Company Legacy
From a single refrigeration shop on Chicago's south side to a 100% employee-owned, full-service MEP+™ contractor. Six decades of deliberate growth, one discipline at a time.
Our History
Every group, office, and facility on this timeline was added because a customer needed it, not because a market looked attractive. That is how a refrigeration company became a complete MEP+™ contractor without ever outgrowing the standards it started with.
John F. Berzanskis Sr.
Founder · Vision Come to Fruition
AMS Industries history begins with John Berzanskis Sr., a hard-working man with humble beginnings, originally founded AMS back in 1963 under the name of Antarctic Refrigeration, Inc. John began his refrigeration company as a sole proprietor working out of a former gas station facility in Chicago, Illinois. His simple premise was to work hard and to provide honest, reliable service to the refrigeration industry.
John F. Berzanskis Jr.
Director · Erasing Parameters
With his father’s retirement four years prior, it was in 1982 that John F. Berzanskis Jr. would take the reins of what was AMS Mechanical Systems Inc., and become president and owner while always holding fast to his father’s philosophy to provide excellent service with a strengthened foundation for quality and integrity.
Benjamin J. Campbell
CEO · Forging the Future
In 2017, John Berzanskis handed over the reigns to the employees and we are now a 100% Employee Owned Company. As John takes a step back and eases into retirement, he has appointed Ben Campbell as the new president assuming all of John’s duties. Ben is continuing on our course of action of building a better, stronger and more durable company for future generations, protecting the AMS brand, meeting our commitments to clients, developing our people, and helping improve communities.
1960's
1963
Antarctic Refrigeration, Inc. founded by John F. Berzanskis Sr.
1980's
1982
Company purchased by John F. Berzanskis Jr.
1985
Renamed AMS Mechanical Systems, Inc. Expands into the Commercial Marketplace.
1990's
1990
AMS expands into the Industrial Market.
1996
Acquires Press Mechanical Inc.; renamed PMT Nuclear, entering the Nuclear Engineering & Manufacturing Marketplace.
1997
Opens its Indiana office to serve the Indiana Heavy Industrial Market.
2000's
2008
Adds a Fabrication Facility to serve Heavy Industrial clientele.
2010
Receives the largest contract in company history — the BP contract, building GOHT/OSBL, Coker, and fabrication for SB-12 PS.
2010's
2012
Systems Integration Group formed.
2013
Plumbing Group formed.
2016
Expands into Mission Critical & Environmental Services markets.
2017
Becomes an Employee Owned Company; moves into a new 145,000 sq ft HQ & Fabrication Facility.
2020's
2020
Fire Protection Group formed.
2021
Fire Alarm & Security Groups formed.
2022
Renamed AMS Industries, Inc., offering our full MEP+™ suite of services.
2026
Installs the world's second-largest CUP (129,000 tons) and leads the single largest IST turnover in the world. Expands beyond its Woodridge HQ with a nearby Bolingbrook construction facility and a 100,000 sq ft Nashville prefab and office location.
One refrigeration shop. Ten-plus disciplines. Every group on this timeline added because a customer needed it.
Quality · Integrity · Reliability — since 1963
