Aire-Master licenses 100th franchise

Nixa-based Aire-Master of America Inc. has signed on the dotted line to license its 100th franchise.

The manufacturer of odor control and commercial hygiene products is working with Colorado-based franchisee AM of the Highlands to open the new location next week. The milestone brings Aire-Master into 43 states and two Canadian provinces, according to a news release.

Aire-Master - which opened in 1958 and began franchising in 1976 - in the past two months has licensed seven franchises in Houston and San Antonio, Texas; Philadelphia; southern Maryland; and Orange County and San Diego, Calif.

Aire-Master posted fiscal 2013 revenue of $22.7 million, a roughly 4 percent increase from $21.7 million in fiscal 2012, according to data provided by franchise Director Jim Roudenis. It's also up from $19.6 million revenue in fiscal 2011, the release said.

Company founder Jerry McCauley died Dec. 26 in Depoe Bay, Ore. Now under the leadership of his son Doug McCauley, Aire-Master has in the last few years forged a multimillion-dollar deal with national retailer Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. and worked with Mercy Research & Development to bottle its Hands First sanitizer product.