Sunset Air, the HVAC company that Peter and Kathy Fluetsch started in their Tumwater Hill garage in 1976, celebrated its 50th anniversary with a party at Port Plaza on Sept. 17.

The company now employs more than 150 people across heating, cooling, plumbing, electrical and solar services in the South Sound, according to The Olympian. It is based at 5210 Lacey Blvd. SE in Lacey. Third-generation president and CEO Trenton Fluetsch told The Olympian in an email published Sept. 17 that the business remains family-owned and that residents have likely seen the company's vans around town.

Brian Fluetsch, Trenton's father and chairman of the board, was a high school junior when his parents launched the company. In a sponsored feature on ThurstonTalk published Sept. 29, he recalled the early days when the business ran out of the family home.

"I would get up for school and have my breakfast around the kitchen table with our employees sharing a cup of coffee and getting ready for their day," Brian Fluetsch said.

Jim Southwell, Sunset Air's first employee, attended the celebration.

So did co-founder Kathy Fluetsch, who served as the company's office manager and bookkeeper. Brian Fluetsch told ThurstonTalk his mother deserved much of the credit for Sunset Air's success, saying she tracked every dollar that passed through the company while Peter Fluetsch focused on the big picture.

Peter Fluetsch also served as Tumwater mayor from 1990 to 1993, according to city records.

He died on Aug. 16, 2025, at age 88, The Jolt reported. Brian Fluetsch told ThurstonTalk that his father got to see the business pass to the third generation before his death.

The company has expanded well beyond furnaces and air conditioners. Trenton Fluetsch told ThurstonTalk the company added an electrical division about a decade ago, leading to work in solar, EV charging, whole-home battery systems and generators. A plumbing division is the most recent addition.

That clean-energy work earned Sunset Air the Large Business of the Year award at the Thurston Green Business Forum on April 8, according to the Thurston County Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber cited the company's heat pump installations, solar systems and EV infrastructure.

The anniversary party at Port Plaza ran from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and featured speeches by Trenton and Brian Fluetsch, a catered dinner and music by Eldridge Gravy and Court Supreme.