Q: How did you get interested in HVAC service and the trades? 

Garret: I worked in the medical field for six years in the emergency room as an ER technician. After that, I tried durable medical equipment sales, and that didn’t work out. My brain doesn’t really work in a “just say yes and do it exactly this way” kind of environment. 

A friend of mine got into residential HVAC after talking with somebody in a barber shop. He reached out and told me I should apply to this little HVAC company. I figured, why not? 

I started in new construction, putting systems into residential homes. Then I moved into retrofit work, replacing systems in existing homes. Once I started learning more about the trade, I realized I wanted to get into service. 

I like solving problems, fixing things, and the mental challenge service provides through exploring so many different systems and potential solutions.

Q: Did you grow up around the trades? 

Garret: Nobody in my family was in the trades, but I was always in the garage taking things apart and building weird stuff. My parents were pretty much like, “Put the tools back when you’re done, and don’t burn the house down.” 

I also loved science growing up. You only needed two science credits to graduate high school, and I graduated with six. I liked figuring out how things worked. The trades gave that interest somewhere to go. 

Q: What does your work with Portland Public Schools look like? What kind of equipment do you see? 

Garret: I’m dedicated to Portland Public Schools 40 hours a week. I’m a MacDonald-Miller employee, but PPS dispatches me wherever they need me. 

The district has close to 100 schools and more than 10 million square feet to cover. With budget cuts, the mechanical team got smaller, so it is a small group trying to cover a lot of ground and I like that I’m a key part of the team.

At PPS, I work on a lot of steam. There are old pneumatic controls, pneumatic thermostats, electro-pneumatic controls, DDC controllers, condensate return systems, boiler equipment. All kinds of older systems. 

That is part of why it’s such interesting work. Steam has been around forever. You can look at some of this equipment and see how people solved problems a long time ago. Working in these schools can feel like jumping back in time. 

Q: You recently competed in the UA International Apprentice Competition, what was it like? What were the skills and activities you were tested on?

Garret: Every year, the United Association holds a competition for different trades, plumbers, fitters, welders, and others. It starts at the state level, then regional and district levels before qualifying for the international competition.

The Washington state competition had a big pipe-fitting project, a solder-brazing project, troubleshooting on small residential gas furnaces, boiler parts identification, and refrigeration parts identification. 

There was also an electrical project with several parts. We had to troubleshoot a pre-built electrical setup, wire run-start capacitors and a relay for a compressor, and wire up a Y-Delta start from a diagram. 

Myself and one other classmate were the only two who finished that last part. That was interesting, especially because I was competing against people further along in the apprenticeship. I was just grateful to be there. 

Q: What was your mindset going in? How did it feel to advance to regionals?

Garret: I was just curious to see where I was at. That was the whole reason I wanted to go. I wanted to know what I knew, what I didn’t know, and where I needed to improve.

I was not going in thinking I was going to dominate anything. I just wanted to test myself and do my best, and apparently that was enough to get me to regionals.

Q: What stood out about regionals? 

Garret: Regionals was tough. The California training center was eye-opening. They have a really well-funded training center with a lot of equipment. 

For refrigeration, they had low-temp and medium-temp trainers that roll around. Each one has a lot of parts and gives apprentices a chance to work through electrical and refrigeration scenarios. I do not get much exposure to that kind of refrigeration work at PPS, so seeing that was cool. 

Q: What did you take away from the regional contest? 

Garret: You walk away knowing what you need to work on. 

The guy from California won, and that was his training center, so there was some home-field advantage. But the bigger thing for me was seeing the level other people were training at and talking with apprentices from all over the region. 

There were people from Alaska, Nevada, New Mexico — all over. The guy from Alaska had some crazy stories. He gets flown out in bush planes to remote places and has to figure things out. 

Hearing how other people work was one of the best parts. 

Q: What keeps you interested in HVAC long-term? 

Garret: The trade is massive. You need to know electrical, plumbing, refrigeration, steam, controls, science — all of it. Equipment changes. Regulations change. There is always something else to learn. 

That is one of the reasons I got into HVAC. I knew it would keep me occupied for a long time. 

I want to keep learning, keep getting better, and keep a good attitude about it. I do not want to be the person who acts like they know everything, because I don’t. The second you decide you do not need help from anyone, you are throwing knowledge away. There is always somebody who can teach you something. 

What I enjoy most is the tinkering. It is professional work, but it is still tinkering in the best way. You are figuring things out, trying to understand what is happening, and making the system work. 

I love this trade. I can see myself doing it for the rest of my life. Honestly, it is going to be hard to retire someday.