Mario Taylor learned the technical and not-so-technical keys to success while serving in the Navy during World War II.
As a mechanic/technician, the now 87-year-old founder of Taylor Refrigeration learned how to keep giant coolers and freezers running on transport ships that supplied ice cream — and other comforts — to exhausted Marines.
And as a young sailor, he learned to take his responsibilities seriously when his commanding officer once knocked him out of his chair for falling asleep during night duty.
“I thought he was going to kill me,” Taylor said. “After that experience, I think that taught me I ought to get things done right.”
That’s what he did for five decades in the business world on a full-time basis and still does every now and then to this day.
“If I see something that ain’t going on right, I still say something about it,” Taylor said.
And people still tell him if everything isn’t right. Taylor officially retired in 1999, but some of his older customers still call him at home when something goes awry with an air-conditioner.
It doesn’t bother Taylor, though. He said there’s nothing wrong with customers demanding they get what they pay for.
“I’d be the same way if I bought something from somebody,” he said.
His commitment to getting things right and keeping his customers happy recently earned Taylor induction into the Carrier Dealer Hall of Fame.
Taylor first became associated with Carrier in the Navy. Carrier flew technicians to the middle of the Pacific Ocean to repair equipment on Navy destroyers, including one on which Taylor was stationed.
Taylor said it impressed him that experts would be flown into such remote locations.
In a release from the company, Taylor was described as the kind of business owner Carrier wants to be associated with.
“Taylor has fully embraced the brand and the values it stands for, leading by example in honesty, loyalty and integrity,” the release says. “He has been recognized many times by Carrier for excellence and performance, including receiving the Carrier President’s Award in 2007 and 2011.”
The company also mentioned Taylor’s philanthropic contributions that included work with Shriners Hospitals for Children, the St. Augustine Sunrise Rotary, Habitat for Humanity, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Fishing for Dreams and Pie in the Sky (a local food bank). He helped to provide funding for the building and annual operating expenses for The Wildflower Clinic, a free clinic in St. Augustine. He donated all air conditioning labor and materials during the construction of the free clinic and continues to provide maintenance and repairs as needed at no cost.
The induction ceremony took place in Nashville, Tenn., and Taylor had 14 family members with him. It was fitting since three of his four children worked in the business, and son, Rebel, now works as the president with daughter Trudy as vice president. Several of his grandchildren also work there.
“They all grew up out here doing something,” Taylor said of his children.
EARLY DAYS
Taylor first opened for business in 1951 on Cincinnati Avenue in downtown St. Augustine before moving to the current location on State Road 207 in 1956. He was the first Carrier dealer in St. Augustine and among the first in the state.
Before starting the business, he learned during his first regular job after leaving the Navy by working as a technician for local man P.D. McRae — making $1.50 an hour.
Because homes were not generally air conditioned in those days, most of the work Taylor did was with coolers at grocery stores or drug stores.
It was hard work, but Taylor was used to it. As a child, he worked to help support his family.
He sold The St. Augustine Record down on St. George Street, delivered groceries and worked as an auto mechanic before enlisting at 16.
Taylor served in the Pacific, including a stint aboard the USS Valeria, an Artemis Class attack cargo ship.
After leaving the Navy in 1947, Taylor was offered the chance to re-enlist because of his mechanical skills. But by that time, he was back home in St. Augustine, starting his professional life.
CHANGING WITH TECHNOLOGY
After spending years working on large coolers, many of which were Carrier products, Taylor and his company gradually moved into the personal air conditioner systems.
Taylor said it started with window units, which Carrier also built. The best clients were local motels where he might install dozens of units.
“That’s basically how I got in with Carrier,” Taylor said. “I just went with the flow.”
Gradually the business grew to putting central heating and cooling units in new and old houses. Taylor said that side of the business started to see serious activity in the 1960s.
DOING IT HIS WAY
Taylor, who never finished high school because he had to work, said he tried to keep a firm grasp on everything that happened with his business. He kept the books himself, along with wife Clara, and never let himself get overextended.
One of the things that Taylor is proud of is the fact that he always paid Carrier on time for the equipment it provided.
Whenever a customer called him, Taylor said he always made it a point to call back. It was a simple matter of serving the people who paid him.
Taylor also had high expectations for those who worked for him.
“I went through a lot of help,” Taylor said. “I was hard to work for.”