Pictured here, left to right, Northern Arizona Refrigeration President Dave Sundquist leads a team meeting with secretary-treasurer (and wife) Coni Sundquist; project manager Kendra Hall; warehouse foreman Sean Maynard; bid coordinator Gigi Guier; estimator Kyle Sundquist; office manager and dispatcher Paige Merrick; and superintendent and project manager Dave Bell.

Northern Arizona Refrigeration installed this walk-in cooler for the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office jail facilities.

From a toddler carrying tools to a teenager handling service calls, Northern Arizona Refrigeration President Dave Sundquist learned the family business from the bottom to top before stepping into the top leadership role in 1991.

Incorporated in 1975 by Dave’s father, the late Carl Sundquist, the business is now operated by Dave, his wife, Coni, who serves as Secretary-Treasurer, and their son, Kyle Sundquist, who is an estimator.

“I knew I wanted to be a part of this industry as long as I can recall,” Dave says. “I learned through hands-on training in the industry and knew the tricks of the trade even in grade school. When I was little, Dad cut me loose to learn hands on. When I was in high school, I drove a service truck to school. After school I would be in the field doing service calls. I almost always received second looks from customers, and I had to prove myself to everyone everywhere I went. I think I learned a lot more doing it that way than any other way.”

It must have worked because the Tolleson, Arizona-based multigenerational business has thrived throughout its 40-plus-year history. Today, Northern Arizona Refrigeration employs a staff of 50, with a history of adding jobs each year and steady revenue growth over 43 years to just under $7 million today.

Safety First

Northern Arizona Refrigeration’s team undergoes a lot of training, from ensuring that everyone has the proper PPE (personal protective equipment) to OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) training and job site analysis. The goal: making sure the workplace is as safe as possible for the team and to make sure they go home safely every day, Dave says.

“Safety is our greatest concern and we have implemented mandatory PPE at all times on all projects,” Dave says. “We have incorporated safety training for all new hires as well as specific OSHA 10-hour and 30-hour training, along with fall protection, ladder safety, safety data sheet, forklift and scissor-lift training.”

“We take a lot of pride in our safety efforts and try to keep our EMR Rating low,” he says.

“Our goal is to place everyone where they are most capable,” Dave says. Not a micromanager, he allows everyone to develop their abilities and work in those areas. “We hire a talented crew that can support us, and we always put our guys with someone who is more experienced until we know their knowledge level is sufficient to go into the field on their own. We try to keep the staff highly experienced and organized because our mission is to complete all projects correctly and on schedule.”

Northern Arizona Refrigeration has a fleet of about 25 vehicles and a 14,000-square-foot office and warehouse building with an in-house fabrication shop. To ensure that quality products are used in its projects, the company does all its own fabrication for rectangular ducts and fittings. “That’s a little out of the ordinary for the industry,” Dave says. “But this way we ensure what goes out of our shop is correct the first time. We have plasma tables and precision cutters. We take pride in what we build. It also helps keep us more competitive through pricing, too, because we can control what we’re doing.”

In 2018, the company installed an entire HVAC system as part of the new construction for Dignity Health Arizona General, Freeport Logistics, Reliance Broadway, Case IH Agriculture, Chili’s, Cardinal Glass Industries in Buckeye, Arizona, to name a few. Northern Arizona Refrigeration’s team also did all the low-temperature projects, including walk-in coolers and freezers, for Chase Field, formerly Bank One Ballpark, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks in downtown Phoenix; State Farm Stadium, home of the Arizona Cardinals football team; Gila River Arena in Glendale; Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office jail facilities, along with numerus popular restaurants in the valley. A lot of the HVAC is done for general contractors. The refrigeration work is often done directly for food-service contractors and owners.

Hot and Cold

There’s no typical day on the job, Dave says. Northern Arizona Refrigeration has two divisions: one handles commercial HVAC and the other focuses on commercial refrigeration.

Refrigeration consists of low-temperature work, which involves installation and service of walk-in coolers, freezers, icemakers and the like, he explains. Those customers are generally manufacturing plants, restaurants, retail shops, schools, colleges, hospitals, sports fields, resorts and casinos. For these projects, the work is divvied up so that about 75 percent is new installations and 25 percent service calls.

The HVAC division handles work in the same types of facilities as the refrigeration customers, as well as tenant improvement, retail, industrial, and a variety of commercial projects.

The ability to mobilize, manufacture and put manpower on projects on short notice sets the company apart from its competitors. “We are about problem-solving and we can do projects from as little as $1,000 up to $2.5 million. We get great feedback on our quality from general contractors, inspectors and our clients,” he says.

“Business can fluctuate in a division, so having two divisions helps keep our guys busy year-round,” Dave says. “If one division is slower, we can bounce the guys between the two. We also operate statewide in Arizona and will travel if clients need us in other locations.”

Over the years, the industry has changed with improved technology. Using state-of-the-art estimating and dispatch software allows the company to be more cost-effective, for instance. The equipment is also higher tech and safety measures are more stringent, he says.

Taking Good Care of Staff and Clients

Employee retention is important, too, and turnover is relatively low, Dave says. “We try to treat them right; the way we want to be treated.” Employee get-togethers are scheduled midyear with a big event at year-end.

“Our pledge is to deliver professionalism and dedication from our estimating team to our field personnel. We take our responsibility very seriously, and we make a point to go over any details or limitations during an installation process to eliminate delays and achieve job completion schedules,” Dave says. “This is a promise to our clients and something our team takes very seriously.”