Becky Wacker grew up in New England and came to Minnesota with a scholarship to play hockey at the University of Minnesota. She majored in aerospace and had an internship in building automation systems.
That combination is how she ended up in HVAC and building automation – “aside from the really cool stuff like launching rockets into space and airplanes, aerospace engineering is all about air flow, which is basically what you move around to heat and cool a building.”
Becky is the Area General Manager for Trane, which means she leads the business for the offices located in Minnesota and Western Wisconsin. She leads about 150 people in the sales, services, and execution departments, and she is the face to the community.
Trane is a manufacturer of HVAC equipment and building management systems and controls, and they also help customers complete energy conservation and renewable energy projects. “We start every day at Trane talking about our customers,” she says. “Whether it’s helping our customers design, build, or maintain their building, or meeting the Gigaton Challenge [Trane’s goal to save a gigaton of carbon emissions by 2030] and protecting the environment – there’s always improvement that can be made, and that’s what we hold dear to our hearts. Serve our customers, serve the environment, and always get better.”
What Becky has really liked about working for Trane is that it’s a business with really lofty goals. “Boldly challenging what’s possible” is a tagline and a way that Trane lives its corporate mission. “We work to be environmentally friendly and to make the world a better place for future generations,” she says.