CEO John Dugan recently sat down with Matt Jachman from the ACHR NEWS for a "Meet The Wholesaler" profile where they discuss John's background, his forecast for Liberty Supply, and more.
DT: What is your sales forecast for this year, for Liberty and for HVAC as a whole?
Dugan: Ours is growth. We’re benefiting from the economics of scale, right? We’re a startup, so we can grow very quickly on a relative basis compared to someone who’s much larger.
In terms of the macro picture, there’re certainly concerns over what’s happening with COVID. How it continues to linger and affect the supply chain. We had a lot of discussions about that at the AHR show. Some manufacturers were transparent in when they think things will clear up. Others could not give an answer. … Most are still trying to work their way back to early 2019. So the supply chain will remain complicated.
I have concerns about inflation, certainly. As inflation continues to creep up, well, then you only have limited levers. So then you have to start raising rates, right? That stifles growth; money is more expensive now. So that may slow down, particularly new construction.
There’s certainly concern that with the shift to remote work, the entire commercial office segment is going to be subject to the significant reduction in occupancies. There’re a lot of headwinds right now for distributors.
Read the full article here.
John and Patrick were also featured on the ACHR News Podcast in October 2021. Read the article and listen to the podcast: ACHR News Podcast: Liberty Supply Talks Supply Chain Issues.