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Jack Appelt started in
the refrigeration business riding along with his Uncle Dave in his
uncle’s Ford Model T truck. His uncle, Dave Shannon, was a
refrigeration technician for Frigidaire in the early part of the
20th century, and those trips with his uncle inspired Appelt to
begin a career in refrigeration and air conditioning. In the late
1940s and early 1950s the world was rebuilding from the war, and the
Port of Los Angeles was filled with ships calling between the West
Coast and Asia. Those ships needed equipment for the preservation of
perishables in transit, including galley foodstuffs and cargo, and
to air condition the quarters of the passengers and crew.
Jack Appelt recognized
the need for a specialized marine refrigeration service company in
Los Angeles Harbor. In 1950 he used his experience in refrigeration
to form Quality Refrigeration to serve the booming cargo ship market
as well as the commercial fishing fleet in San Pedro Bay. The
company was so successful that in 1958 Jack Appelt brought in a
dedicated employee, Richard Webber, as a partner to share the
workload. The proximity to the Long Beach Naval Shipyard gave the
company the ability to offer services to tankers, cargo ships, troop
transports and destroyers deployed to the Korean conflict, as well
as the burgeoning fishing fleet that was producing 9.6 million cases
of canned tuna a year.
 Quality
Refrigeration started life in an 800-square-foot shared warehouse in
Wilmington, California. As the business grew, so did the facility,
which was expanded to 6,000 square feet in mid 1970s. In 1996 the
Long Beach Naval Shipyard was shut down, and the Navy expanded
operations in San Diego. Quality Refrigeration responded by adding a
facility to serve the new and existing San Diego-based Navy ships.
The continued success of the company led to a move from the original
Wilmington location to a new, 18,000-square-foot facility, also in
Wilmington.
From the first day,
Quality Refrigeration Company, Inc. specialized in marine,
commercial and industrial refrigeration and air conditioning with
full 24-hour service and sales. The company offered service and
repair to the maritime industry, including commercial shipping
companies, the cruise and fishing industries, oil rig platforms,
passenger vessels, tugs and shipyards, as well as industrial
customers including refineries, industrial bakeries, manufacturing
facilities and seafood processing facilities.
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(Left) Jeff Hawke
and (right) Jason Webber |
Jack and Richard worked
hard to expand the business and eventually passed on the business to
their children, Charlotte Hawke Pesusich and Mike Webber. Keeping in
the family tradition, the business is now in the hands of a third
generation; Jeff Hawke
and Jason Webber. Hawke and Webber are President and Vice President,
respectively, following in their grandfathers’ footsteps and
maintaining the thriving refrigeration and air conditioning
business.
Jeff Hawke graduated
from Cal Maritime Academy 1985 as Marine Engineer, and joined the
company in 1987. Jeff began his career with the company designing
and engineering systems along with job estimating and sales under
the watchful eye of his grandfather. Today Jeff is President and
oversees the overall operation of the company.
Jack passed away in
1997, but he left the company in good hands.
Jack’s original partner,
Richard Webber, passed the tradition down to his son, Mike, before
passing the reins to his son, Jason. Jason
worked his way up the ranks as a young boy sweeping the floor and
carrying his dad’s tools. This led to a passion for refrigeration
and air conditioning which could only be satisfied by getting his
hands dirty on the equipment and fulfilling the unique needs of each
customer. After attending technical schools and completing
on-the-job training, Jason worked from the driver position in 1992,
up through service technician and journeyman. Today he leads the
crew of service technicians and became Vice President when his
father retired in 2007.
Today, Quality
Refrigeration operates worldwide, performing installation and
service of air conditioning and refrigeration systems on ships in
Japan, Korea, Singapore, Guam, South America, Africa and Mexico, as
well as throughout Europe and the U.S. The company keeps an
inventory of more than $500,000 in parts and equipment between the
Wilmington and San Diego locations, including an extensive inventory
of hard-to-find parts for outdated equipment. Quality Refrigeration
also has a team of service technicians available 24-hours a day and
ready to go where the client needs them. Inside customer
representatives take care of sales for the company, including parts
and equipment, and have clients throughout the maritime industry as
well as international export customers.
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Technician Anthony
Jasprica at the Ammonia
Refrigeration Plant at San Pedro Fish Markets |
Quality Refrigeration
can service, repair or replace any marine refrigeration or air
conditioning system, and has served as a Carrier Transicold Marine
Distributor and Service Center for more than 40 of its 60 years.
Safety is a priority to our company, and Webber is responsible for
insuring that Quality Refrigeration complies with and works to the
highest safety standards, and the company conducts weekly in-house
technical training sessions to ensure that the service technicians
have the latest tools and information at their disposal. The
training also allows Quality Refrigeration to keep their technicians
abreast of environmental issues, new refrigerant regulations and the
EPA compliance requirements.
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