Each year, we ask Orange County Register readers to choose their favorite places to shop, dine, play and do business in OC.
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Out of the entries voted on, here are the top picks for Best career college/trade school:
1. Browson Technical School
1110 S Technology Circle, Suite D, Anaheim; 714-774-9443; brownson.edu
Father and son Don and Bill Brown have been teaching students how to fix and maintain HVAC systems since before many homes were even built in South Orange County.
Don was an instructor and building curriculum in Anaheim back in the 1980s, then his son Bill became a student at his father’s school while working their part-time. Don eventually started his own repair company, and when Bill graduated, they started the school in the back of Don’s shop. They built the school on the idea of hands-on training as key to the complex and highly technical career and though Don passed away in 2018, the approach remains the same today.
Browson offers two training pathways for students. For those already working in the HVAC field who wish to be certified as an HVAC technician, there are 10-month and 22-month programs that can be completed in the evenings. Those new to the industry will receive more than 1,040 hours of intensive, hands-on training at the school’s HVAC shop, which has both older models and the latest equipment for students to train on.
The grads they send out each year get training in both the most up-to-date systems as well as emerging technology. According to their site, Brownson is also one of five HVAC Excellence accredited schools in California. “We enjoy a solid reputation with local employers for turning out talented graduates,” the school says.
“As a country we’ve seen some hard times lately,” Bill says on the school’s site. “Maybe you’ve been laid-off, experienced trouble finding work or are getting reduced hours. In all the recessions I’ve lived through, for the most part HVAC-R Technicians didn’t lose their jobs. During tough times, people are more likely to try to fix equipment than to replace it, so demand for repair technicians actually goes up.”
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2. West Coast EMT
1900 S. State College Blvd., Suite 175, Anaheim; 844-589-1459; westcoastemt.com
Running into trouble can actually be a good, rewarding job.
West Coast EMT offers training for emergency medical technicians in courses taught by actual paramedics, EMTs and high-level educators who bring real-life knowledge to textbook material. The campus features modern classrooms and flexible schedule with five, 12, and 18-week courses to fit students’ needs in basic competency, refresher courses and ambulance driving/attendants license courses, as well as CPR/AES/first aid, basic life support, pediatric advanced life support, and advanced cardiac life support.
West Coast EMT says it has produced more than 70,000 graduates. Besides its Anaheim campus, the school also has locations in Torrance, Riverside and San Diego.
“I just graduated from the three-month course,” says Makena of Orange in her Yelp review. “My instructor was very thorough with every lecture, if you had any questions, she gave her responses to you in depth, which really helped me succeed. It’s all so worth it and I’m so excited to see where this takes me.”
3. Plumbing-Heating Contractors Association
1158 Gilbert St., Anaheim; 714-896-0153; phcc-orsb.com
Plumbers and HVAC repairers have been getting the training and guidance they need from the Plumbing-Heating Contractors Assn. since 1948.
Regardless of business size, training and career development is available, and membership in PHCC can be an investment for growing companies or for advancing a career, including safety training, classroom theory, and hands-on demonstrations, as well as networking through contractor roundtables and specific coaching to help. Also, PHCC’s Ride and Decide program gives students the information they need to decide if plumbing is the right career for them.
“Training and networking are the keys to success in the plumbing and HVAC industries,” the PHCA site says. “We create a collaborative environment where business owners and their employees learn to define their goals, further their professional development and achieve success. We create opportunities, transform people, and teach you how to grow your company.”
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