EVAPCO Celebrates 50 Years of Innovation in Evaporative Cooling and Heat Transfer

EVAPCO, Inc., an industry‑leading, employee‑owned manufacturer of heat transfer solutions, is celebrating its 50th anniversary on June 14, 2026, marking five decades of innovation, customer partnerships, and global growth. Founded in 1976 by Wilson E. Bradley and William E. Kahlert, the company began as a small refrigeration‑focused business at 3120 Frederick Avenue in Baltimore, Maryland, with a team of about five employees and a single product line of evaporative condensers using ammonia as a refrigerant.

“When we started the company, we really planned to stay just in the refrigeration business, which meant a smaller company just making evaporative condensers,” said co‑founder Wilson Bradley. “These condensers—they were well received right from the start, and we quickly realized there was a need to broaden the product line.”

What began as a niche refrigeration venture has since evolved into a full‑spectrum provider of evaporative cooling and industrial refrigeration solutions serving commercial HVAC, industrial process, power, and mission‑critical data center markets. Today, EVAPCO’s portfolio includes factory‑assembled and field‑erected cooling towers, closed‑circuit coolers, evaporative condensers, air‑cooled solutions, advanced water treatment systems, and large‑scale equipment for power plants and data centers.

EVAPCO has built a vertically integrated global footprint that supports customers across the world. The company now operates 34 global locations in 14 countries, including 28 factories in 11 countries, complemented by numerous subsidiaries that enhance vertical integration and responsiveness to local market needs. Its products are available in virtually every nation worldwide, with the exception of countries on the U.S. State Department restricted list, and supplied through 178 global sales offices.

The company’s growth and market leadership are underpinned by a strong commitment to research, testing, and intellectual property. EVAPCO holds more than 500 active patents worldwide and subjects every solution to rigorous research and performance testing to help ensure maximum efficiency, reliability, and long‑term value. These efforts support the company’s strong sustainability goals, focusing on higher system efficiency, reduced resource consumption, and environmentally responsible cooling technologies. Equally important, generations of dedicated employee‑owners have driven EVAPCO’s culture of innovation, service, and continuous improvement, helping transform a five‑person startup into a global enterprise over the past 50 years.

“EVAPCO’s success over the past 50 years is rooted in our commitment to quality, innovation, and the long‑term relationships we’ve built with our customers and sales partners,” said Jamie Facius, Marketing Vice President of EVAPCO, Inc. “As we look to the future, we are investing in technologies and services that help our customers meet demanding efficiency, sustainability, and reliability goals in applications ranging from food storage to large‑scale data centers.”

As EVAPCO commemorates its 50th anniversary, it honors the vision of its founders and the dedication of employees, sales representatives, and customers who have driven the company’s growth from a small Baltimore startup to a global leader in heat transfer technology. The company’s employee‑owners remain at the heart of its success, designing, building, and supporting solutions that serve critical applications around the world.