Jacksonville, FL—Fifty years of service in the HVAC business is a lifetime for some people, but for Jim Webster, he’s just getting started. S&P USA Ventilation Systems LLC (S&P USA) recently honored Webster in his 50th year in the ventilation industry.
While most people receive a retirement gift and call it a career after 50 years, Webster has no immediate retirement plans, because solving ventilation challenges for customers is his passion. Webster’s design talent and innovation have saved S&P USA customers tens of millions of dollars in capital equipment costs and energy savings over the decades.
“I wouldn’t have done this for 50 years if I didn’t enjoy coming to work every day,” said Webster, who is currently the company’s national commercial accounts manager.
Technically, all 50 years were with S&P USA or Jacksonville fan manufacturers eventually acquired by the manufacturer/distributor of air movement products. Straight out of high school Webster joined axial fan manufacturer Stanley Fans as a welder and later advanced to plant manager for 12 years. Then, Webster assumed the roles of National Sales Manager, Vice President of Manufacturing, Director of Customer Service, and others for Breidert Air Products after Stanley acquired it in 1991. Breidert specialized in spun centrifugal upblast and downblast fans, centrifugal inline fans, and other products when S&P USA acquired it in 2004. Webster later became the National Sales Manager for both S&P USA’s JenCo Food Service Division and its Commercial Products Division. Essentially, Webster has worked in the same Jacksonville building for 46 of his 50 years.
Webster has also given back to the ventilation industry through volunteerism and membership in the performance certification group, Air Movement & Control Association-International (AMCA), and trade organization North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers (NAFEM) and their local chapters.
“I first knew of Jim Webster when I was a rep selling S&P USA fans in Texas,” said Jeff Ledsinger, a 33-year HVAC veteran who became S&P USA’s National Director of Sales in 2024. “Back then, he was considered the Fan Wizard behind the curtain—sharing his wisdom with the lucky few. After working closely with Jim I’ve come to truly appreciate the depth of his expertise, knowledge of commercial fans, the HVAC market, competitors, and key customer relationships.” After wearing many hats for over 50 years, the 69-year-old currently handles over 200 nationwide accounts of plan/spec and design/build customers as well as private brand/labeling clients. The only job title that doesn’t appear on Webster’s resume is “engineer,” but it’s his talent for engineering and designing customer fan solutions that continue feeding his passion for ventilation.
For example, Webster and his team’s design ingenuity saved a supermarket chain customer more than $1 million in the 1990s amid OSHA-mandated aisle ventilation compliances in many warehouses. In one 500,000-s.f., 500-truck dock warehouse the chain’s engineering department proposed high-velocity low speed (HVLS) fans, an emerging ventilation technology trend in the late 1990s. Instead, Webster’s significantly less expensive design repurposed S&P USA’s 48-inch, 1-hp. wall mount axial fans to supply 2 mph air down each 100-foot-long aisle. Each fan was factory-strapped onto its own dedicated pallet (S&P USA’s CrewCooler™ Air Circulator). Installation required only minutes after a forklift raised each pallet while warehouse staff easily connected the fan to ceiling joists. The design included four hanging chains precut to different lengths that created a 25-degree vertical tilt for optimum airflow projection. Once the suspension chains were installed, the holding straps were cut, the pallet was removed, and the fan was ready to ventilate its dedicated aisle in compliance with OSHA.
In another example, Webster and his design team were responsible for innovating a reversible fan design. The reversible fan reduced a 1990s lumber processor’s ventilation equipment and operating costs by 50% in dozens of portable drying kiln buildings ranging up to 5,000-s.f. Typically, 10 to 15 fans are positioned on each side of a lumber stack pushing air from both directions to assure all lumber surfaces are dried. Instead, Webster and his team developed and tested a 60-inch, 40,000-cfm, direct-drive axial reversible fan that could both push and draw air through the lumber stacks. After pushing dry air through the lumber stack for four hours, the same fans reverse and draw air through the stack from the opposite side without repositioning. This cut the number of fans required in half at a substantial savings. While it sounds logical, there were no capable reversible fans or manufacturers on the market at the time. Pushing and drawing with wall axial style fans require different panel bell orifices for optimum efficiency. Consequently, Webster and his team developed a double bell orifice that provided minimum resistance and optimum, efficient airflow from both directions. That innovative technology is still customized for customers today by S&P USA as a reversible wall fan or a reversible hooded roof unit.
When not solving S&P USA’s customer challenges, Webster spends time hunting, fishing, competing in pistol competitions, and restoring classic cars.