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November 07, 2025
How Kris Trains the Industry’s Future Leaders
Kris Gagermeier’s 26-year journey at Trane Technologies started with a nudge… and grew into a career training the next generation of industry leaders.
Almost three decades ago, a chance encounter catapulted Kris Gagermeier into a rewarding career at Trane Technologies. Today, he educates and inspires the company’s next generation of leaders.
A successful career that began with a nudge
Kris Gagermeier didn’t set out to become a leader at a global company. He was just a college student home for the weekend in La Crosse, Wisconsin, when a chance encounter changed everything.
While hanging out with friends one evening, Kris met a Trane Technologies executive who saw something in him. “Kris,” he said, “I think you need to apply to Trane Technologies.”
He did.
Now, 26 years later, Kris is still at the company, helping the next generation of industry leaders take that first step. As the leader of the Technical Training Center of Excellence, he oversees the company’s Graduate Training Program (GTP), one of the industry’s most robust and longstanding talent development pipelines.
I am Kris Gagermeier and I am the leader for the Technical Training Center of Excellence. What I love the most about my job is just being in the people business, specifically our Graduate Training Program. We bring in new talent into the organization every single year. Most of them are right out of colleges and universities, and we get to see those first steps they take in their career with Trane. Some of the great stories at Trane La Crosse come from generations of families coming through this company. I myself had a father who worked here one summer. I'm now completing my 26th year, and I have a daughter who worked in the La Crosse Trane Innovation Center this summer. She's an engineering major and now coming to work for Trane. It was a really exciting moment for me when she said, “That’s a pretty cool company. How come you never told me more about it before?” And I said, “Why weren’t you listening for the last 20 years at the dinner table?” Today is the best version of Trane and Trane Commercial that I’ve ever experienced in my 26-year career. We’re living our best business right now—in terms of the talent we’ve brought into the organization, in terms of how that talent works together, in terms of how we’re aligned to achieve sustainability goals that we’ve never achieved before. To be part of all of that and to be respected for the background that I have—that’s what our culture feels like today. I’m very happy to be here.
World-class training for future sales and engineering leaders
“Trane Technologies has been running Graduate Training Programs for nearly 100 years. We offer three specialized programs for front-line account managers, energy engineers, and contracting project managers. Each program recruits the best of the best, puts them through the most comprehensive training program and sends them out to serve our customers.”
Our immersive GTP programs are where a large proportion of Trane Technologies employees begin their journey. “What I love most about my job is that we bring in new talent into the organization every year. Most of them are right out of colleges and universities. And, we get to see those first steps they take in their career with Trane Technologies.”
The GTP is also where many future presidents and vice presidents first got their start. “There are so many amazing stories that have come out of the Graduate Training Program. Leaders across all of Trane Technologies’ business were developed right here.”
A company that feels like home
If Kris speaks about the program with pride, it’s because he’s lived it. And in some ways, it’s lived through him. His roots at Trane Technologies run deep. His grandmother worked for Trane® in manufacturing in La Crosse to build parts for the US Government. His father worked a summer job here. And now, his daughter, an engineering student herself, is stepping into a role at the company.
Kris reflects on this full-circle moment with amusement.
My daughter said, ‘Hey, Dad. That's a pretty cool company. How come you never told me more about it before?’ I said, ‘Why weren’t you listening to me at the dinner table for the last 20 years?’
Kris Gagermeier’s daughter, Madelyn Gagermeier, during her summer internship at Trane Technologies
A winning culture that grows with you
For Kris, it’s these personal moments that define his journey. While Trane Technologies is a global company, its culture, in Kris’s eyes, is deeply local, generational and personal. “Some of the best stories come from generations of families growing their careers here.”
It really does feel like a family business.
And that family continues to grow with each new class of GTP participants and every young engineer and sales leader who, like Kris once did, finds themselves stepping into something bigger and more rewarding.
This advancement, Kris believes, is what contributes to the longevity of so many employees’ tenure at the company. “I think one of the biggest reasons people stay at Trane Technologies is because we keep growing,” he says. “As people, as a company, as a culture. Today is the best version of Trane Technologies I’ve seen in my entire career. We’re aligned to achieve sustainability goals like never before. To be part of that, and to be respected for the background I have, that’s what our culture feels like today. I’m very happy to be here.”
The future is ours to create.
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