ATLANTA — Contracting Business magazine's Woman of the Year Renee Fiorelli, president of Peterson Service Company, Medford, NJ, presented the keynote speech at the Annual Meeting of Women in HVACR.

The meeting was held as a prelude to HVAC Comfortech 2008, which officially kicks off Thursday, Sept. 11, at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. After describing her initial days in the company founded by her father, Sam Peterson, Fiorelli stressed the important role strategic planning has played in PSC's growth. "Every company needs a clear vision statement and a statement of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Once our plan was in place, we shared it with employees, to assure buy in. We outlined specific goals and now continue to provide employees with quarterly updates," Fiorelli said. Looking back on her beginnings, Fiorelli said coming up through the ranks in the family business was essential in preparing her to lead the company and win the trust, confidence, and friendship of others on the team. The Women in HVACR Annual Meeting continues today till 4:30 p.m. Other topics to be covered include:
- Green: It's the New Black: Hype or Emerging Trend? by Kathy McCauley
- Overcoming Generational Gaps in the Workforce, by Nita Brooks
- Customer Service from the Trenches, by Sharon McGee.