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Carl Johnson (left), Part-Owner and Field Service Supervisor of Progressive Heating & Air Inc., and Adrian Alvarez, Founder and President of Progressive, stand proudly before Progressive’s company trucks parked at the company’s office in San Diego.

The Progressive Heating & Air Inc. team installed a 10-ton heat pump unit on the roof of an EōS Fitness gym in Oceanside, CA. Progressive was awarded the HVAC contract for the nearly 46,000-square-foot gym in 2019, which required a variety of complex, detailed HVAC work.

On the side of every Progressive Heating & Air Inc. (Progressive) truck is a large caricature of Founder and President of Progressive, Adrian Alvarez. Adrian is pictured flying through clouds dressed as a superhero wearing an AC-repair toolbelt.

Part Owner of Progressive and Field Service Supervisor Carl Johnson, says, “The logo is funny, but it reveals how Adrian’s sense of humor and heart intermingle. He doesn’t take himself too seriously, but he takes pride in his work and has a pure desire to help the community.” Laughing, Carl adds, “The image of his big, beautiful face on the side of our trucks looking out at the world really does signify that our team is here to serve.”

Adrian’s Path to HVAC

Adrian was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in 1983 but was raised primarily in Puerto Rico. After his father completed his service as a mechanic in the U.S. Air Force in 1990, Adrian and his parents moved to his mother’s hometown in Puerto Rico. This fateful move reunited Adrian with his uncle, Luis Lopez de Jesus, a trusted local business owner and pastor.

Luis was born and raised in Puerto Rico but spent time in California working as a maintenance HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) mechanic for a large pharmaceutical company before returning to his birthplace to work for Trane, a world leader in AC systems, services and solutions. Four years later, Luis founded his own company, Lopez Air Conditioning, which was later renamed East Coast Mechanical Contractors, Inc.

At age 17, Adrian began work at Luis’s company as a ductwork installer’s assistant. He learned quickly on the job, and after just two years, he was promoted to ductwork supervisor, at which point he oversaw employees more than 10 years older than him and managed HVAC installations for high-profile projects such as KB Toys and Payless Shoe Source retail stores and the first Walmart Supercenter built in Puerto Rico. “Adrian is a special nephew,” Luis says. “He was responsible, liked by all of his coworkers and a fast learner, which was very important.”

At age 20, Adrian moved to San Diego, California, with his wife, Migdalia, and oldest daughter, Katie, where he applied his skills working as an HVAC installer for various contractors for four years. “When I told people in California where I grew up, most didn’t know Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory or believe that I worked as a supervisor at such a young age,” Adrian says. “But, when they saw my skills, they kept me around.”

In 2007, Adrian transitioned to selling Totaline-branded products on behalf of HVAC and refrigeration company Carrier. His installation experiences combined with the connections he made with contractors while selling equipment revealed a significant shortcoming in the local HVAC industry: a lack of trained experts. “So few contractors knew about the intricacies of HVAC installations,” Adrian says. “I began providing training for contractors while at Carrier and thought about starting my own HVAC installation and repair company. One day in 2009, I shared this idea with my boss, and three weeks later, I was laid off.” Ultimately, it was this setback that prompted Adrian to create a better life for himself and his family by converting his vision into a reality. Three months following his employment-status change, he founded Progressive.

Always Progressing

Adrian says that he thought of Progressive’s name about a year before its founding. “My goal in life has always been to move forward. I’m always progressing,” he says.

Adrian’s unrelenting drive to progress proved especially useful during Progressive’s initial years of business. He admits that 2009, during one of the most noteworthy economic downturns in American history, was the worst year to start a business. “But,” he says, “I made it work.”

When Adrian founded Progressive, his trusted friend Carl, a self-employed HVAC contractor, purchased 10 percent ownership of the company and served an advisory role. However, at the beginning of Progressive’s life, Adrian worked alone installing and repairing HVAC systems for residential and commercial customers in San Diego. At this time, he owned just one truck and managed the company’s operations from his home office and garage. “My main focus was creating brand recognition, so I learned how to market and advertise. First, I invested in Google Ads and other online marketing tools, and later, I developed a strong social media presence.”

Adrian’s strategic marketing and persistence prevailed. He now owns a brick-and-mortar office in San Diego and employs more than 10 people, including his wife and Carl. In 2019, Migdalia assumed the role of Office Manager, and Carl closed his business permanently and began working for Progressive as a Field Service Supervisor full time. “Joining Adrian relieved me of so much stress that came with running my own business,” Carl says. “What’s more, Adrian is a good businessman, so supporting him by sharing my own talents made sense. We’ve collaborated ever since.”

Adrian notes that as a 20-year HVAC industry veteran, Carl has proven vital to Progressive’s continued growth. Today, Adrian, Carl and the other Progressive technicians, two of who are North American Technician Excellence (NATE)-certified, travel across San Diego installing and repairing HVAC units for residential and commercial customers, any time of the day or night, as part of the company’s 24/7 emergency AC service offering. Progressive specializes in Bryant heating and cooling systems but provides premium service for all makes and models, including the complex Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) systems.

Adrian is proud that most of Progressive’s business is repeat or referral based. “Once contractors hire us for one job, they always want to use us again,” he says. “We’re honest, we deliver on our promises, and we offer outstanding services.”

From Carl’s perspective, Progressive’s continued success is attributable largely to its exceptional team members. Carl says, “From the top down, we employ good-hearted people who want to help others, and that sets us apart. Adrian, especially, is a good guy.”

Quality, Cost-Effective Solutions

Carl says that customers often tell him about their poor experiences with other HVAC technicians who were rude or rushed jobs. By contrast, “doing the right thing” is a sentiment repeatedly emphasized on Progressive’s website and providing exceptional customer service is central to its business model. Progressive offers customers a free written estimate before starting work, a 100 percent satisfaction guarantee on every job and a one-year warranty on repairs. The company also touts its passion for helping customers obtain the best value for their money and frequently recommends cost-saving solutions.

For example, in 2018, a contractor called Progressive to correct an AC-unit and ductwork installation project that was poorly executed and left incomplete by another HVAC contractor. The contractor was under a tight deadline and would have been charged a fee for each day that the project remained unfinished following the fast-approaching, agreed-upon completion date. “We saved the day,” Adrian asserts. “We not only promptly and successfully completed all installations, but also, we saved the contractor money. Now, he hires Progressive exclusively for all of his HVAC work.”

In another instance, Progressive saved a contractor $60,000 on HVAC installation and equipment costs as part of an 18-home construction project in San Diego. “Our team reviewed the homes’ designs and recognized that thousands of dollars could be saved by installing ductless mini splits rather than central AC units and heaters,” Adrian says. “We’re always looking for quality, cost-effective solutions that put more money in our customers’ pockets.”

“My goal in life has always been to move forward. I’m always progressing.” Adrian Alvarez, Founder and President, Progressive Heating & Air Inc.

An Emphasis on Training

Delivering valuable and economical solutions on every project is possible because of Adrian’s intense focus on training and continuing education for himself and his employees.

Adrian explains that, growing up, his uncle emphasized the importance of training and taught him that knowledge is powerful because it opens doors, is transferable and stays with one forever. “I am a good teacher and taught Adrian everything I know,” Luis says. “I’m grateful that I learned from the best at Trane, so I prioritize teaching my own employees the skills necessary to be great technicians.”

Modeling his uncle’s example, Adrian continues to hone his own craft and constantly adapts to the everchanging industry trends, technologies and regulations.

The Turning Point

Despite Adrian’s life-long emphasis on training, initially, he underestimated the extent to which training would prove crucial to cultivating talent and shaping the trajectory of Progressive’s future.

Adrian says that when he first expanded his team, he hired technicians with varying work experiences and allowed them to start working immediately. However, he realized that some had developed bad craftsmanship habits at their previous jobs and therefore decided to invest time and money into thoroughly training all Progressive employees to ensure the quality of his team’s work. “I often thought of the old adage, ‘What if we train them and they leave? What if we don’t and they stay?’” Adrian says. “I realized that without training my team properly, I would never succeed.”

Adrian began hosting safety-procedure trainings for his team at least once every month and weekly trainings focused on relevant technical installation, service and repair topics. On an as-needed basis, he requests trainings directly from HVAC manufacturers regarding proper service, repair and installation procedures and pays for his technicians to become certified to install HVAC manufacturers’ specialty equipment.

According to Adrian, his reprioritization of training completely transformed Progressive. “The scope and quantity of the projects that we were awarded grew and our customers and even other HVAC contractors started relying on Progressive as a trusted adviser.”

In 2019, Progressive was awarded the HVAC contract for an EōS Fitness gym in Oceanside, California. The nearly 46,000-square-foot gym required a variety of complex, detailed HVAC work, including the installation of a dehumidifier unit adjacent to the full-sized indoor pool, specialized aluminum ductwork with humidity controls, the installation of 16-foot-long ceiling fans in the facility’s open gym and the installation of power-exhaust ventilation systems for a sauna and pool heaters. The project also entailed the installation of an AAON heating and cooling system, which was a system unfamiliar to the Progressive team. As a result, Adrian paid for two employees to travel to Texas and participate in a specialized training to learn how to properly install and activate AAON units. “If we don’t know how to do something, we learn how,” Adrian says. “I remind my team that everything is hard until it becomes easy.”

Additionally, Adrian looks for chances to cultivate talent and create employment opportunities for others by bringing people under his wing. For instance, Adrian hired Gerry Nava seven years ago while he was still in trade school studying HVAC. Adrian mentored Gerry and promoted him as his skills advanced. Eventually, Gerry studied for and passed the highly regarded NATE-certification test and now serves multiple roles at Progressive including project manager, estimator and technician.

The Future of Progressive

When conversing with Adrian and Carl, words like “help,” “serve” and “save” are used frequently. Their service-centric attitudes imbue their work lives with purpose and prove the catalyst for the company’s guaranteed personalized and expert HVAC services. Though the caricature of Adrian dressed as a superhero pictured on all of Progressive’s trucks is a humorous, exaggerated depiction, really, it captures perfectly the spirit and mission both of Adrian and the entire Progressive team.

Going forward, Adrian hopes to grow Progressive’s workforce, expand outside of San Diego into Riverside County and, hopefully, recruit and train one of his four children to one day lead Progressive.

One thing is certain about the future of Progressive: persistent progress forward will remain constant.