OHCC, NYOHA and NORA Celebrate Opening of Research and Training Center

Written on: April 15, 2016 by ICM

The heating oil industry now has a place to call home in New York.

The New York Oil Heating Association, the Oil Heat Comfort Corp. and the National Oilheat Research Alliance held a grand opening Wednesday for their new shared facility in Plainview, NY.

For the two New York associations, it is known as the NYOHA/OHCC Technical Training Institute. For NORA it is the NORA Liquid Fuels Research and Development Laboratory.

Energy researcher Dr. Thomas A. Butcher keeps an office at the facility, where he will oversee NORA’s research and development projects while also conducting research on heating equipment and liquid fuels.

One door over from Butcher sits John Levey, who serves as director of education for each of the associations that share the facility. He is developing and directing a variety of education programs, including oilheat technician training under the aegis of NORA and a variety of training programs for the New York associations, including air conditioning education for technicians and customer service training for office personnel.

The facility also houses a classroom, a heating equipment laboratory, a fuels laboratory and a boardroom.

NORA President John Huber said, “It is really exciting to have a bricks-and-mortar presence of our own that we can all use together. This gives us a great opportunity to connect with people working in the industry and help them serve heating oil customers more effectively.”

Butcher also expressed great enthusiasm about the opportunities that the new facility creates. “I think this is hugely important. Many groups can now come to this place and share their education and research,” he said. “We will really help each other.”

NYOHA CEO Rocco Lacertosa said the new facility gives the industry great credibility with young technicians. “It a professional environment that reflects very well on our industry. Training is very important for technicians and companies, and now we have a great place to get together and learn.”

OHCC CEO Kevin Rooney also sees tremendous benefits for heating oil companies and employees. “For the first time we have a research and development facility that is linked to a training facility. Technicians who come here not only will be able to work with the latest heating equipment in the field, they’ll also have the benefit of working with the pre-eminent technical expert in out field in Dr. Thomas Butcher.”

 
Source: New York Oil Heating Association, Inc. (http://nyoha.org/blog/ohcc-nyoha-and-nora-celebrate-opening-research-and-training-center/)