LAS VEGAS, May 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Nick Hughes didn't know what career he wanted to pursue when he left the U.S. Navy three years ago. Transitioning into civilian life was a scary step.

Today, he's weeks away from graduation from the two-year applied science in air conditioning technology program at the College of Southern Nevada and the recipient of the Post 9/11 Veterans Tools Award, sponsored by Ken Goodrich, owner of Goettl Air Conditioning.

Unlike traditional college scholarships or endowments, the award from allowed Hughes to choose $1,000 of tools to take into the next step of his career.

The award is the second endowment given by Goodrich, who in addition to owning Goettl, also sponsors the J. Duncan Goodrich Air Conditioning Technology Lab at CSN as well as the "Son of a Gun" Scholarship, which is awarded to a current student from a multiple generation family in the air conditioning industry.

"I've learned through the course of my career people coming out of the military make good employees," Goodrich said. "This scholarship is a good opportunity to help put good people start out strong in the HVAC industry."

Dennis Soukup, applied science department chair at the college, said when the award was created, Goodrich and he collaborated and based the award benefits on personal experience. Now in its second year, the award will be given to a graduating student every year.

"When I came out of school, I had screwdrivers, nuts and bolts. What I couldn't afford was all of this," Soukup said of the tools Hughes received. "Back then, you worked for an employer, and they took it out of your check."

Hughes served for seven years as a cook in the Navy. A Northern California native, he excelled at the two-year program and currently works at a local HVAC contracting firm.

"The tools you need are so expensive, and there are so many you need," said Hughes, 28. "It's amazing and awesome to have that kind of support, for the community to get together to support a veteran."

"Goettl and I have been connected my entire career," added Goodrich. "I'm going to take what I'm about, what I was taught, and I'm going to put it back into the industry."

Goettl Air Conditioning was originally created by Gust and Adam Goettl in 1939 and came to the Las Vegas Valley in 1968. As a result of the recession, the company left Southern Nevada in 2007. Ken Goodrich purchased the Arizona company in 2013 and, in April 2016, opened a branch office in his hometown of Las Vegas, where his love of the Goettl product first began. 

As a 10-year-old boy, Goodrich held the flashlight when his father went out on evening service calls to repair air conditioners; as he worked, the soft-spoken patriarch imparted knowledge and wisdom that would stay with Goodrich for life: "When a person needs help, you respond right away, not when it's convenient for you;" "Always do the right thing; always do what's right" and "The Goettl Iron Horse is a magnificent machine; nothing else even comes close."

For more information on Goettl Air Conditioning, visit goettl.com or follow Goettl on Facebook.

Contact: Tiffannie Bond/Melissa Biernacinski
Imagine Communications
702-837-8996

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160511/366809

SOURCE Goettl Air Conditioning

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