The HARDI Board of Directors recently approved development of a new division within HARDI for wholesale-distribution in Mexico. HARDI appointed former RSM International Management Consultant Guitze Messina as the executive director to head the new HARDI division. 

“I have worked with the HVACR industry in Mexico and from what I have seen I can tell you there is a substantial need for an organization such as HARDI in that market and for the services it can provide,” Messina said. “I am confident that we will be able to navigate the market successfully as HARDI embarks on this new venture.”

The official launch of the new HARDI Mexico division will occur at HARDI’s Annual Conference in December at a special Mexico Market Summit event.

In other association news, HARDI’s monthly trends report shows average sales for its distributor members increased by 4.7% in July 2017. The average annualized growth for the 12 months through July 2017 is 8.8%.

“The country experienced dramatic weather differences during July,” HARDI Market Research & Benchmarking Analyst Brian Loftus said. “One region had almost 30% fewer cooling-degree days vs. last year while another had almost 10% more. The regions’ sales performance reflected the different operating environments. The weather is a short-term variable, while the overall economy is doing well.”

HARDI Senior Economist Connor Lokar added: “U.S. industrial production transitioned to Phase B, accelerating growth in June. We expect this to drive accelerating consumer spending through mid-2018 before the rate of growth slows throughout 2019.”

The days sales outstanding, a measure of how quickly customers pay their bills, is now less than 45 days. “July and August are the seasonal low points for the annual DSO cycle,” Loftus noted. “The modest sales activity during this important seasonal month probably led to the conservative result.”