AAON - Experts & Thought Leaders

AAON, Inc. announces that Paul K. (Ken) Lackey, Jr. will retire from the company’s Board of Directors following the end of his current term at AAON’s Annual Meeting of Stockholders on May 12, 2022. Mr. Lackey, who has served on AAON’s Board since 2007, decided to retire and not stand for re-election to the Board upon completion of his current term as he decreases his professional commitments. Gary D. Fields, AAON president, and CEO, said, “On behalf of the Board, I would like to express our deepest gratitude to Ken for his numerous contributions to AAON during his nearly 15 years on the Board. AAON benefited greatly from the knowledge and experience Ken brought to the company. Please join me in thanking Ken for his dedicated service to AAON.”

AAON, Inc., announced that its Board of Directors elected Gene Stewart as Executive Vice President of AAON, Inc., effective January 1, 2022. In addition, the Board of Directors of the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, AAON Coil Products, Inc., has elected Doug Wichman as Executive Vice President of AAON Coil Products, also effective January 1, 2022.

AAON, Inc., a front-runner in innovation and production of premium quality, highly energy-efficient HVAC products for nonresidential buildings, announced that Gary Fields, CEO, and Rebecca Thompson, CFO, will participate in a virtual fireside chat at the Credit Suisse Global Industrials Conference. They will speak at 8:50 a.m. ET on Thursday, December 2, 2021.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, HVAC systems have been at the center of concerns such as indoor air quality and the need to minimize potential exposure. At the local level, HVAC installers have increased their efforts to keep equipment and supplies clean, and technicians are wearing gloves and masks as protection to keep customers safe. Many HVAC companies have also sought to give back to local communities hard-hit by the pandemic. As an industry, HVAC has remained committed to maximizing service to communities, and to each individual customer. Pandemic response For example, Johnson Controls has been part of the pandemic response from the beginning. The company first responded to the developing crisis in Wuhan, China, where local personnel worked to fulfill urgent needs for new hospitals. Local personnel worked to fulfill urgent needs for new hospitals As the pandemic evolved, Johnson Controls also implemented local and regional contingency plans across the globe to ensure employee safety and customer support. “As a global company, we have been addressing this crisis from the very start and are proud of our frontline leadership responding in every corner of the world,” says George Oliver, Johnson Controls Chairman and CEO. He pledged the company will do whatever is needed to keep essential products, services and personnel up and running. Helping Hospitals Johnson Controls’ products and services in the HVAC category are essential to hospitals and operating rooms and are a necessary component for operation of almost all the Critical Infrastructure Sectors recognized by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Properly ventilated buildings are critical to improve air quality and prevent the spread of disease and secondary infection. According to Johnson Controls, it is essential to maintain systems and keep them in service where people continue to live and work. Industrial refrigeration is also vital in markets ranging from food and beverage processing to the petrochemical industry. Here is another example of the HVAC community’s involvement in responding to the COVID-19 crisis: AAON, a semi-custom commercial HVAC equipment manufacturer, provided 50-ton customized HVAC units for the Stony Brook Temporary Hospital on Long Island, just east of New York City. The Tulsa, Okla., company provides 44 of the units, totaling 2,200 tons of HVAC apparatus, which equates to the cooling capacity of more than 700 single-family homes. Aiding the pandemic AAON worked around the clock to make the equipment and ensure the units arrived in New York City on a tight timeline. AAON’S New York sales office had called President Gary Fields to inquire about the company’s ability to meet the hospital’s need. A 1,038-bed temporary hospital to treat non-COVID-19 patients during the pandemic was constructed A 1,038-bed temporary hospital to treat non-COVID-19 patients during the pandemic was constructed at Stony Brook University. The Army Corps erected four temporary tent-like structures near the university’s athletic fields as part of the New York State initiative to relieve local hospitals during a spike in patients due to the pandemic. Ultimately, like many temporary facilities built in response to the pandemic, the hospital was not used. However, the facility will be ready in case it is needed for a second wave of the pandemic.