People | The SEER Group

People First

At The SEER Group , we believe that if we focus on caring for our teams, our teams will take care of the customer. It’s an uncommon focus but we understand the importance of retaining each partner company’s unique culture.

SEER partner owners continue to run day-to-day operations with no elimination of positions after joining SEER. Instead, SEER bolsters the relationships between employer and employees, sourcing guidance and support from operations teams across the entire The SEER Group .

Darrin Erdahl

Founder

Darrin Erdahl is Founder and CEO of The SEER Group LLC and has over 31 years’ experience owning and acquiring, developing and expanding businesses in various industry sectors. He owns and operates 20 companies he acquired through 50 acquisitions. Industries include manufacturing, distribution, investment, contracting, real estate, and technology with a current focus in the residential HVAC retrofit sector.

Leadership Brings Increased Profitability

His leadership, vision, strategic planning, sales and marketing expertise have dramatically increased the profitability of his holdings, regardless of the industry and competitive market.

Largest Privately Held Fall Protection Manufacturer in the World

In August 2017, Darrin sold one of his largest companies, Guardian Fall Protection, to a London-based private equity investment firm, The Smithfield Group. The Smithfield Group created Pure Safety™ Fall Protection to acquire Guardian and one of its competitors. Pure Safety (www.puresafetygroup.com) is positioned and aspires to be the industry’s largest independent manufacturer solely focused on fall protection. At the time of the sale, Guardian was the largest privately-held fall protection manufacturer in the world and ranked third in North American market share behind 3M and Honeywell. Darrin remains the largest individual shareholder in Pure Safety.

Extensive HVAC Expertise

His experience in the HVAC industry dates back over 18 years when he purchased Seattle’s Brennan Heating & Air Conditioning in 2004. Under his ownership, Brennan has enjoyed significant growth and profitability. Because of his experience in owning many HVAC companies, Darrin understands the industry challenges and opportunities facing The SEER Group partner companies. The SEER Group is the largest privately-owned HVAC services platform in the United States.

Justin Nagy

Chief Executive Officer

Justin Nagy, SEER’s CEO, is responsible for leading the development and execution of the company’s long-term growth and development strategies as well as driving best practices that provide valuable support to the owners of companies who become part of The SEER Group, enhancing their success and growth prospects.

Justin joined the SEER Group LLC in 2023 with over 15 years of dynamic leadership in the industrial services sector. Over the course of his career, he has been responsible for spearheading efforts to elevate operational and financial performance, consistently seeking opportunities for enhancement. He possesses a profound passion for cultivating a harmonious team environment and nurturing the potential of team members, with a clear goal of developing the next generation of leaders within the organizations he leads.

Prior to joining The SEER Group Justin was President at AlliedUniversal, the Global leader in the Security Services Industry, where he was responsible for the Central US Region which spanned ten states and over 30k employees. Under Justin’s leadership, this region grew from $10 million in annual revenue to over $1.3 billion.

Justin holds a degree in Business Management from Pepperdine University as well as Executive Leadership Development from Case Western Reserve University.

Eric Beardemphl

President

Eric Beardemphl has been in the residential HVAC industry for over 30 years, the last 29 as an owner operator at Brennan Heating and Air Conditioning. He has capitalized on the massive changes in the industry, growing the business by embracing the fantastic new product offerings available to the customer combined with utilizing the new avenues of marketing. Eric has embraced these changes but realizes that maintaining a commitment to efficient processes and consistency of implementation is the key to success.

HVAC Company Growth Skyrockets

Eric joined Brennan Heating and Air Conditioning in 1993 when the company had approximately 10 employees and roughly $300,000 in annual revenue. He looks fondly back to those early days that included going door-to-door looking for work, stopping by every job site he saw, and occasionally scrambling to make payroll.

Over the last 29 years, he has helped guide and grow the business to over 200 employees with annual revenues exceeding $40 million. Eric enjoys the day-to-day challenges and opportunities to expand the business to other related in-home services.

Committed to Taking Care of Customers and Employees

While this approach brings new and exciting challenges, he remains committed to the core principles of taking care of each customer and finding the optimal path for every employee to grow within the company.

Eric likes spending time with other HVAC owners and key personnel to discuss the industry and share best practices. He has found that through collaboration and idea-sharing, HVAC company business owners and managers can make their businesses stronger, customers happier and employees more satisfied.

Kimberly Hughes

Chief Technology Officer

Kim Hughes is the Chief Technology Officer for The SEER Group. She provides software implementation support to partner HVAC companies during their onboarding to SEER enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms. She assists partner companies in building streamlined workflows and provides accounting guidance to help companies manage their day-to-day financial processes. She also provides financial reporting analysis and oversight for several partner companies for month-end close and financial statement consolidation.

Kim specializes in workflow enhancement, strategic workflow planning/improvement, and enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation and customizations. She has extensive experience in improving and streamlining time-intensive financial processes.

Kim graduated from the University of Central Florida with a bachelor of science in accounting and is pursuing her master of science degree in fintech. Before joining SEER in 2022, she worked for 10 years as a controller for a large general contractor with many HVAC subcontractors. In her 10 years of experience, she has progressively managed all areas of finance including full-cycle financial oversight and has successfully completed several company-wide software implementations.

Steve Urlacher

VP of Business Development

Steve Urlacher joined The SEER Group in 2018 for an opportunity to work closely with a group of diverse, independent business owners.

Growing Company’s Partner Network

Steve’s responsibilities include working with the leadership team, HVAC business owners, and network of business professionals to expand the SEER Group’s network of partner companies and also guiding the due diligence and integration processes . Expanding the network will accelerate The SEER Group’s growth and the growth of the partner companies and help fulfill the company’s vision to bring together industry-leading residential and commercial HVAC, electrical and plumbing companies to share best practices, combine centralized, shared resources and enjoy volume purchasing power.

Varied Business Experience

Steve’s career began in sales, leading to small business management, the facilitating of small- to mid-size company mergers and acquisitions, and small business co-ownership. He managed the launch, growth, and sale of a B2B contracting business from 1999-2003. He then moved into a corporate role with the largest residential new construction interior surfaces company in the state of Washington, becoming a vice president of sales and company director. In 2010, Steve accepted a position to oversee a fifteen-branch region for a leading national wholesale distributor. He held senior management positions in sales and operations, with two different leading wholesale distribution companies.

Eric Dahlgren

VP of Finance

Vice President of Finance Eric Dahlgren provides financial oversight, process improvement and financial reporting assistance to The SEER Group’s partner HVAC companies, particularly those that engage in commercial and new construction. He also helps with financial analysis, cash planning, and enterprise resource planning (ERP) software implementation to help SEER’s network of partner companies optimally manage their financial processes.

Eric has a reputation for strategic thinking and proactive approaches to identifying opportunities for improvement and communicating specific performance goals throughout the organization. He has 15 years of progressive project, personnel, and financial management experience. Before joining SEER in 2021, he served in senior finance roles at several companies in the construction and logistics industries.

Jim Feldman

General Counsel

As General Counsel, Jim Feldman oversees and advises on company legal matters and compliance. Working together with the other SEER Group management team members, he is responsible for leading the development and implementation of corporate strategic and tactical legal initiatives, focusing on company mergers and acquisitions.

Merger and Acquisitions Expertise

Jim is a former shareholder, managing partner and head of the Business/Mergers & Acquisitions Group at the law firm of Stokes Lawrence PLLC where he practiced for over 25 years.

In addition to serving as outside general counsel for clients in a variety of industries, Jim’s experience includes mergers and acquisitions, business formation and structuring, sales and distribution, real estate, finance, technology licensing and legal and business counseling on a broad range of other commercial issues and transactions. Prior to graduating from Northwestern University School of Law, Jim received his bachelor of science degree in accounting and his CPA license.

Austen Radke

Senior Director of Business Development

Director of Business Development Austen Radke is the main point of contact for The SEER Group’s potential partner company owners.

His expertise includes outbound prospecting, process management, statistical modeling, and data management. He has experience in B2B sales and creating an outbound prospecting model that brings together a consultative research-based approach with a highly personalized, value-driven sales style.

Austen is responsible for generating a strong pipeline for future SEER Group acquisitions. He came to SEER from Outreach, a Seattle-based, award-winning sales execution platform. Prior to that he was a financial advisor with Merrill Lynch. He has a bachelor of science degree in finance from Fresno State.

Katie Woodfork, SHRM-CP

Director of Human Resources

Katie Woodfork oversees all human resources (HR) practices for The SEER Group partner companies, creates and revises policies and procedures, and coaches and mentors partner company owners and key personnel to use best HR practices. She works with The SEER Group’s Legal Department on HR-related issues, oversees the Human Resources Information System (Paycom) for partner companies, and manages the human resources and benefits transition for pending and upcoming acquisitions.

Prior to joining The SEER Group in 2020, Katie was Human Resources Manager for Brennan Heating & Air Conditioning. Prior to that, she was the HR Business Partner for Holman Logistics, a third-party warehousing and logistics company.

Katie earned a B.S. in business administration from Montana State University and is a Society of Human Resources Certified Professional (SHRM-CP). She has been involved in Human Resources since 2007.

Matt Plughoff

Director of Training

Matt Plughoff is the Director of Training for The SEER Group. He joined the company in 2022 and his responsibilities include managing the training, curriculum, in-person and online coaching for The SEER Group partner companies.

Matt has over 25 years of HVAC experience. He founded Arrow & Fletching and The Brand Lab in 2011, providing industry-leading sales, management, strategy, and brand consulting services for clients in the United States and Canada. Matt has published in a variety of industry publications as well as in his blog and podcast. He has a master’s degree in literature from Central Washington University.

Alex Japhet

Director of Marketing

Alex Japhet oversees marketing practices for The SEER Group partner companies. She consults and allocates advertising budgets, creates and implements campaigns, and advises on branding efforts to ensure cohesion in customer-facing content. She works directly with stakeholders and managers to develop plans that are cost-effective while allowing individual businesses to capitalize on the unique opportunities in their local markets.

Prior to joining The SEER Group in 2020, Alex was an independent advertising agent, buying media and setting advertising strategy for service, retail, technology, and ecommerce businesses in the Pacific Northwest. Prior to that, she was an Operations Manager for Sinclair Broadcast Group during its largest period of growth and spent two years with its Seattle ABC affiliate, KOMO TV, selling media to businesses throughout Western Washington.

Alex earned a B.A. in psychology from Duke University. She has worked in advertising operations since 2011.

Amanda Shepherd

Director of M&A Integration

Amanda Shepherd orchestrates the operational due diligence and smooth integration of acquisitions. She guides sellers through the due diligence process, synthesizes critical information, and maintains constant communication with SEER teams and sellers. Amanda enjoys working with business owners and appreciates their insights, recognizing all the value they have invested and will ultimately bring as a SEER partner.

Before joining The SEER Group in 2023, Amanda accumulated a wealth of M&A and project management knowledge through several key roles across multiple industries. She was introduced to the world of M&A in 2016 while pursuing her MBA, which marked a pivotal turning point in her career. This combination of academic acumen and continually growing practical experience has shaped her into a versatile asset in the ever-evolving realm of mergers and acquisitions.

Brandon Hall

Business Development Director

Brandon works on the Business Development team at SEER, responsible for developing relationships with potential partner companies. He consults with company owners and their teams to determine if they are ready to partner with SEER. Brandon then helps prepare them for a formal partnership or full acquisition. Through this discovery and qualification process, Brandon works closely with various stakeholders within SEER's Mergers and Acquisitions team. The goal is to generate a strong pipeline of future acquisitions for The SEER Group.

Previously, Brandon was a sales manager at a large tech company selling project management software. His role oversaw a team generating millions in annual pipeline for the sales org. Prior, he was a top B2B sales rep at an award-winning software company with roles focused on self-sourced sales pipeline. Brandon also has 10 years' experience overseeing teams, departments, and programs at community-focused non-profits.

Brandon holds both a Bachelor's and Master's degree with concentrations in Organizational Leadership and Communication.

Jonathan Hart

Business Development Director

Jonathan Hart, SEER’s Business Development Director, manages a Regional Territory and is a point of contact for The SEER Group’s potential partner company owners.
His expertise includes outbound prospecting, account management, team building, and sales management. He has experience working cross functionally with other departments internally to create mutually beneficial relationships with prospective clients.
Jonathan is responsible for generating a strong pipeline for future SEER Group acquisitions. He came to SEER from Guardian Fall Protection, a Houston-based, Height Safety Manufacturer where he led a team of 12 throughout the Eastern United States. He has an extensive background in commercial construction, contractor sales and developing key team members to support company growth.
When he’s not at work, Jonathan enjoys spending time with his two daughters, traveling and golfing.

WHERE YOUR BRAND AND LEGACY MATTER

Our Value: People

People First