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John Baethke, president of John Baethke & Son Plumbing in Chicago, loves technology but doesn’t see automating his inventory management system on his fleet of service trucks anytime soon.

Sillcock replacement, easy faucet installation, sink clips for November 2013's Tool Tips.

One of the best advertising tools for Daniel Cordova Plumbing stands 40 ft. in the air adjacent to the Interstate 10 freeway outside the company’s Baldwin Park, Calif., headquarters. The two-year-old company sank a mid-five-figure capital investment into a two-sided freeway sign, much like the ones seen at truck stops. The investment has paid major dividends.

Business owners in the plumbing and mechanical trades are having difficulties finding the skilled, professional workers they need. Yet this is nothing new for the construction industry. It was a problem before the Great Recession and is escalating as Baby Boomers in the industry retire and no one is waiting in the wings to pick up the pipewrench.

 Plumbing & Mechanical interviewed Steve Richman, president of Milwaukee Tool Corp., June 13 during the company’s 2013 New Product Symposium in Milwaukee.  

Best-in-class service keeps this New England wholesaler top-of-mind for its contractor customers.

Brian Beltzfirst saw a bubble service van at a Nexstar Super Meeting in 2004. “They were wrapping it right there on the floor,” he says. “At first I wasn’t sure about it. It looked like a big, pregnant van.” 

Tool tips for October 2013 include pipe storafe, cartridge ring removal and functions of your iPhone.

When you reside in the extremely popular ski resort town of Jackson Hole, Wyo., either full time or just for a weekend getaway, easy access to the ski slopes is critical. Same goes for the shops, the dining and the entertainment venues that the popular vacation spot has to offer. 

Earlier this month, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act went into effect, requiring nearly all Americans to have minimum health-insurance coverage. Employers were required to give all their employees a notice of coverage options by Oct. 1, which also is the date when the individual and small-business health insurance exchanges opened for enrollment.