Since its founding in 1997, North American Technician Excellence (NATE) has steadily improved its reputation and performance. It now stands as the premier technician certification organization in the United States, and is poised to begin to expand into Mexico and Central America in the coming years.

Founded and funded by the HVACR manufacturers, NATE was designed to improve installation and maintenance of equipment so as to reduce warranty claims and increase customer satisfaction. While NATE has made great progress in fulfilling those missions, the NATE Executive Committee believes, and the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) Executive Committee agrees, that the current staff structure of the organization is not optimal to ensure growth and progress going forward.

Accordingly, the NATE Executive Committee and the AHRI Executive Committee have jointly agreed on the following changes designed to breathe new life into a very important entity and to ensure its future success:

- NATE’s President, Peter Schwartz, will focus on strengthening NATE’s relations with governmental and non-governmental organizations.

- Patrick Murphy resigned as Vice President, Certifications, and his position will be reconfigured to meet the technical and certification administration needs of NATE to ensure continued quality and excellence in NATE’s certification services. We appreciate the dedication and commitment that Pat has provided since the formation of NATE. In the interim, Warren Lupson, AHRI’s Director of Education, will serve on a temporary basis as Director of Certification for NATE.

- NATE Chairman Don Frendberg will be directly involved in the promotion and leadership of NATE.

- AHRI will increase its administrative and operational support of NATE by providing financial, human resource, legal, government affairs, and marketing/communications support.

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