Carbonics Inc has quite a story to tell. We are a family-run multi-generational family business, but it hasn't always been carrots and apples.

My grandmother Cordia Ray started the company in 1947 as a CO2 and Coca Cola delivery service. Her son Mike Ray worked for her on and off for many years, Mike was drafted into service for the Vietnam War and received an honorable discharge, finally joining the company full time in 1974 (called CMR Carbonics at that time). Mike took a few years off to become a full-time minister at a church in Hawaii coming back to the mainland and re-joining the company in 1993. His mom, Cordia had an arrangement with him where he was going to take over the company and make it a second-generation family business.

But in 1996, tragedy struck. Cordia came into work early, as she always did, and entered the office area. At that time, the giant 14-ton receiver tank that holds the liquid CO2 was in a warehouse that was connected to the office (that is no longer true at the current location). The employee that was responsible for venting the filling station at the end of every day forgot to turn off the valve. It was an easy mistake that anyone could have made, but it allowed the entire building to fill up with CO2. In case you don't know, CO2 is an invisible, odorless, tasteless gas that is heavier than air. When a large quantity is released in an eclosed space, it displaces all the regular oxygen-containing atmosphere and creates a lethal environment. Cordia passed out from lack of oxygen, and later that morning another employee showed up at work. He saw Cordia on the ground inside and rushed in to help her, collapsing near her from lack of oxygen. The next employee to show up grasped what must be happening and propped open the main doors, before going inside and dragging the other two people out after calling 911.

Unfortunately Cordia did not recover and my dad lost his mom that day. This is another reason why Carbonics always takes safety so seriously. We go out of our way, every time to make sure that no one is at risk from cylinders or gas!  Mike and Sandy took over the business, organizing and streamlining and growing. Carbonics has grown steadily every year.  Our company philosophy is to grow slowly enough that we are able to keep up and continue taking care of our customers!

Now, in 2018, my parents are beginning to look at retirement and turning the company over to my wife and I. My name is Sam Herren, and together with my wife Chrisy, we are working hard to learn the ropes and make sure the management transition is transparent to our customers. We are committed to maintaining the great service that the company has been known for (no one else hand-delivers dry ice to the specific box in the specific laboratory, for hundreds of individual rooms within multiple hospitals). While at the same time, bringing on board some cutting edge innovations to help streamline our processes, so that our costs continue to stay low so that our customers continue to get the best deals in the industry!

In the last several years, Carbonics has been making a name for ourselves installing Draft Beer systems and liquor systems as well as the soda systems that we have always done. We refuse to play by the standard rules, and enjoy making sure that every job, big or small, receives the same high-quality install with our industry-unique "perfect pour" guarantee!