Presenters

Paul has 35+ years’ experience and an extensive background in the HVAC and plumbing industries and has held prominent positions in accounting and finance, sales and marketing and operations, including V.P. of Sales and Marketing and V.P. of Operations for national and regional home service companies. He has visited over 100 companies over his career, helping them grow their business and profitability.

In 2004, he bought Parker and Sons, an HVAC and plumbing company, doing business in Phoenix, AZ. The business has grown from a company with about 25 trucks and $7 million in revenue a year to over 450 trucks and a run rate this year of $210 million. Parker & Sons is now part of larger industry leading group of home services companies, called the Wrench Group. Paul serves as it’s Southwestern CEO, along with still overseeing certain depts within Parker & Sons.

Paul’s unique background and simplified approach to growing a business, has led him to be one of the most successful leaders and companies in the home services industry. His specialty is taking something complicated and reducing it down to something very simple… making it easier to implement.

He enjoys sharing his success with others, as others have done with him throughout his career.

James is a successful entrepreneur and master mechanic whose accomplishments include being the founder of MrHVAC.com, the CEO and founder of Aptora, the President of RA Tax and Accounting and a partner with ProAmerican Investments.

James’ company MrHVAC.com is a website dedicated to improving the lives of contractors. It includes industry articles, specialized HVAC calculators, forms, templates and one of the most extensive operations manuals in the country. As the founder of Aptora corporation, he has created some of the most popular software programs in the service industry including Flat Rate Plus and Total Office Manager.

James is well known for his burning passion to help contractors and it shows in his unique speaking style. He has hosted management workshops all around the United States and has conducted onsite consulting since 1996 with hundreds of contractors.

Mark Matteson is an international speaker and best-selling author of 15 books. He has been called “The Oracle of Optimism”, “A Superlative Street Scholar”, “An Intense Idea-Reporter”. Mark travels 250 days a year around the globe delivering 75 “Edu-Training” Keynotes, Seminars, Panel Discussions and Workshops a year. Mark is a gifted storyteller, using self-effacing humor, high levels of interaction and powerful and proven business principles to inspire audiences to the highest levels of productivity and profit. Mark leaves audiences wanting more…he began his career in HVAC in 1976.

Eric started with EGIA as a Regional Director in Sept 2019. In his current position Eric manages the Contractor Services team that includes dealer and distributer training, dealer onboarding and customer service. Eric came to EGIA with over 25 years of Banking, business development and finance experience mostly at American General Finance/One Main where he held various positions of management.

Eric holds B.A. degrees in Economics and Political Science from The University of Maryland- Baltimore County, as well as a Masters of Business Leadership from William Penn University.

Erin Fuchs has held various leadership positions throughout her eight years at FTL Finance. In her current role as Vice President of Operations, Erin is responsible for providing department leaders with strategic guidance on designing new business processes to optimize the performance of their departments. Erin is an avid runner with multiple marathons and half marathons under her belt, and she enjoys spending time outdoors with her husband and 3 children.

Kelsi Cooper has been a vital part of the sales team at FTL Finance since 2016. In her current role as Inside Sales Manager, Kelsi manages the entire sales administration process, coaches and develops reps toward success, and establishes strategies to acquire and maintain relationships with FTL’s contractor audience. Her team is also responsible for training contractors on how to leverage financing as a strategic sales tool. In addition to her sales expertise, Kelsi is a classically trained opera singer and a true crime aficionado.

Scott Deming is a highly accomplished senior executive with more than 30 years of success within a wide variety of industries. He leverages extensive brand development and strategic planning experience to improve an organization’s standing while implementing innovative solutions to support growth. Scott has proven his ability to build and motivate teams while developing unparalleled customer experience, innovation and leadership initiatives with his internationally acclaimed keynote presentations, training sessions and consulting arrangements.

Scott’s current clients include Disney, Apple, Toyota, New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc., McDonald’s of Russia, Hershey Foods, Pfizer, Delta Airlines, Verizon Wireless, General Motors, Farm Credit Bank, AT&T, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Daikin Heating & Cooling.

Scott works closely with clients to identify core requirements and develops solutions with an emphasis on culture transformation, employee motivation and engagement, and corporate goal attainment, drawing on 30+ years of corporate experience. Key indicators of his success are represented by his training and workshop sessions that have been considered so impactful, that The Vision Council issued CXO Certification to all attendees.; his consultancy input to a national manufacturer recognized in supporting the company’s achievement of record sales figures; and assisting a Verizon Wireless subsidiary franchisee with customer service improvements which resulted in an 80% increase in sales.

Russ Horrocks emerged as one of the most successful Comfort Advisors in America in the mid-90’s. Russ quickly took to sharing his unique knowledge of buyer psychology with sales forces across the country. He turned his profession into a passion, educating and coaching in-home sales and service advisors to understand the critical skills necessary to achieve results far exceeding personal mindset limitations and corporate expectations.

Most trainers preach about product and process. Russ teaches and coaches his sales and service protégés not only about what to do in the home and how to do to it, but more importantly, why. Why leads to a purpose allowing the people his students serve to build a strong connection based on a position of trust, confidence, competence and credibility. When matched with the creative execution of a process built to work with human nature and how people want to buy, it yields explosive growth.

Having mastered the sales process, in 2011 Russ joined with business development specialist, Drew Cameron, as Vice President of Flow Odyssey to help clients enhance the performance of their entire business, and transcend growing one person or department at a time. Together they work in the trenches with their clients in every facet of building successful home services businesses.

Clients embrace Russ’ detailed holistic approach to assessing a company’s people, present state and potential. Drawing a blueprint for success, he collaborates with clients onsite, online, and on-the-phone to achieve operational excellence with a hands-on strategic approach to growing people and implementing profit-based processes and systems. Clients benefit from Russ’ 20 years of knowledge and national experience, along with his relentless pursuit of building happy, effective, top-performing professionals and developing a culture of success and achievement.

Weldon Long is a successful entrepreneur, sales expert and author of the NY Times bestseller, The Power of Consistency – Prosperity Mindset Training for Sales and Business Professionals (Wiley). In 2003, he walked out of a homeless shelter and built an Inc. 5000 company generating cumulative sales of over $20,000,000 within just 60 months. In 2009, his company was selected as one of Inc. Magazine’s Fastest Growing Private Companies in America.

Today, Weldon Long is one of the nation’s most powerful speakers and a driven motivator who teaches others the Sales and Prosperity Mindset philosophies that catapulted him from desperation and poverty to a life of wealth and prosperity. Weldon has been featured on numerous national and regional television programs, including Fox News Channel, First Business Network and Chicago’s Very Own WGN.

Mr. Long has successfully used his signature program, The Power of Consistency, to help hundreds of companies and thousands of sales professionals radically improve their sales results. Weldon holds a bachelor’s degree and an MBA in Management. He is honored to have served some of America’s finest companies, including FedEx, The Franklin Covey Organization, Tom Hopkins International, Dex Media, Wells Fargo Bank, Pre-Paid Legal Services, Direct Energy/Clockwork Services, Mitsubishi Electric, Rheem, Goodman Manufacturing and the Carrier/Bryant Corporation.

Zenon has over 25 years of leadership experience building or transforming interesting, fun, and important businesses. His passion is consumer focused financial services employing software and technology as a catalyst for change and growth. Zenon enjoyed a uniquely successful 15+ year career in Europe where his notable achievements and value creation resulted in business person of the year nominations in 2 countries. This experience includes President/CEO roles at 4 financial institutions and leadership roles at various Private Equity backed companies. Upon his return to the US in 2010, he built and sold MoreHouse Finance Company, transformed and sold PCC Technology Group and now is CEO of Microf LLC, a Lease-to-Own and financing platform for HVAC and Home Improvements. Zenon lives in Atlanta with his wife and2 children and is an alum of CCSU, The Ohio State University and Templeton College, Oxford University.

Gary Elekes is a serial entrepreneur with a passion for helping others become more successful by sharing what he has learned over the past 3 decades working closely with all facets of the contracting industry. During his career, Gary has held senior management positions at Lennox and Service Experts. In 2000, Gary moved into entrepreneurship and started his training and consulting business EPC. Today, EPC continues to support growth oriented businesses aspiring to reach 20% EBIT. He also designed the very first web-based learning platform for the residential contracting industry, which acts as a support system for training and learning in HVAC and plumbing trades, and has over 5,000 subscribers.

In 2003, Gary began acquiring contracting firms with a focus on developing turn-around opportunities. He also opened and operated several start-up businesses. In 2010, he added web design/SEO and online marketing to his company portfolio starting iMarket Solutions as a co-founder. Gary graduated from Ohio State University with a BSBA and also holds a Master’s Degree in Business and Finance.

Steven Shallenberger understands the contractor world. He founded Synergy Companies in 1981, a successful energy services contractor, with offices throughout the State of California and is on the National Association of Energy Service Companies Board of Directors.

Steve has more than 40 years of experience as a successful business owner, trusted senior executive, professional corporate trainer, and best-selling author. He is the founder and president of Becoming Your Best Global Leadership. Steve and his team provide award winning training and keynotes helping teams and leaders tackle some of their greatest leadership challenges around the world.

As a young entrepreneur, Steve successfully built numerous organizations from the ground up. During those years, he continued his education at the Harvard Business School. Steve was also a trusted advisor for Stephen R. Covey. Steve was a key leader in Covey’s organization who helped build the world-renowned Covey Leadership Center. He led a stalwart team and was responsible for the development and distribution of the original Covey planner.

Drew Cameron is America’s Most Sought-After Sales & Marketing Strategy and Success Advisor to Home Services Contractors and president of both FLOW Odyssey (formerly HVAC Sellutions) and Energy Design Systems, LLC: the premier industry alliance providing leading-edge technology along with complementary marketing and sales consultative support, recruiting, training, and coaching for performance and profit enhancement of Home Services Contactors. Drew is a renowned author, speaker, educator, coach, consultant, software developer, philanthropist, and an International Consultant Award Winner. Drew is also a president of the Cameron Family Memorial Foundation; a Board member, a Foundation Board Trustee, a Contractor University Founder & Faculty member, Resident Expert of Contractor Connect for Electric & Gas Industries Association (EGIA); a member of Black Belt Contracting (BBC).

As Vice President of Contractor Services, Matthew is responsible for all lending and finance operations within the EGIA Finance Clearinghouse. He works directly with lending partners and affiliates developing and creating the most up-to-date finance offerings for EGIA’s vast contractor base. In addition, Matthew leads EGIA’s business development strategy, as well as the design and implementation of finance training content.

Matthew has been an integral part of the home improvement finance industry for over 20 years, with stops at American General Finance, GreenSky and Renovate America. Matthew attended Virginia Commonwealth University, graduating with a degree in Psychology.

Mr. Davis joined GreenSky in 2012 and leads the Company’s Home Improvement and Specialty Retail business units. Mr. Davis is directly responsible for Home Improvement sales management, planning, and training, product planning, and initiating and maintaining key strategic sponsor relationships He brings over ten years of sales leadership experience to the Company and has directly sold, managed corporate partnerships, and led teams delivering over $20 Billion in aggregate loan volume. Prior to joining GreenSky, he managed merchant portfolios in the home improvement business at Lyon Financial and EnerBank USA resulting in hundreds of millions of transacted loan growth. Mr. Davis has spent his entire career developing sales strategies for merchants to generate growth from enhanced payment options at the point of sale.

Talbot moved to Columbus, OH to join HARDI in 2006 after serving as Executive Director for wholesale distributor trade associations in the security hardware, horticultural supplies, and general aviation industries for five years as part of an association management company based in Philadelphia, PA. In his role as HARDI’s CEO, Talbot oversees the association’s new and ongoing efforts to increase distributor members’ competitive advantage, and that of their committed supplier partners and customers, in their respective markets through proprietary education and professional development, benchmarking and market data analyses, government affairs and advocacy, and the exchange of proven best practices.

Talbot regularly writes for industry and distribution publications and he also represents HARDI’s membership in front of a wide array of audiences speaking on the value of wholesale distribution, government affairs trends and updates, specific issue briefs, and emerging HVACR opportunities.

After graduating from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD with a B.A. in political science in 1997, Talbot worked for a telecommunications trade association based in Washington, DC, and during his tenure there he was married to his wife, Peggy with whom he’s raising three daughters. Talbot’s hobbies include spoiling his girls, very amateur furniture building, even more amateur golfing, and the enjoyment of an occasional cigar.