By Mindy Ragan Wood
Staff Writer
Temtrol’s new director of operations came aboard in February, and his opinion of the plant and Okarche could not be higher.
Rick Garcia joined Temtrol, which is owned by Missouri-based Nortek, and moved to northwest Oklahoma City from Katy, Texas, where he worked for Igloo. He oversees facilities in Oklahoma City and Okarche.
“We have a lot of good people here at this manufacturing facility,” Garcia said. “A lot of good people and a lot of hard workers, a lot of tenured people who are starting to retire. There’s a lot of wanting to do the right thing and really continue this business and the brand and the quality of the product.”
The Okarche plant was initially opened in 1955 as Temtrol and established a reputation within the company that continues today.
“One of the things this facility is known for is they have been getting out all high quality products out the door on time,” he said. “The work ethic I have found to be outstanding. They work hard.”
Nortek purchased Temtrol in 1985 but continues to manufacture the line of large-scale heat and air machines. The plant is home to 510 staff and manufacturing employees.
The company also owns Governair.
“Governair used to be in Oklahoma City and we basically moved that operations here to Okarche so now we’ve combined the two brands under one roof,” Garcia said. “Okarche had a little bit bigger facility. It wouldn’t have made sense to move Temtrol to Governair because there wasn’t enough room.”
The coil manufacturing was moved to the Oklahoma City facility which sent around 60 employees there for those operations.
Garcia is from a manufacturing background, having worked in the field when he was growing up. He developed an appreciation for the worker and making sure there’s not a wide gap between the manager and the employees.
“I have an open door policy,” he said. “I’ve made it a point to get out on the floor and meet the people. I’m not one who likes to manage just from my office. Basically because I kind of grew up on the manufacturing floor and I’ve always enjoyed that part of the business. That’s why I’ve stayed in manufacturing all during my career.”
