Kauai Air Conditioning & Refrigeration, Inc. originally opened for business on October 17, 1991 After years of working for a larger corporate company’s, Robert chose to go into business for himself.
Kauai Air Conditioning began as a very small, one-man air conditioning and ventilation service, repair and installation business. For the first few years Robert or “Bobby” as everyone on Kauai knows him, ran the business by himself with minimal help along with his wife Cynthia Ayonon doing the bookkeeping. After a few years, Bobby managed to grow his business to the point where he needed to hire a technician to help service his clientele.
By the year 1999, Kauai Air Conditioning employed two technicians in addition to Bobby and his wife Cynthia. At this point, the business was continuing to grow and obtain national accounts.
Robert and Cynthia were excited about the new direction for the company; however, they were falling behind in keeping up with the advances in technology. Between 2001 and 2005, Robert and Cynthia’s son Colby attended college in Oregon. During his breaks from school, he and his future wife Maja Leilani Marti would help his parents with the transition from bookkeeping and completing paperwork by hand to a computerized system. It completely changed the dynamic of managing the business and allowed Kauai Air Conditioning & Refrigeration, Inc. the opportunity to operate while advancing their business operations. During this time, Colby would tag along with his father learning about the technical side of the business.
In June of 2005, Robert and Cynthia’s son Colby Ayonon graduated from College with a degree in Mathematics and Applied Physics. Colby and Maja made the decision to move back to their home island of Kauai and work with Robert and Cynthia in growing the family business.
Colby immediately began working both on the field learning the technical aspect of the air conditioning and refrigeration business as well as in the office doing estimating and sales. Maja who graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management/Administration started working full time in the office doing the business bookkeeping, payroll, invoicing and answering the company phone; relieving Cynthia of her daily administrative duties.
Between 2005 and the end of 2006, Cynthia and Robert were discussing the possibility of making Colby a part owner since he was contributing so much to the business; they wanted Colby to have some ownership and responsibility in the business. In December of 2006 at the Board of Directors and Shareholders meetings, the decision was made to give Colby a more managing role. Colby was named the new Chief Operating Officer.
Over the next few years, Kauai Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Inc. added additional technicians and office manager to assist the company through a growth period. Kauai Air Conditioning & Refrigeration also began to expand the business activity to include HVAC controls and building automation systems. With the expansion into this sector of the business, we were able to tap into a market which had not yet been fully captured on Kauai. This led to doing business with larger hotel chains and into the custom home market.
With the company holding steady with some growth after 2011 Colby Ayonon was nominated as the company President and CEO. Kauai Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Inc. For well over two decades, Kauai Air Conditioning & Refrigeration has been designing, installing and servicing commercial and residential heating, air conditioning, ventilation and refrigeration equipment. With specialized training, Kauai Air Conditioning & Refrigeration has mastered the skills and knowledge required for professional HVAC/R design, sizing and operation.