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wbjournal.com | April 16, 2018 | Worcester Business Journal 19 ry vehicles for certain residents. Summer in those facilities in Flori- da, Texas, Arizona and California can be sweltering, but air conditioning systems typically take up too much power for those small vehicles to work effectively. Curtis has designed a better system for air conditioning by having the system cycle itself off when the driver needs more engine power. e same idea is applied to a tractor when it it using a bucket or backhoe to li a load. "e AC senses that and takes less power," Psyhojos said. "We're looking at applying this across the board to everything for which we make a cab." Curtis makes cabs for Kubota trac- tors, and they look just like a factory cab from the get go, said Burch, from the Maryland tractor supplier. e air that comes out of the air con- ditioning system is as cold as the air that would come out of a regular car with one huge difference, Burch said: It's an electronic system. "It's a really nice setup they do on all of them," he said. M A N U F A C T U R I N G F O C U S Building a brighter future for Worcester and Central Massachusetts. For your next project, make the bright choice... IBEW Local 96. Call Business Manager Thomas J. Maloney at 508-753-8635 Brilliantly powering the future of Worcester 242 Mill Street, Worcester, MA 01602 508.753.8635 www.ibewlocal96.org AbbVie, Worcester UMASS Medical Center, Worcester PHOTOGRAPHY: SEYMOUR LEVY W Curtis keeps customers out of the elements BY ZACHARY COMEAU Worcester Business Journal Staff Writer Curtis Industries combined its four Worcester facilities into one West Boylston facility last year. Product Design & Innovation Award Curtis Industries, LLC, West Boylston Industry subsector: Compact vehicle enclosures Top executive: President & CEO George Psyhojos Founded: 1968 Employees: 150 Fun fact about company: Curtis started developing cabs with air conditioning in order to tap into the market south of the Mason-Dixon Line. I magine working on a tractor in the dead of summer with the sun glaring down on you, or plowing a New England sidewalk in a small front end loader in the middle of winter. You need to get out of the elements, and that's where Curtis Industries steps in. e West Boylston company designs, manufactures and distributes cabin enclosures for compact vehicles like tractors, utility vehicles and golf carts. "You get a pretty good product for the price," said Justin Burch, a salesper- son at farm equipment supplier Hugh C. Gardiner in southern Maryland, which uses Curtis cabs. Business has been booming, so much so the company decided to consolidate its four Worcester facilities into one in West Boylston last year. Along with the move came a huge upgrade to equipment and infrastruc- ture, including a product code system essentially built into the facility. "e new facility gives us additional throughput capability," said George Psyhojos, president and CEO of Curtis Industries. Half of the company's business is supplying cabin enclosures equipped with heating and cooling functions to vehicle manufacturers, and the other half is supplying the products directly to dealers. Last year, the company developed a cabin enclosure equipped with a new air conditioning system designed for small vehicles. "It's something we think will revolu- tionize the business," Psyhojos said. e company's biggest customer is the golf cart industry. At retirement communities in the South, the carts function as secondary and even prima-