A cool save earns national honors

HVAC tech wins $10K after fixing cooling system minutes before musical

MCALISTERVILLE -- Fifteen minutes before the curtain was supposed to rise at East Juniata High School, people arriving for the spring musical noticed the auditorium was warm.

Mason Beverlin, the maintenance technician for East Juniata High School, suspected the cooling system had failed. He called Ben Kauffman, an HVAC professional with MGM Mechanical of Pleasant Mills.

Kauffman arrived about 10 minutes later, entered through the back of the building and headed for the mechanical room. He didn't see much of the gathering crowd, which was fine with him.

"I typically avoid people if I can," Kauffman said.

By then, Kauffman had only a few minutes to figure out why the system wasn't working.

He traced the problem to a transducer sending an incorrect reading. The faulty reading caused the controller to lock out and shut down circuits, preventing the compressors from staging on.

A small component was feeding the system bad information, causing the cooling equipment to shut itself down.

Kauffman had the replacement part with him.

"I keep common parts in stock to prevent downtime," he said.

He replaced the transducer, cleared the alarms and got the unit operating again before the performance began.

That repair later became the story that earned Kauffman, of McAlisterville, a place among 10 national winners in SupplyHouse's 2026 Day Savers contest. The contest recognized skilled tradesmen whose work made a difference when something had gone wrong and time mattered. Each winner receives $10,000 and a place on the 2026 Day Savers Crew.

To Kauffman, the East Juniata call didn't feel like an award-winning story when it happened. It was an emergency call, and emergency calls come with the territory.

"I typically treat all emergency calls that way," he said. "They take care of me, and I take care of them. We're 24-7, so it can be anytime."

That approach helped prompt Beverlin to nominate Kauffman for the national contest.

SupplyHouse invited people to nominate skilled tradespeople who went above and beyond for homeowners, businesses, and communities. Kauffman's nomination centered on a Saturday evening when the temperature inside a high school auditorium was climbing and students were nearing showtime.

The trouble was fixed before most people in the room knew much had happened.

Much of the mechanical work happens out of sight, in equipment rooms and other spaces most people rarely enter.

When the equipment operates correctly, it becomes part of the background. When it stops, a room full of people can feel the difference.

Kauffman has spent nearly two decades working in that world. He entered the HVAC trade directly after high school while attending a technical school for HVAC training. By the summer of 2026, he had been in the trade for 19 years.

He said he keeps common parts in stock to limit downtime, which is why he had a replacement transducer available when East Juniata needed one.

Kauffman didn't expect any national attention for doing it.

When he learned Beverlin's nomination had made him one of the 10 winners, his first reaction was disbelief.

"Shocked," Kauffman said. "Wasn't sure if it was actually real or fake. I never win anything."

The recognition comes with a $10,000 prize, but Kauffman also sees value in what the contest says about the work itself.

"It's nice for us to be recognized," he said. "No one thinks about mechanicals until they're broke, let alone all the work that goes into maintaining commercial/industrial properties and keeping them online and operating."

SupplyHouse announced the winners on National Tradesmen Day, which is observed on the third Friday in September. The observance recognizes skilled workers who build, repair, and maintain homes, businesses, and infrastructure.

Kauffman's winning story unfolded in a mechanical room most people at East Juniata never saw.

Students were preparing to perform, families were arriving, and the auditorium was getting warmer. Upstairs in the mechanical room, one faulty transducer had shut down the cooling system.

Beverlin made the call, and Kauffman came through the back door and went to work.

A few minutes later, the auditorium was cooling again. The musical could begin, and most people in the seats never knew how close a faulty transducer had come to joining the program.