One of the nation’s ten best small business exporters just happens to operate out of North Syracuse.
On Tuesday, Air Innovations received the 2018 award as the Top Small Business Exporter in New York State from the US Small Business Administration.
Air Innovations has also been selected as the SBA’s Region II 2018 Small Business Exporter of the Year.
The SBA’s Region II is one of only 10 in the US and covers New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Exporting has been an integral part of the portfolio for Air Innovations the past decade and now represents a 1/3 of its business.
Half of all the company’s exports are from its ‘Wine Guardian” line of cooling systems for wine cellars.
The company is diverse though and makes products for everything from the semiconductor industry to aerospace and Homeland Security, just to name a few.
B.J. Paprocki, District Director, US Small Business Administration, tells NewsChannel 9, “The growth in the export sales over the years, the contributions they’ve made to the community, the jobs they’ve added all contribute to our way of life, the community in itself.”
Air Innovations has 105 different models of wine cellars alone that are shipped to around 45 different countries.
“From Syracuse, yeah, yeah, its amazing. A lot of people are really nervous about. Sure its a little bit more work but there’s also a lot of rewards from that.” Air Innovations Owner Michael Wetzel tells NewsChannel 9.
Right now, Air Innovations employs about 55 people, including a European focused salesperson based in Switzerland.
