It is very interesting to hear the stories throughout the Aire-Master system of how franchisees and employees came to be involved in the business. Each story shows the power of relationships over our 54 year history. Our newest franchise, Aire-Master of Honolulu, is a great example.

In the mid 1980s, Graeme and Vivienne Flexman left their home and friends in New Zealand, traveled across the world to the United States, and started an Aire-Master franchise. Since then, the Flexmans have contributed to Aire-Master by starting additional franchises, as well as working in our corporate divisions. It was in Eugene, Oregon, that the Flexmans met the Lawther family. Lopaka Lawther and his brother, Kawika, were small children at the time, and they became friends with the Flexmans’ son, Mike.

Over the years, Lopaka and Kawika have kept in contact with Mike, who works with Graeme in Aire-Master of Arizona. It is through Mike that they learned more about Aire-Master as a potential business opportunity. Aire-Master of Honolulu is now the first AM franchise off the US/ Canada mainland. We want to congratulate Lopaka and Kawika on their investment of time to work out the logistics of opening the first Aire-Master franchise in Hawaii.

Most of Aire-Master’s franchises have started this way — not through marketing campaigns, but through people and their trusted relationships with each other. Aire-Master has built a market-leading brand through trusted relationships with our customers.

We now have 86 individual franchise locations, with 4 company-owned locations. Only ten more to reach 100!