Run the Alachua County route like it's your own shop
Cook's is headquartered in Palm Coast and runs Gainesville as a dedicated route. We're looking for people who live here, know the quadrants and would rather work for a family than a franchise.
The four roles we’re filling
Cook’s is hiring for the Gainesville and Alachua County route in four positions:
- Service technician. Diagnose and repair residential and light commercial systems of any brand, from a 1970s heat pump in Suburban Heights to a rooftop unit on a clinic.
- Install technician. Lead Lennox system replacements and new installs, including the duct and electrical work that Gainesville’s older houses demand.
- Maintenance tech manager. Own the agreement calendar for the market: the pre-pollen and pre-freeze visits, the multi-unit landlord accounts, and the helpers who run them.
- Apprentice helpers. Learn the trade on a truck with someone who knows it, starting with the work you can do safely on day one.
What a Gainesville day looks like
The route is unlike the one near our headquarters, and that’s the appeal for the right person. A single day can start with a condensate line clogged by oak litter in Blues Creek, move to a package unit on a four-unit building in Midtown where the tenant is studying for finals, then cross Paynes Prairie to an older home in Micanopy before finishing with an estimate in the Town of Tioga. Spring means pollen-choked coils everywhere; the first freeze in December means a run of heat-strip and defrost calls; August means landlords wanting every unit checked before move-in.
You’ll see more fifty-year-old ductwork, more retrofits in houses with no original ducts and more landlord-owned equipment than almost anywhere else in Florida.
Why a Palm Coast company wants Gainesville-based people
The honest answer is the drive. Cook’s can and does dispatch from 37 Fairmont Ln to Alachua County at any hour, but a technician who lives in Gainesville turns a 115-minute emergency response into a 20-minute one, and turns a once-a-week loop into a daily presence. That’s better for customers and better for the technician, who gets a territory to own rather than a seat in a rotation.
What you get in return is a family-owned Lennox dealer where Jerry, the owner, sells the systems you install and Sean, the lead technician, sets the standard you’re trained to. There is no call center scripting your conversations and no quota for upsells. The reviews that mention a technician by name are the performance review.
How to put your name in
Call 866-266-5709 and ask for Jerry, or use the contact form and tell us three things: which role, how many years in the field and what certifications you hold, and where in Alachua County you live. Pay, benefits and schedule are discussed in person; we don’t publish them here because they depend on experience. [[CONFIRM WITH JERRY]]
Questions from Gainesville applicants
Do I have to report to Palm Coast every morning?
No. A Gainesville-based technician starts the day in Gainesville. Stock and the occasional training day bring you to the shop at 37 Fairmont Ln, but the point of hiring locally is to stop paying the 79 miles twice a day.
Is EPA 608 certification required to start as a helper?
Not to start. Helpers learn alongside an install or service technician and we’ll point you to the 608 exam and the training to pass it. For service and install technician roles, 608 and real field time are expected.
What kind of equipment will I be working on around the UF campus?
Everything Gainesville owns: split systems in 1970s ranches, retrofitted attic units in century-old wood-frame houses, package units and PTACs in student complexes, Lennox installs in Haile Plantation and Oakmont, and rooftop units on commercial strips along Archer Road.
Are the trucks take-home?
Ask at the interview how vehicles are assigned for Gainesville work; a stocked van that stays with the technician is the arrangement to ask about, so the first call of the day doesn’t begin with a drive to a yard. [[CONFIRM WITH JERRY]]
Interested in the Gainesville route?
Call the shop and ask for Jerry, or send a note through the contact page with your experience and where you live.