Popa Heating & Cooling in the Community
At Popa Heating & Cooling, we are proud to provide the area with top-quality HVAC services, but we truly enjoy being able to give back to the Highland community. Our owner and CEO, Pat Popa, has been instrumental in organizing projects in downtown Highland that have helped increase traffic for the retail business district and improve the quality of life for residents.
Pat Popa Joins the Business & Industry Hall of Fame
The Times and IN Business Magazine, Business & Industry Hall of Fame awards honor individuals and businesses who have made a substantial contribution to business or industry across the region.
Inductees are individuals who have not only had exceptional personal business success but have shown a lifetime commitment to Northwest Indiana. They have played key roles in developing our community. Honoring their accomplishments sets the bar for today’s and tomorrow’s generations of leaders.
Helping Humane Indiana
Humane Indiana is an organization that is close to our hearts. A portion of all of our sales is donated to help maintain the Humane Indiana HVAC equipment. Popa Heating & Cooling helps them by performing routine, seasonal HVAC cleaning, checks, and maintenance, like changing out filters to help keep them up and running.
Owner Pat also helped raise money for the Humane Indiana Wildlife Center through the Owl You Need is Love project in 2019. Inspired by the owls that reside at the rescue, local artists painted fiberglass owls in fun and unique ways that were purchased by sponsors or auctioned off. These painted owls lived in various locations around the Highland community, delighting local residents and visitors. To read more about the Owl You Need is Love project, click here.
CEO Pat Popa’s Community Involvement
Pat Popa has been a big part of the Highland community for many years. In 2003, she created the Downtown Ducks public art project that ended up earning her the Governor’s Award for Volunteerism from then-Governor Joseph Kernin.
She has received recognition from South Shore Arts with a Lifetime Distinguished Service Membership for developing another public art project, The County Seats. This particular project created a scholarship program for art students in Lake, Porter, and LaPorte Counties. In 2011, Pat was honored by Lake Shore Public Television with the Alice Burrell Humanitarian Award. Her love of art continued with her 2019 project benefitting Humane Indiana and local artists called Owl You Need is Love. Pat also received the honor of Citizen of the Year in 2019 from the Munster Chamber of Commerce.
Pat’s service and dedication to the local community has continued through her work with the Highland Community Foundation. She has served many years on the Highland Chamber of Commerce and Munster Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.