Northwest Mississippi Community College’s Heating and Air Conditioning Technology program received $10,200 worth of new equipment to aid in training for students last month, according to Whit Perry, lead instructor of the program.

Bard Manufacturing Company of Bryan, Ohio donated the new equipment to the college in December, Perry said.  “They stated they wanted to help certified institutions that have acquired the PAHRA accreditation,” he said.

Northwest was accredited with the Partnership for Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigeration Accreditation (PAHRA) in December, 2007. PAHRA is an independent, third party organization that is a partnership between heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration (HVACR) educators and the HVACR industry that will award accreditation to programs that have met and/or exceeded industry validated standards. Northwest is the only community college in Mississippi that has this accreditation.

Since acquiring the PAHRA accreditation, Perry said their program has received approximately $40,000 worth of new and used training equipment from many of their industry partners. “This is exactly what PAHRA helps us with. It teams us up with the industry. It gives us the opportunity to have the latest technology at our finger tips to make sure the student is trained on the most recent equipment available. We are very thankful to have this accreditation and partnership. Our main goal is to provide the student with an opportunity to make a success of him/herself. We could not do the job properly without the help of our industry partners and are very thankful for their support, ” Perry said.

Other industry partners who have donated equipment are ESD, Inc. of Memphis; CC Dickson, Horn Lake; M & A Supply, Memphis; Jackson Supply Co., Memphis; York JCI, Norman Okla.; Air Conditioning Heating & Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), Arlington, Va.; HVAC Sales and Supply, Memphis and Eldridge Services, Hernando. “These are just a few who have donated in the past year since we acquired this accreditation.

We have also teamed with the Steamfitters Union, Local 614. They hired four of our graduates in May and are sure to hire many more in the future,” Perry said.

“We are excited with the things happening here. We strive to be the best in the Mid-South. We try to reach out to our students and help them bring out their full potential. This is an exciting and challenging field with many job opportunities for a student looking for a career. If a student wants to work hard and learn he can basically go anywhere in the US and find work.”

For more information on Northwest’s Heating and Air Conditioning Technology program, call Perry at 662-562-3888 or e-mail wperry@northwestms.edu .