in March 1969. Jerry Turner was the sole proprietor; his wife Sara was the secretary. They had one child who was born in 1968 his name was Dwayne. Jerry had been working in the air conditioning trade since 1953 when he started working on Mathis window units at Ocilla Truck and Implement Co. He started design of and installation of ductwork in 1957 when he went to work with Smith Metal Works in Tif
ton. They installed duct systems for Haymon Layton Hardware, Tifton; Neelson Co., Thomasville; Speedy McQuaid, Waycross; Barge Heating and Cooling, Cordele. He also worked with Jones Heating and Cooling in Tifton from 1963-1969 when he started this family owned and operated business. Tropical Air has served the Tiftarea from the same location for over 34 years. When Jerry started Tropical Air, one of his principle goals was not only customer satisfaction, but first and foremost quality workmanship. It was his vision that through quality workmanship, a quality job at competitive pricing that customer satisfaction would follow. He has sacrificed several jobs through the years because he simply would not sacrifice quality. It is adherence to this ideal that he passed along to his son and employees that has kept Tropical Air strong throughout the years. Some of the projects Tropical Air includes in their portfolio are:
* Superior Sauce Company in Tifton
* American Textile
* Heatcraft
* South GA Banking Co in Tifton, Ashburn, Moultrie, Cordele Omega and Vienna
* Waycross Bank, First Multizone System in South Georgia, Waycross
* Tifton Aluminum, Most all office Spaces, Tifton
* Sangamon industries, production area, Moultrie
* Fitzgerald Underwear, Tifton & Fitzgerald
* Northside Baptist Church, Family Life Center, Tifton
* First Methodist Church, Family Life Center, Tifton
* First Baptist Church, Family Life Center, Tifton
* Prestolite Wire Building 2, entire building, Tifton
* Target, 4 walls building, office space, Tifton
* City Complex, City of Tifton
* Main Fire Station, City of Tifton
* Irwin Manufacturing, entire building, Ocilla & Enigma
* First Community Bank, reconstruction, Tifton
* Kemp Apartments, all buildings, Tifton
* A.B.A.C. several assorted buildings, Tifton
* Arbys, Tifton
* Omega City Hall, Omega
* South Georgia Bank, Omega
* Brumby Crossing, exposed rectangular duct in an historic building, Tifton
* Steak & Shake Travel Center, Tifton
* Tifton Museum of Arts, Critical Humidity and Temperature control, old Methodist Church, Tifton
* Don Jose’s, complex metal coping on curved parapet wall, Moultrie
* KMC Farm Equipment Co, All offices, Tifton
* Union Camp Bag Plant, Office spaces, Tifton
* Citizen Bank, 8th ST., Tifton
* Tift County High School football locker rooms, coach office’s
* Gray and Associates building, reconstruct, Tifton
* South Georgia Bank, Design Build, Moultrie
* Lennox Bank, Design Build, reconstruction, Lennox
* HealthPlus Clinic, Design Build, Sylvester
* Dr. McElroy Offices, Tifton
* Dr. Clifford Walker new home, design build, High Pressure System, Tifton
* Tifton Auto Parts, Tifton
* Verastar Car Auction Complex, Design Build, Tifton
* South Georgia Bank, Design Build, Tift Ave. , Tifton
* Georgia State Patrol Office, 41 S. , Tifton
* Quality Peanut, 41 S., Tifton
* Tift County High School weight room and soccer lockers.
* American Textiles, Tifton
* Northside Baptist Church New Facility
* Prince Toyota, Tifton, New Facility
This list does not include the many residential systems that we have designed and installed. If a referral is requested, we have many. Dwayne Turner currently does the design work for Tropical Air with the help and tutorship of his father. He utilizes mainly his actual field experience in design work. He grew up in the company working on holidays from school, and every summer vacation. Dwayne also utilizes formal education in design work. After completing a business degree from A.B.A.C. he went on to Southern Technical College now Southern Polytechnic College in Marietta Ga. for his Mechanical Engineering degree, while there he was an active member of A.S.R.A.E. (American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers), where he learned the multitude of codes that should govern air conditioning design. His course curriculum also introduced him to the complexity of design work in general. He specialized his studies toward the air conditioning trade and excelled in those courses that pertained to his trade. He graduated Southern Tech in 1996 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering with a 3.8 GPA. Since that time he has been designing A/C systems for various projects, most recently being, Sylvester HealthPlus Clinic, South Georgia Bank Tift Ave. ,Verastar, now called Insurance Auto Auctions and Georgia State Patrol offices. He designs using AutoCAD to draw and share plans, he uses Microsoft Excel where he has written several small programs to help speed up duct design, air calculations, and load distribution, and does load calculations using load programs married with practical experience. Tropical Air has installed a lot of equipment, has had many satisfied customers, and has had but very few complaints in 50+ years of continuous operation. They expect to continue to serve the Tiftarea for many years to come by keeping up with new industry innovations, new indoor air quality requirements, and continue to do their work with the highest standards. They have always and shall always stand behind their work. It is really not hard to do because of their initial goal; it is what they drill into their employees, and what their future depends on, a niche in the market that calls for Quality instead of quantity. Tropical Air will bring not only 44+ years of experience, but 44+ years of experience doing quality work to your next project.
