WaterFurnace International, Inc., a leading manufacturer of residential, commercial, industrial and institutional geothermal and water source heat pumps, has named Tom Huntington as president and chief executive officer, effective May 26, 2009. Huntington takes over from Bruce Ritchey, who is retiring from the company after 10 years in the position.
Huntington comes to WaterFurnace from the Building Efficiency Division of Johnson Controls, Inc. In 2005, Johnson Controls acquired York International, where Huntington was president of York’s $1 billion Unitary Products Group from 2000 until 2006. Huntington continued to run that group under Johnson Controls.
Prior to being named president at York Unitary Products Group, Huntington served as senior vice president of engineering and vice president of global sales and marketing at Bristol Compressors. He helped grow Evcon/Coleman Industries from
$35 million to $150 million in sales from 1992 through 1995, when the company was acquired by York International. Huntington continued as general manager of Evcon Industries under York until 1997.
Huntington is well known within the heating and air conditioning industry. He was the past chairman of the Gas Appliance Manufacturers Association (GAMA) and was involved in the consolidation of the industry’s two governing bodies, the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute and the Gas Appliance Manufacturers Association. He currently serves on the planning board of the resulting consolidated organization, the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI). He also serves on the board of North American Technician Excellence (NATE), the industry’s testing and certification organization for service technician training.
Huntington holds a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering technology from Rochester Institute of Technology. Upon graduation, he completed a two-year Manufacturing Management Training Program with General Electric before pursuing a master of science degree in engineering administration from Syracuse University.