What Wi-Fi 8 will do, though, is change how your client device, such as a PC or a phone, interacts with multiple access points. Think of this as an evolution of how your laptop talks to your home's networking equipment. Over time, Wi-Fi has evolved from communications between one laptop and a router, across a single channel. Channel hopping routed different clients to different bands. When Wi-Fi 6 was developed, a dedicated 6GHz channel was added, sometimes as a dedicated "backhaul" between your home's access points. Now, mesh networks are more common, giving your laptop a variety of access points, channels, and frequencies to select between. For a detailed breakdown of the upcoming advancements coming to Wi-Fi 8, including Coordinated Spatial Reuse, Coordinated Beamforming, and Dynamic Sub-Channel Operation, read the full article.

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1. SENSEX rises over 100 points, NIFTY50 trades above 23,600; Eicher Motors climbs over 6%, Swiggy up 5%  Upstox
2. Stock Market LIVE Updates: Sensex, Nifty erase gains, trade flat; mid, samllcaps shine  Moneycontrol
3. Sensex Today | Stock Markets Live Update: Sensex, Nifty turn red after giving up opening gains, Eicher up 7%  CNBCTV18
4. Stock Market LIVE Updates: FMCG, Oil, financial stocks drag Sensex 200pts to 77,500; Nifty at 23,500  Business Standard
5. Eicher Motors leads Indian shares higher at the open  Mint

The verification company will help securely onboard new customers from ForexChief.

NFL Free Agency starts March 12th. This page will track all the player signings and trades. -Harvin to SEA, Boldin to SF, M Wallace to MIA, M Bennett to CHI,

Where does one start? How about right around 7,500 B.C. when individuals in Jordan began using a form of plaster on interior walls?

The National Center for Construction Education and Research has been recognized as a DEWALT Grow the Trades Grant recipient for its efforts to provide career and technical education programs and industry-recognized credentials to students through the High School Builder Program.

In early October, Simpson Strong-Tie hosted nearly 400 high school students during Trades Day events at its facilities in Stockton, California; Riverside, California; and McKinney, Texas.

Eighty-two percent of respondents use digital tools daily to help streamline training and development programs. The majority of respondents within this group recognize the diverse benefits that digital tools offer the skilled trades industry.

The current U.S. workforce is comprised of four generations: Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z. But there’s one generation in particular that the skilled trades have their eyes on right now: Gen Z.

Let’s be honest. The trades are the inventors of 'remote work.' For decades, we’ve been dispatching remotely while technicians are awarded company vehicles to drive home each evening. They begin their mornings from the comfort of their own homes by receiving their work log for the day through walkie-talkie, text, email, slack, pager… remember those? Shoot, we’re awesome — others should take note!

Several new ServiceTitan product updates and features powered by Titan Intelligence were also announced at Pantheon 2022

ServiceTitan made waves earlier this year when it announced new cutting-edge AI solutions, allowing its customers to automate, predict and optimize across their businesses during Pantheon 2023.

The partnership connects XOi’s technology with Powerhouse’s training and insights, ensuring field service professionals are equipped with the resources they need for the jobsite.

The skilled trades industry is booming, and a new generation of passionate individuals is eager to join the workforce. Let's support and guide them to become the leaders of tomorrow. With my optimism and ideas, we can pave the way to their success. So, let's dive in and explore these ideas together!

Succession is a crucial phase for leaders. Proper planning and strategy can make it the best decision for the company.

Processes are the third component of our success strategy — organizational charts, scorecards, and processes. Two months ago, I began a three-part series to focus on each of them. This month, we are going to bring that strategy full circle by discussing processes.

Included in Interplay’s career development platform, SAM provides technicians with immediate guidance to help them gain skills faster and learn more efficiently in a more engaging manner. S

As I write this month’s column, I’m attending Plumbing Manufacturer’s International annual Manufacturing Success conference in Louisville, Kentucky. PMI has done a great job with its programming content this year, especially with keynote presenter Andrew Winston, a corporate environmental strategist and author, who discussed how today’s companies are now expected to take a stand against the world’s social and environmental problems — and in doing so, earn a profit.

When I first started working for Plumbing & Mechanical’s sister publication, The ACHR NEWS in 2014, I was often the only woman in the room at industry events. Those first few conferences were just a bit intimidating. In fact, it wasn’t until a HARDI annual conference that I first met other women in the industry — shout out to Colleen Keyworth, director of sales and marketing for Online-Access and immediate past president of Women in HVACR, for her immediate friendship then and for all the years since!

According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the number of teenagers who have driver’s licenses have declined. You wouldn’t think this matters to the home service contracting industry, but it does.

Fall is conference and tradeshow season in the plumbing and HVAC world.

Plumbing and HVAC contractors can help alleviate financial worries by offering multiple financing options.

Kids have a way of dragging us old folks back in time. My grandson, Brendan put me back on the road, 40 years ago, when I was spending most of my time teaching tradespeople about the joys of steam and hot-water heating.

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) has launched a suite of free resources.

This lineup will consist of HDMI 2.1 matrix switchers, signal splitters, amplifiers, and specialty cables.

Empowering Tradespeople: USA Partner Network Joins Forces with FieldPulse to Enhance Member Benefits and Operational Efficiency

A milestone anniversary celebrates the growth from a small home-based business to a top host agency, marking 25 years of supporting independent travel advisors.

With early exposure to the trades, a young girl found inspiration from the women she saw working in the industry, and now she wants to encourage more women to get into the business.

In the midst of a historic energy transition, the HVAC is facing a workforce shortage, and it needs to get creative to find solutions.

The Ridgid Experience, the brand’s signature event, gives select trades workers an all-expenses-paid, three-day trip that features hands-on factory experiences, fun, and camaraderie, a press release from Ridgid said.

Lasting learning in the skilled trades requires substantial time spent working on real equipment with real tools.

The National Technical Institute's Regional Immersion Program is an opportunity for contractors to overcome recruitment hurdles and secure qualified entry-level workers, and for those with an interest in HVAC, plumbing, or electrical work to get fundamental training.

When it comes to training technicians, numerous HVAC contractors have elected to create their own academies, granting them the opportunity to equip technicians with the skills and knowledge that best fit their service models.

The report showed 61% of the Gen Z respondents said their parents haven’t spoken to them about vocational school — or told them not to consider it.

As AI continues to prove itself as more than just a fad, businesses should be harnessing its power to increase efficiencies and improve customer experiences.