THE FILTERS WE SELL ARE ONLY AS GOOD

AS THE PEOPLE WE KEEP...

Meet The Team

Larry Surdick | COO

August 24, 1941 - May 22, 2025

It is with heavy hearts that we inform the loyal customers and friends that our Founder and long time President Larry "IcePuff" Surdick has passed away. He not only was our founder but also husband, father, grandfather and best friend to the staff here at FAIM Reps.

Larry started L.A.S. Associates in 1971 after 6 years of being an ice machine rep for Scotsman. He then went on to be a northeast rep for brands like Manitowoc, Scotsman (again), Cornelius and Kolddraft for a time. In 1984 he found the machine that would change his life which was Hoshizaki! He came on board with Hoshizaki as their first East Coast Sales Manager working with the likes of Jack Smithart, Ivan Abernathy and many others who went out and set the world on fire during the mid-80's to the late 90's pioneering the famous crescent cube!

Throughout his journey with Hoshizaki Larry, with the help of his son Todd, saw a gap in the market with ice machines breaking down in the field. One thing many ice makers had in common was serious water issues at area of install. At the time in the in the late 80's (I think 87 or 88 we started promoting water filters) many people were not using water filters on their foodservice equipment. This is when Larry and Todd set out to promote water filtration on ice machines to take care of lime scale and slime growth before touching the ice machine.

With friend of Hoshizaki at the time Lee Terry they started promoting Systems IV Water Treatment (now Terry H2O Solutions- Middleby). For slightly higher upfront cost on a filter system you could save $100's to $1,000's on maintenance which is true today! Over time we evolved from ice machine filters to steamer, warewashing, coffee and more always staying on top of all of the cutting edge advancements with Larrys guidance. One thing lead to another and we have taken on other lines actually not only distribute for Systems IV but also Everpure, 3M, KineticoPRO, Aquamor and so many other amazing brands that all have their own special value in commercial kitchens.After leaving Hoshizaki in 1999 he focused almost exclusively on water filters until 2015 after old friend Jack Smithart and new friend Daniel Moon introduced Larry to a small Korean ice machine company trying to make a name for themselves in the US called ICETRO! Larry said he'd give it a try and that sparked a journey that he embarked on for his last 10 years. Larry loved Icetro at first sight and saw so much potential the brand and machines had! Pioneering of a brand was one of Larry's favorite things in life and with Icetro he had an opportunity to see that vision through, yet again! Up until July 2022 we represented Icetro for the East Coast with Larry as East Coast Rep setting up distributors! Once Middleby purchased Icetro we remained as a distributor and continue to manage New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. While things will be different at FAIM without Larry we will forge ahead in his honor. With Todd Surdick as current President and myself as Vice President to see his vision through with our amazing team with over 100 years of experience.