Written on: April 8, 2025 by ICM
The Pennsylvania Petroleum Association (PPA) announced a series a series of changes to its Technical Education Center (PPATEC) staff. The PPA is a not-for-profit trade association representing 450+ energy stakeholders, and offers leading hands-on technical training solutions for the HVAC and energy industry through the PPATEC.
MERCURIO
Alan Mercurio, who has been an instrumental part of the development and growth of PPATEC, retired from his full-time role as Lead Technical Instructor on Dec. 31, 2024. Mercurio worked with the PPA as a consultant for years prior to officially accepting a full-time role to serve as the PPATEC Lead Technical Instructor in 2021. During his tenure as a PPATEC instructor, he has directly responsible for delivering oil heat training curriculum and NORA certification to over 1,000 technicians. Mercurio’s collective background includes over 35 years of industry experience in various roles including service technician, equipment sales, and service manager.
“Alan’s positive impact to PPATEC is tough to fully quantify,” said Ted Harris, PPA’s Executive VP.
“Our trade school would not be at the point it is at today if Alan was not a part of our team. The PPA represents hundreds of full-service heating oil distributors who service the needs for hundreds of thousands of consumers who use heating oil to heat their home. Serving the industry’s need to train the next generation of oil heat technicians is a crucial part of the PPA’s mission and Alan has been in the forefront of ensuring we provide that service with the highest level of professionalism.”
Although Mercurio is retiring, he will continue to work with the PPA and PPATEC as a consultant in the future.
ZERBE
PPA has hired Doug Zerbe as the association’s newest team member to serve in the role of PPATEC Technical Instructor. In his new position, Zerbe will be responsible for continuing to expand PPATEC instructional capacity. This will specifically include instructional activities that will cover air conditioning, electrical, heat pumps, plumbing, gas heating, oil heating and HVAC installation. Zerbe will also work closely with Mike Elmer (PPATEC Technical Instructor) to add synergies to our current training offerings and expand into equipment installation curriculum.
Zerbe brings over 20 years of field experience. On the contractor side of the industry, he has worked as an installer and service technician before he moved into installation and service management. He also had the opportunity to work in technical support for an HVAC distributor and in sales for an HVAC manufacturer.
“We’re excited to welcome Doug to the PPA,” added Harris.
“Doug’s diverse industry experience and knowledge of equipment installation is a huge asset for PPATEC as we continue to expand our trade school operation. Having Doug as a full-time member of our team will also create more consistency as our core curriculum continues to develop beyond our traditional oil heat training offerings.”
