Eighty years ago – when gas cost 10 cents a gallon, bread was eight cents a loaf and you could buy a home for around $3,800 – a pair of brothers from Austria came to the hot desert in Phoenix and decided to be cool.

Before February 1939, cooled-air technology essentially didn’t exist until Adam and Gust Goettl – founders of Goettl Air Conditioning – began a journey that would transform an industry and pave the way for growth throughout the arid desert Southwest. On that day, Arizona Statehood, Feb. 14, 1939, Goettl Air Conditioning was born. The brothers would grow Goettl Air Conditioning into an HVAC pioneer and secure more than 100 patents in the process. While doing so, their technology would allow for millions of people to inhabit the Southwest with air conditioned comfort at work and at home.

The revolutionary invention that changed the Southwest

Before the Goettl brothers, Phoenix, Tucson, Las Vegas and other Southwestern towns were largely temporary respites during the mild winter months. After Goettl developed air conditioning, Phoenix and other Southwest cities grew and flourished post World War II. Still today, Phoenix and Las Vegas continue to add thousands of residents annually, all drawn by the region’s beauty, good jobs, affordable homes and the promise of cool air in their offices and residences.

Applying their sheet metal expertise to air conditioner manufacturing, the Goettl brothers not only changed households, they transformed the world by aiding in the development of metal-related products for World War II. By the 1950s, the use of cooled air technology would spur a growth boom that continues today. By 1960, Phoenix grew more in a year than it did from statehood in 1914 to the end of World War II.

Similarly, Las Vegas, once just a sleepy military outpost, grew exponentially in decades following the war, spurred by affordable land, the prospect of legalized gambling and the cool climates allowed by air conditioning.

In fact, Goettl was so synonymous with strength, power and longevity, it became known as an “iron horse” surviving the relentless heart of the desert, year after year.

Continuing the legacy

In 2013, HVAC entrepreneur and successful businessman, Ken Goodrich, purchased Goettl Air Conditioning, which at the time was floundering, a victim of poor management and ownership changes.

After buying the company, Goodrich would install new management, processes and consumer satisfaction standards to enrich the brand and expand to Las Vegas and Southern California. Today, Goettl is one of the fastest growing – nearly 400 percent growth – and most successful HVAC company’s in the U.S. with plans to expand nationally in 2019.

“I’m honored to continue the legacy set forth by the Goettl family,” said Goodrich. “This company is rich in entrepreneurialism and has a passion for doing things the right way, not the easy way. I plan on honoring that promise for our consumers and partners.”

Named to Inc. 5000’s list of Fastest Growing Private Companies in 2018, Goettl Air Conditioning has operations in Phoenix, Tucson, Las Vegas and Southern California.