This is a busy time of year for heating professionals and a technician shortage has resulted in companies having to prioritize their existing clients when it comes to servicing furnaces and heat pumps.

The industry-wide scarcity has not spared Franklin County, where residents might find it difficult to secure an emergency visit at night or on weekends. Most companies seem to have to limit their 24/7 services to people already on their customer list.

“If we have availability to send a technician, quite often we will. But not if there is a backlog,” said Leslie Cernak, vice president of operations at Sandri Energy. “It’s kind of an industry standard, as far as I know.”

Sandri, started by Acilio Remo “A.R.” Sandri in 1931, entered the propane business in 2013. The company got involved with Clean Burn waste oil furnaces in the 1980s and acquired Tognarelli Heating & Cooling in 2017, along with Facey Plumbing and Heating the following year.

Cernak said many of the trades are struggling to recruit blue-collar workers. This sentiment was echoed by Susan Surner, the second-generation owner of Surner Heating, which has offices in Greenfield and Amherst.

“The workforce is very slim when it comes to certified technicians. The labor market has shifted,” she said.

Surner said the blue-collar economy that persisted in this country for centuries has taken a hit by a more recent emphasis on attending college. She said this has resulted in a lack of tradespeople between the ages of 40 and 55. However, she mentioned, that trend is starting to change back to trade schools, likely due to the high cost of secondary education.

Surner said her company handles furnaces, boilers, heat pumps and mini splits. She said she can accommodate only customers that already purchase Surner oil and propane “because we don’t have the manpower to take on anybody else.”

The business owner, whose father started the company 63 years ago, said Greenfield Community College recently started an entry-level training program for heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) technicians. According to the school’s website, the 16-week program prepares participants for immediate employment in the business.

“The issue is ... that it takes a long time to learn this trade. It takes a lot of time for them to become the technicians we need them to be,” Surner said. “We’re always looking for more, obviously. So is my competition. We’re all looking.”

One company that offers 24/7 service to customers and non-customers alike in Franklin County and the North Quabbin region is Pioneer Valley Environmental in Ware. HVAC manager Brandon Frantum said the company’s coverage area includes New Salem, Erving, Wendell, Montague, Deerfield, Shutesbury, Orange, Warwick and Royalston. He said many customers mention how they are unable to find emergency furnace services.

“I think we’re one of the very few, if not the only, as far as I know,” Frantum said.

He said he has six technicians on staff and could use a few more.

“I would say it’s always been a little bit of an issue, but definitely more since 2020. I swear [the COVID-19 pandemic had a lot to do with it,” he said, adding that jobs with office settings are becoming more and more common. “It feels like people don’t want to be out in the field and doing this type of work.”

Frantum said he and all but one of his technicians graduated from Pathfinder Regional Vocational Technical High School in Palmer. The company has also recruited alumni from Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School.

Magda Gates, manager of Gates HVACR, which is owned by her husband John, said there are not nearly enough technicians in this area. She said her husband is one of the Turners Falls company’s four full-timers and they also have three part-timers. She mentioned Gates HVACR tries to recruit students graduating from Franklin County Technical School but not as many young people are specializing in HVAC as has been the case in the past.

Collin Cheek, a project manager at Western Mass Heating, Cooling and Plumbing, said the company has roughly 10 heating technicians but typically can’t send any of them to work on furnaces belonging to non-customers. He explained billing becomes too complicated, especially on weekends, and those with the emergency would typically have to wait until Monday.

“Finding experienced people is hard, but we pull from [Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School] and Franklin County Tech as much as we can,” Cheek said. “It’s a never-ending problem … having enough skilled people to work for you. And that’s not a problem that’s going to go away. That’s just the world we’re in.”

Western Mass Heating, Cooling and Plumbing moved from Haydenville to South Deerfield on Oct. 28. Cheek said priority is always given to existing customers.

“If we’ve ever been to their house,” he said, “we will take care of them.”

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.