Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International hired economist Paul Hallmann to its Benchmarking department.

Hallmann, who will be based at the HARDI headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, previously served as a corporate strategist for Scotts Miracle-Grow Company.

"I look forward to bringing added-value to HARDI members with these exciting programs we offer," Hallmann said. "My near-term goal is immersing myself in the HVACR distribution industry to learn about it as quickly and thoroughly as possible, so I can start bringing actionable economic insights to the table."

Hallmann received his undergraduate degree, masters and doctorate each in economics from Virginia Tech.

In this economist role, Hallmann will be working closely with Market Research & Benchmarking Analyst Brian Loftus on delivering macro-level and market-specific insights.

"Having an internal economist in Paul on staff at HARDI gives us the opportunity to comprehensively tailor the information we deliver to HARDI members in our Benchmarking resources in a more fine-tuned way," Loftus said. "This is a big step in our efforts to continually give members directly-applicable information for HVACR distributors."