Air Hygiene finishes moving into new Broken Arrow headquarters
BY ZACK STOYCOFF World Staff Writer
Thursday, October 18, 2012
10/18/12 at 8:18 AM
BROKEN ARROW - Emissions testing firm Air Hygiene Inc. has finished moving into the high-tech Broken Arrow headquarters it began building in 2010, the company announced Wednesday.
The $3 million, 32,000-square-foot facility is built around what is likely the country's only indoor simulated smokestack, allowing workers to train in a realistic environment, Air Hygiene President Quinn Bierman said.
"We know of no other sites that have this," he said. "We believe it is truly a one-of-a-kind facility."
The company, which Bierman founded with his brother Swanson in 1997, tests emissions for power plants, refineries and factories nationwide and in Canada and Mexico.
It began moving to the Broken Arrow facility from Tulsa in August 2011, when construction was largely finished.
It also has offices in Las Vegas; Fort Worth and Humble, Texas; Shreveport, La.; and Philadelphia.
"We're really impressed with what Air Hygiene has done, the quality of the jobs they bring to the area," Broken Arrow Mayor Craig Thurmond said at a ribbon-cutting Wednesday. "This really helps our mission to make Broken Arrow a high-tech job employment center."
The company will add hundreds of thousands of dollars annually to the city's economy, said Kinnee Tilly, the Broken Arrow Chamber of Commerce's vice president of economic development.
Bierman said the facility employs about 50 people with average salaries between $40,000 and $50,000.
"Air Hygiene is a prime example of the kind of outstanding homegrown company we want in Broken Arrow," Tilly said. "These are very good-paying, technical jobs."
The emissions-testing industry has gotten a boost in recent years by increasing fuel prices and tougher Environmental Protection Agency regulations.
Firms like Air Hygiene help companies save money by becoming more fuel-efficient, state Rep. David Brumbaugh, R-Broken Arrow, said at the ribbon-cutting.
Bierman said the two-story indoor smokestack simulates what workers encounter at power plants, where they sometimes must test emissions at heights of about 300 feet.
The company uses it to train workers from other companies, as well as its own, he said.
"That was really the reason for building this facility," he said. "We wanted to expand what we were doing for our customers by being ... the best-educated workforce."
The company also tests emissions from fuel and combustion engines, and builds and services testing equipment.
Air Hygiene Inc.
Headquarters: 1600 W. Tacoma St., Broken Arrow
President: Quinn Bierman
Employees: About 50
Founded: 1997
Original Print Headline: Air of progress in BA
Zack Stoycoff 918-581-8486
zack.stoycoff@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
Visitors mingle near an indoor simulated smokestack during a tour of Air Hygiene's Broken Arrow facility on Tuesday. MATT BARNARD / Tulsa World
Equipment fills a training facility during a tour of Air Hygiene's Broken Arrow headquarters on Tuesday. MATT BARNARD / Tulsa World
Air Hygiene's new headquarters is on West Tacoma Street. MATT BARNARD / Tulsa World
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