Staff Sgt. Antonette Ventura’s path to becoming a sheet metal journey person took an unexpected detour when she was deployed to Saudi Arabia in late 2020, during the middle of her apprenticeship.

Two members of the first class of SMART Heroes are set to graduate in November and January. 

BILL BRADFORD IS A VETERAN OF THE SHEET METAL INDUSTRY IN MORE WAYS THAN MOST. Born and raised in North Side Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during the city’s “Steel City” renaissance, Bradford graduated from high school June 1955 and immediately joined the Air Force that July. “I was 17 so my parents had to sign documents to get me in,” he remembers.

Together, Josh and Linsey Buckley share a decade of marriage, two sons, and now, new job prospects as apprentices at the Western Washington Sheet Metal JATC Local 66. 

Laco Air Conditioning partnered with other local contractors and Building Homes for Heroes during a Welcome Home ceremony in Homestead, Florida, for Army Master Sergeant Eric Beckdol. 

Fresh-Aire UV donates portions of HVAC air cleaning equipment sales to Annapolis, Maryland-based Warrior Events, which sponsors events for veterans.

Ormond, Florida-based Air One Heating and Cooling installed a York HVAC system, donated by Johnson Controls, in the home of U.S. Army Sgt. Stephen Pyle in Port Orange, Florida.

Johnson Controls and a Florida contractor gave a U.S. Air Force captain’s new home a heating and cooling system.

Mitsubishi Electric U.S. Heating and Cooling Division donated 50 zoned HVAC units to the Veterans Community Project, a nonprofit organization serving homeless veterans in Kansas City, Missouri.

Midwest Tool & Cutlery recently raised $6,000 for a military charity after a four-month sales promotion.