Message from the CEO

Submitted by: Jim Boland

Change on Status Quo

We all experience major transitions in life, however, truly historic transitions are far and few return. In my lifetime, wars aside, I believe the Kennedy Assassination, Salk Polio vaccine, the computer revolution and COVID are truly historic transitions. March 2020 changed the “World” as we know it. COVID required us to work more independently while tragedy to avoid disappointing our clients. As an Essential Business, we performed at an outstanding level of performance. I recall the start of COVID (March 2020) very well for we had the most active week with clients and associates – Engineer’s Dinner, Owner Energy Dinner, Breakfast with Trane, and finally an All Hands Meeting to end the week. The next week was a new reality of working more independently - our IT Department made it possible for us to work in this new virtual reality – we zoomed and teamed our way to making the business work.

Over three years later, we’re working in a very changed environment. What worked before COVID seems somewhat antiquated. Our Culture remains Strong, yet then seems to be room for improvement in how we interact and collaborate with our fellow associates.

Our Advisory Team took on the challenge to create a better working environment in this Post COVID world. There have been many meetings and consultations involved in creating our new Boland Headquarters environment.

COVID has caused major macro-economic implications around the world. Our nation and fellow nations have overspent, causing inflation to rise to levels not seen in 40 years. Geopolitical realities have arisen that we are still trying to resolve today.

We are excited about our new place for not only retaining our valued Culture, but also allowing our associates to better collaborate for the desired effectiveness in meeting market demands.

Change is often a choice in life. Continue in the same pattern on deciding change is necessary to take something to the next level. We will pay a price over the next few months by moving ourselves to Floors 1 and 2, but the desired outcome will be spectacular.

Thanks to everyone involved in this process, we’ll end 2023 in a more accommodating space ready to tackle the challenge in 2024 and beyond!

Stay Busy – Stay Safe.

Message from the President

Submitted by: Sean Boland

Welcome to Summer! Summer is my favorite time of the year. As always, it’s going to be busy. We continue to have near record backlogs across the business. This is also the time of year where we can have the largest impact on our clients’ operations. When our clients need Boland in an emergency, the spotlight is on us, and our team always rises to the occasion.

This summer is going to be unique, as the renovations to our headquarters space will create some challenges. Over the last few years, we’ve learned how to be more flexible in the ways we work, and we’re going to need to be a little flexible from July through October. The key to our success is communication. The person you need to speak with may not be in the office when you need them, but with Teams calls and cell phones, we are all just a phone call away. Remember that when you need to speak to someone urgently to solve a client problem, email is not the best method. Phone calls are typically faster and more productive when you need to solve a problem.

Another reminder as we head into Summer—take a vacation. You’ve earned some time off. Please be sure to have a backup in place while you’re away. Whether you’re 100 miles away at the beach, 1000 miles away at an exotic location, or just taking a vacation day at home, be sure to inform your backup so they can cover for you while you actually take time off. You can repay the favor when your backup is on vacation. Our clients demand responsiveness, and it’s a lot easier when we work as a team.

Thank you to all of our Technicians and Boland Supply team members for standing Duty and working late to cover Service calls. I know that during the warm, summer months, it takes a lot of extra time and effort. Thank you for all that you do. 



Ring the Bell!

Congratulations and many thanks to the people who were recognized with a "Ring the Bell" over the past month for their hard work and contributions. Great job, everyone!

Executive Team Update

Submitted By: Brendan Dowd

Executive Team - Kevin Bradley, Julie Wolfington, Dan Spruill, Jerry Taylor, Kim Winokur, Brendan Dowd, Vince Dawson

1) Develop Space plan and policies around hybrid/collaborative work. Sean Boland shared our future office plans at our May 19 All Associates Meeting. Please complete your personal workspace clean up as we move toward beginning construction next month.

2) Draft Boland Sustainability Plan. The draft has been submitted to our Advisory team for review and acceptance and the final plan is almost complete. For those of you who would like to learn more, we’re holding a new internal Sustainability Class at the office and online on May 31 – we’ll discuss basic terms, talk about what our clients are doing and how we can help them, then we’ll run through our new Boland sustainability plan

3) Account Leadership Plans. Eight strategic clients have been identified and met with Brendan Dowd and Kevin Bradley and have put together a preliminary strategy plan. Next month, they will all be presenting their Account Leadership Plans to Advisory. 

4) Develop Data Governance Policy. You will hear some new terms, highlighting important roles, including a company function called the Data Governance Coordinator. Within each department and division – we will have Data Owners and Data stewards.  We are finalizing a critical workflow between Salesforce and Sharepoint next week, which needs to be represented in the policy. As soon as that is finalized and confirmed, the initial policy will be presented and reviewed by the Executive Team and Advisory. 

5) Implement sales and support hiring and development. Jerry Scanlan and Patty Mooney are leading the D&C effort while Brendan Dowd and Norah Cartright are handling the Owner Sales group.

6) Achieve and maintain Client satisfaction Scores of 90% or better. This one we need a little help on, while Boland client satisfaction is currently at 90%, the Trane side is 82%. This is due in large part to ship dates and equipment quality issues. While we cannot directly impact those issues, we can continue to support all of our clients through communication. Encourage your clients to complete any surveys we may send them!

7) Build teamwork with Boland interdepartmentally. Kim Winokur and her team continue to provide excellent opportunities to socialize. Thank you to all that have been attending the monthly events. They are a lot of fun and certainly competitive!  Please review the Boland Daily News for pictures of events as well as upcoming events!

8) Communicate and Achieve Corporate Financial Goals all year.  The Executive Team has been providing Monthly update of our Corporate Goals in the Boland Daily News. We have expanded the goal to include different financial areas, such as Gross Revenue/Sales and Gross margin dollars.  We are using a green, yellow red (stoplight) approach to communicate our goal status​. Keeping Comfortable has included Corporate Goal updates that include deep dive data on our vertical market progress as well​ All Hands Meetings – A Financial Update is delivered by our CFO, James Thompson.​

9)  Vertical Market Update: Each of the Vertical Markets has a Target Order Value for the 2023 Calendar Year. Revenue versus Target in each Vertical Market is listed below through April 30, 2023.

Data Centers: $2.39M Revenue vs $3.1M Target = 77%

Healthcare: $1.1M Revenue vs $1.4M Target = 84%

Higher Education: $5.1M Revenue vs $5.3M Target = 96%

Life Sciences: $346K Revenue vs $377K Target = 92%

These Goals are only achievable if we all continue to do our collective parts. Thank you for the effort everyone has made so far this year. Let’s Make 2023 the best year ever.

Thank you!

Kevin, Vince, Brendan, Dan, Jerry, Kim and Julie 

2023 Apprenticeship Graduates

Submitted by: Jerry Taylor

Congratulations to our 2023 Apprenticeship Graduates: Chris Vargas, Anthony Carioti, Jeff Pingshaw, Johnny Marshall, Trevor Newman, Sam Valentine, and David Barbieri! Each of you have done an amazing job over the past five years, and we are proud to have you on board. We look forward to helping you continue to grow and succeed in your career!

Parklawn Earns Sales Award from Valent

Submitted by: Jerry Scanlan

Greg Tatro, National Sales Manager, and Mike Kluck, Area Sales Manager for Valent, recently visited the office to celebrate Parklawn’s Sales performance for 2022, where Parklawn finished as the third highest representative for Orders. Valent treated the Design & Construction sales staff and Valent Service technicians to breakfast at the Design & Construction sales meeting, where a plaque was presented. Congratulations for a job well done.

Trane Recognizes Top Sales Performers

Submitted by: Jerry Scanlan

At the Mid-Atlantic Sales Conference in Baltimore, Trane recognized some from our office for Top Sales Performance in 2022. This Award goes to the “Best of the Best” across the entire Trane Sales Organization. We are proud of our recipients:

EBS Elite

Gold: Jimmy Murray 

Gold: Brant Petrie

Gold: Monica Lucas

Gold: Katie Kimmel

Silver: Joe Lodico

Top Ten for Equipment Sales

Thierry De Raet

Mike Ball

Congratulations for a job well done!

Boland Hosts a Sales/Client trip to Trane St. Paul Controls Factory and Innovent/Valent Factory

Submitted by: Patty Mooney

Boland recently hosted a sales/client trip to the Trane St. Paul Controls Factory and the Innovent/Valent Factory. The 30 attendees comprised of Boland associates as well as key personnel from Akridge, CFR Engineering, EMCOR/FDIC, J Street Companies, Lincoln Property Company, Rockrose, Setty Associates, Stone Ridge School, Strickler Associates and WSP USA, Inc.

Attendees spent the first day at Trane St. Paul learning about controls integration and capabilities followed by a building tour and experiencing the Solutions Center. The second day was spent at Innovent/Valent where we reviewed product capabilities and various applications as well as a factory and show room tour.

We also had a fabulous evening of socializing and connecting over cocktails at the Historic State Theater followed by dinner at the Capital Grille.

Professional Development Post-Season Meeting Recap

Submitted by: Melissa Herazo

Our instructors: Adnan Mohamed-Burhan, Steve Beaton, Steve Barnes, Dale Best, Tony Murray, Chris Tipton, Damian Young, Jason Lawrence, Jeremy Reiff, Dean Smith, Brad Hornbeak, Paul Singh, Tim Todd, Josh Lambert, Fred Harris and Training coordinators: Lisa Sweeney and Melissa Herazo, met on Friday morning, June 2, for their seasonal post-professional development meeting to take a look at the overall feedback on the classes from our clients and associates and how we can improve as a team and the program. They were able to enjoy IHOP breakfast and received thank you gifts for their hard work this season! Great job to the professional development team for a fantastic season!

Professional Development Courses

Submitted by: Melissa Herazo

Upcoming Professional Development Courses

All associates please register with Von Rowan (sarah.rowan@boland.com) if you are interested in taking any of the training courses.

NEW VRF Classes Added:

• July 25-27: linked here
• August 22-24: linked here
• September 26-28: linked here
• October 17-19: linked here
• November 15-17: linked here
• December 12-14: linked here

Boland Cares in the Community

Submitted by: Karen Walker

Serving our community goes on all year long and the Boland Cares team encourages all associates to spread the word about our events and get involved!

Last Friday, Boland Cares sponsored a foursome for the Habitat for Humanity Charity Golf Tournament at Whiskey Creek Golf Club in Ijamsville, MD. It's an added bonus when we can include clients in our endeavors. We were fortunate to have Brandt Petrie, Wayne Petrie and clients from Montgomery County Public Schools there to volunteer their time for this worthy cause!

Manuel Moreno sure knows how to serve his clients while serving the community. He recently approached Boland Cares about supporting a sock drive at the Virgina Hospital Center and we received the following note back from Rami Natour thanking Boland for our support.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/vhchealth_the-annual-vhc-health-sock-hop-sock-collection-activity-7068199447842750464-th7c?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

We are also proud to be a founding sponsor of Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School, “the school that works”! Check out the story below that was recently on NBC Washington, Channel 4! 

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/maryland-high-school-places-emphasis-on-work-study-program/3359449/

Please keep an eye out in the Boland Daily News for upcoming events and remember we can also customized events for you to do with your clients. Please contact karen.walker@boland.com to get involved!

Fall Safety

Submitted by: Safety Committee

In a recent Safety Committee meeting, Fall protection was emphasized as part of OSHA's National Emphasis Program. For this reason, we wanted to share some information on what OSHA will be evaluating.

Fall Protection Area:

A. Keep all worker areas, aisles, and passageway, including stairs, doorways, electrical panels and exits, free and clear of obstructions, and maintain them in a clean, order, and sanitary fashion.

B. Maintain floors and stairs in a clean and dry condition as best as possible. If a spill occurs, clean it up immediately or warn others and report it so that it can be cleaned up.

C. All trip hazards must be eliminated. Common hazards include damaged carpeting, cords in walk areas and protecting floor electrical outlet boxes.

D.Step stools, if equipped with wheels, should have an automatic locking base or wheel locks.

E. Ladders.

1. Ladders will be selected for the work intended.

2. Make sure the ladder is the proper height for the job. Extension ladders will be at least 3 feet taller than the point of support and stepladders will be selected so that the worker is never required to use the top two steps.

3. Inspect ladders before use. Defective ladders will not be used. Some signs of defects include: broken rungs, split side rails, worn or broken safety feet. Broken hinges and spreaders.

4.     When using a straight ladder, place feet on a firm surface and secure it at the top so that it cannot slide sideways.

5.     There should only be one person on a ladder at a time.

6.     Do not use metal ladders if there is a possibility of contact with electrical conductors.

7.     Do not use stepladders as a brace or support for a work platform or plank.

F.    Stairs, ramps and walkways will be clear and in good condition. Always use the handrail when descending or ascending stairs.

G.   Employees will be cautioned to watch for holes, concrete dividers, curbs, discarded items, paper and other tripping hazards.

H.   Open-sided floors or platforms that are four or more feet above the ground level will be provided with a proper standard railing. When there is equipment that could fall from these elevations, a toe board is required.

Ricks Quick Fit Tip

Submitted By: Rick Bradley

What's so good about FRUIT anyway?? 

I always say eat more of it and this time of the year is the perfect time to eat as much of it as you can! Often folks say to me that they just don't really like to eat fruit and they also ask me " what's so good about it and what does it do to help my health?" So.......here is the scoop! This is why I say eat more of it!

Cherries...............help calm you nervous system

Grapes.................relax your blood vessels

Peaches...............rich in potassium, fluoride and iron

Apples..................help your body develop resistance against infections

Watermelon..........helps control your heart rate

Oranges...............help maintain great skin and vision

Strawberries.........potentially fight against cancer and aging

Bananas...............full of potassium and gives you energy

Pineapples...........fight against arthritis 

Blueberries..........Protect your heart

Kiwis....................increases bone mass

Mangos...............protect against several kinds of cancer

There you have it........the whole fruit basket.......go for it!    questions.......ricksquickfit@aol.com

Associate Professional Development

All our classes will be scheduled to be held in person until further notice. If you have any questions, please email marketing@boland.com.

Full Schedule: linked here

Boland Professional Development Catalog: Click Here

We encourage associates to attend training to deepen knowledge, develop and strengthen their skills. This catalog offers a robust variety of Boland's professional development options. Please contact 

HR@boland.com for any questions.

Our goal is the provide educational and training opportunities which will help our associates along on their successful career path. These sessions are open to all associates.

Please click here to view all courses

Boland also offers online courses (role and industry-based) which are available via Trane Education Center. Please see your manager to review courses, and once approved, contact hr@boland.com for registration.

Trane Education Center (TEC)

Safety Training (TPC)

Associate in the Spotlight

Submitted by: Noel Wright-Foster

Jeremy John

What is your favorite thing about working for Boland?

Boland has a very friendly environment. It also provides great training and mentorship. Which makes it easier to perform my job duties.

How have you grown your career? (What was your first job, what training have you had, what have you learned along the way etc)

Less than a year ago, all I knew about HVAC was setting my thermostat to the desired temperature. Now, I understand much more. I can identify HVAC equipment and explain how it works. I am also able to diagnose problems and create contingency plans for our customers.

What is your hometown?

Hyattsville, MD

Is there something interesting your associates may not know about you?

 I like to watch shows and documentaries about history and architecture.

Do you have a story to share about a famous person?

During the 2018 Washington Capitals Stanley Cup season, several Caps were my neighbor. We would see each other frequently in the club room and the apartment lobby. The night the Caps beat the Penguins in the 2^nd Round and the Lightning in the Eastern Conference Championship, we sat down in the apartment lobby and celebrated. I was able to ask questions about hockey and their experiences in the NHL.

Is there something interesting about your family or history?

Both of my parents moved from Grenada to the United States as teenagers. They were able to get an education, obtain a profession, and have a family.

Do you have a favorite movie, TV show, book, magazine?

Movie: The Fugitive

TV Show: 24 and The Wire

Book: The Black History of the White House

Magazine: Sports Illustrated

What was your favorite class when you were in school? Why?

My favorite class was African American Studies. I grew up in a household that taught me about my culture. However, the class provided in-depth information that created a better perspective about my culture.

Do you enjoy music? What is your favorite artist / band? Have you ever seen them in concert?

My favorite artists are Kanye West and The Weeknd

Do you have any pets?

No, I do not have any pets.

Are you celebrating any personal milestones?

June 6^th, 2023 will mark 1 Year here at Boland.

What is your favorite restaurant and food?

My favorite restaurant is The District Chophouse. My favorite food is Vietnamese food.

What is your favorite sports team and who is your favorite athlete?

My favorite team is the Dallas Cowboys. My all-time favorite athlete is Michael Jordan.

What do you do in your spare time - do you have any hobbies?

Podcasting is a hobby of mine.

Do you have a favorite quote?

“Learning’s a gift, even when pain is your teacher.” -Michael Jordan

Who or what has inspired you? Have you received words of wisdom or advice you’d like to share?

My wife and son inspire me to be a better husband and father every day.