The Founders

mhardwick

Mark Hardwick is a training leader in the Heating, Air Conditioning & Ventilation (HVAC) industry.  Mark began his career in the HVAC field as a technician, working in his family's business in Little Rock, Arkansas from 1980 to 1996.  He attended Oklahoma State University Tech from 1981 to 1983, graduating in 1983 with an associate degree in air conditioning & heating.  He achieved a grade point average of 3.96, and served as the instructor's assistant in the electrical & controls course for four semesters during his time there. Mark spent seven years in HVAC service, at the field level, advancing to the highest level of expertise during his tenure as a technician.  He was promoted to sales, where he spent two years, and then was promoted to Operations Manager for his company in Little Rock.  He served eight years, from 1988 to 1996, as operations & systems manager, supervising technicians and installers of HVAC equipment.

In 1992, Mark, along with his brother Alan, co-founded the technical training division for Future University, a division of Contractors Success Group (CSG).  Mark was instrumental in creating the most successful training method ever created for the HVAC industry.  The training school quickly gained notoriety for taking technicians with little or no experience, and "fast-tracking" them to productive status for their employers.  Mark gained, and still holds the reputation of being one of the industry's finest trainers.

In 1996, Mark & Alan merged their interests in the school, along with their interests in the family business, to Service Experts, the first publicly traded HVAC service company, where Mark continued to serve as Operations Manager, as well as managing and instructing the school.  In 2000, Service Experts was sold to Lennox Industries, and Mark expanded the school operation for Lennox & ISL (the successor to CSG - a division of Service Experts), hiring instructors and building five additional training facilities in the United States and two in Canada.  Mark also served on the technical committee of N.A.T.E., the industry's leading technician certification company, in a technical advisory and testing development role.

Mark is President and General Manager of Ultimate Technical Academy, and currently instructs all of the courses for UTA.