Distribution deal gives boost to Mound House company

A recently signed contract with a Florida-based company with strong national and international presence should lead to a significant sales increase for Mound House-based Humidity Control Systems.

Humidity Control Systems will provide its proprietary refrigeration filters to a company in Orlando, which is marketing the product under a different name.

"They already have an existing network of franchisees, and they are going to be adding our product to their line," says Pam Goldstein, vice president of operations for Humidity Control Systems. "That is the direction we will be heading."

Humidity Control Systems' CoolerKING commercial filter panel installs on the ceiling of a cooler via button snaps, and one filter can clean 250 cubic feet of air space, company founder and chief executive officer Stan Gittelman says.

Casino and supermarket coolers can require as many as 40 filters.

"We can handle any size," Gittelman says.

Polar Fresh, the company's other product, is a scaled-down version of the commercial filter designed for use in household refrigerators. The company expects to soon begin marketing the Polar Fresh units via a television infomercial.

Both filters help reduce refrigeration temperatures by removing excess moisture, and Gittelman says independent testing results show the filters can reduce electrical costs by as much as 10 percent. The filters also remove ethylene gases, which leads to longer shelf life for refrigerated foods.

"It provides a safer food because it lasts longer," says the 34-year-old Goldstein, who is Gittelman's daughter. "All that extra moisture breeds bacteria, so what we are doing is getting rid of that moisture."

Both filters contain a proprietary blend of moisture-reducing minerals

known as zeolites.

Gittelman, 65, founded the company in North Hollywood, Calif. in 1987 after meeting someone who was selling a similar filter. Gittelman felt he could improve the product.

"I liked the concept, so I did research with the California Department of Mining, and they led me to find about 30 different mines, and I got (mineral) samples from all 30," he says.

After researching resources found at each site, Gittelman produced a blend of minerals to use in a filter. He keeps secret the location where the company purchases the zeolite minerals that form the backbone of its filters.

In 1999 Humidity Control Systems moved to Carson City. Gittelman later purchased an acre in Mound House that now includes a 9,000-square-foot facility with 6,500 square feet dedicated to manufacturing and shipping. Humidity Control Systems employs nine at its Mound House facility and has a sales team of 10 independent reps.

In addition to providing filters to a number of culinary schools and a host of Reno-area casinos, Humidity Control Systems also services coolers for the Mobile County School District in Alabama.

"Some of the coolers in schools are pretty old, and you know you are straightening out all the health problems that can be contained in that cooler," Gittelman says.

In 2006 the company's commercial filter received approval for use in Clark County, opening the entire Las Vegas market, which in turn led to a record-setting year for sales.

Most of the sales come in the United States, but the company is making inroads into Panama and South America.

"We are developing such a different product, we are pioneers of this industry. Making customers aware of our product and what we do and

overcoming the objections are some of the biggest challenges," Goldstein says. "We have changed our strategy to getting strategic alliances with other companies that can get us national and international distributorship and want to add our line to their offerings."