Why This Skilled Trades Business Has a Waiting List of Job Applicants

8⁸HVAC and plumbing apprenticeship that works: Abe Zarou of AllTech Services explains how an in-house academy gave his company a waiting list of people who want to work there. Several years ago AllTech had the same problem as everyone else. Technicians came and went, the company recruited from competitors, and hiring decisions were made out of desperation. So Abe and his team built AllTech Academy to develop their own technicians. The first version had a lot of attrition. They rebuilt the recruiting process to feel like a boot camp, and Abe says attrition is now close to zero. The academy went from 50 or 60 applications a class to more than 1,100 for the last one. Abe Zarou is the owner and president of AllTech Services. He started as a technician with no degree and learned the business side, from finance and marketing to inventory and vehicles, through a lot of trial and error. You'll hear what AllTech changed in recruiting, what day one looks like for a new apprentice, how a career path and daily field support keep people from leaving for a couple of dollars more somewhere else, and how Abe keeps a whole company aligned on its CARE values. He also talks honestly about what it costs to own a trades business, what he thinks about private equity buying up contractors, and what a high school student with a mechanical spark should do first. IN THIS EPISODE (00:00) – How do you have a waiting list: Andrew asks the question every contractor wants answered, and Abe explains why AllTech decided to develop its own technicians. (02:51) – Hiring out of desperation: Why "hire almost anybody" failed, and what changed when AllTech stopped labeling the younger generation. (04:25) – Recruiting like a boot camp: Tough questions, multiple interviews, and a day one that lays out the next 8 to 16 weeks and a career path. (06:56) – Keeping them after you train them: The career path that covers skills, tools, income and continuing education, field support every day, and the CARE values that keep the whole company aligned. (10:27) – From technician to owner: Everything Abe had to learn beyond the technical work, and what changed when he joined Nexstar in 2023. (14:07) – Starting your own business: Abe's honest warning about the sacrifices, and why he'd join a best practice group and find a mentor early. (18:17) – Private equity and the data center boom: Why Abe isn't scared of deep pockets and why he says the trades are recession proof. (22:35) – Advice for high school students: Talk to tradespeople, go to trade shows, ask questions, and why parents are changing their minds about the trades. KEY TAKEAWAYS 1. Desperation hiring costs more than it saves. AllTech's early hires were made to fill capacity, and the company paid for it in attrition. 2. A harder recruiting process can keep people longer. Tough questions and several conversations before day one helped bring AllTech's attrition close to zero. 3. People stay when they can see what's next. A career path covering skills, tools, income and continuing education, plus daily field support, answers "where do I go from here?" 4. Owning the business is a different trade. Finance, marketing, leadership and operations have to be learned, and a best practice group or mentor shortens that learning curve. ABOUT THE GUEST Abe Zarou is the owner and president of AllTech Services, an HVAC and plumbing company in Northern Virginia, and the founder of AllTech Academy, the company's paid apprenticeship program for new technicians. He came up in the trades as a technician and learned to run the business through years of trial and error. He credits his father as his mentor and joined Nexstar in 2023. KEYWORDS HVAC apprenticeship, plumbing apprenticeship, paid apprenticeship, in-house training academy, technician re