Source Refrigeration & HVAC, Inc., Anaheim, CA, announced today that their board of directors has named Lauren Abrams chief executive officer, effective April 14, 2011. Abrams was previously the president and chief operating officer of Source, and has been a member of the Source board of directors since October, 2010.

Abrams' move into the CEO position is the culmination of a senior management transition plan that was set in place two years ago by outgoing CEO, Brad Howard.

“Since joining Source as COO in January 2009, Lauren refreshed our strategy and brought new discipline and rigor to our processes enabling us to improve operations and grow the business," Howard says. "She truly understands the company’s business, customers and potential, and has made great strides in positioning Source for long-term growth and expansion. Lauren’s track record, intense customer focus, and strong executive and personal qualities make her a great fit for the Source leadership role," he says.

Howard will continue to be involved with Source as chairman of the board.

Prior to joining Source in 2009, Abrams spent more than 25 years in service roles, most recently as senior vice president, customer support operations for Cardinal Health. In that position, she was responsible for nearly $2 billion in annual service and equipment installation revenue. Her vast experience in Total Quality Management, customer satisfaction, process innovation and technology-based service solutions bring a new perspective to understanding and addressing customer needs in the refrigeration & HVAC market.

“I'm truly honored and excited to assume the role of CEO of Source,” noted Abrams; “The Source team is an incredibly talented group of people and I am delighted to continue to work closely with them in my new leadership role. I look forward to building on the customer-focused culture that Brad Howard created during his tenure as CEO. We will continue to work hard to establish long-term partnerships with our customers and stay focused on our quest to lower their total cost of ownership and improve their bottom line.”

Source Refrigeration & HVAC, Inc. partners with customers who have refrigeration/HVAC systems that are mission-critical to their business operations. Source designs, installs, services and manages efficient, sustainable refrigeration/HVAC solutions. The company has more than 30 branch locations and 1,000 employees focused on providing services that optimize performance for commercial refrigeration/HVAC systems so it can measurably increase efficiency while reducing environmental impact and total cost of ownership.

As the largest independent refrigeration and HVAC expert service provider in the US, Source Refrigeration & HVAC, Inc. spans the entire value chain and its service solutions are designed to address the top concerns of commercial customers. Key services provided focus on problem/high-cost stores, objective design and review, integrated installations, repair and maintenance, and optimizing and sustaining refrigeration & HVAC system performance.

Source Refrigeration was recently featured in a ContractingBusiness.com article on refrigeration training. The article can be found at: http://bit.ly/sourcetraining