Air Innovations, a leader in specialty air conditioning, refrigeration and environmental process control solutions for end-users and original equipment manufacturers around the world, celebrated 25 years in business on September 14, 2011.

This year, Air Innovations is projecting to exceed $10 million in sales volume for the first time. When the current owners, father and son Larry Wetzel of Cazenovia, NY and Michael Wetzel of Skaneateles, NY, purchased the business in 1996, sales volume was less than $600,000. Such growth has led to the company recently earning a spot on Inc. magazine’s list of the 5,000 fastest-growing privately held companies in America for the second consecutive year. According to Inc., Air Innovations is the 102nd fastest-growing privately held manufacturing company in the United States.

Founded in 1986 as Floratech Industries, the company originally built refrigerated floral coolers for supermarkets. The name was changed to Air Innovations in 2001 to better reflect an expanding portfolio of specialty environmental control products used to control temperature, humidity and air pressure for the aerospace, military, pharmaceutical, medical device, electronics, semiconductor, laboratory and other industries.

Air Innovations designs and builds more than 2,000 units annually in its 40,000-square-foot facility in North Syracuse for such clients as multinational corporations and prime contractors to federal agencies and the U.S. military. Customized applications include solutions for handling sensitive military equipment on rocket launch pads, controlling humidity for a drug company’s tablet coating machines, managing thermal and moisture levels in a blood analyzer, maintaining cleanroom environments in specialty contact lens manufacturing, and controlling extremely precise temperature and humidity levels for nanomachining requirements.

Air Innovations’ principals hold numerous U.S. and international patents and trademarks, and nearly one-quarter of the 45-person workforce holds engineering degrees. That expertise has
resulted in the creation of hundreds of customized solutions in addition to branded products such as Wine Guardian® wine cellar cooling systems for home and commercial use; Floratech® refrigerated floral displays for supermarkets; IsolationAir® portable contamination control units for hospitals; and HEPAiRx® ventilating room air purifiers, the company’s newest patented product line, which reduce airborne triggers that can cause respiratory distress. Both Wine Guardian and Floratech products are sold internationally, and the expansion of Wine Guardian’s global distribution network in fiscal year 2012 is expected to significantly increase that division’s sales revenues in the coming months.

“We design and develop products that meet the unique needs and demanding specifications of our clients’ businesses. The key to our success has been applying our engineering expertise to solutions across multiple industries,” says Michael Wetzel, PE, Air Innovations president and CEO. “We are proud to attain our 25th anniversary, and we look forward to many more years of conducting business here in Central New York.”

To mark its 25th anniversary, Air Innovations held an open house at its headquarters at 7000 Performance Drive, North Syracuse, NY 13212. Product demonstrations and a factory tour were featured.

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