Portable Sanitation Association International

ASSOCIATIONINSIGHT Portable Sanitation Association International News BIWEEKLY EDITION MARCH 17, 2021 Page 3 Industry Pioneers: Ed Cooper, George Harding, and PolyJohn…continued from page 1 Continued on page 4 As his family could not afford the tuition, Ed did landscape work to put himself through Chicago Christian High School. Upon graduation in 1957, Ed joined the US Army and served in the Military Police (MP) in occupied Germany for two years. Upon his return from military service Ed started a landscape company, but he found out that he could make more money driving a steel truck. He would often make extra money by backing other drivers' rigs into blind side docks. Ed was always looking for a business where he could be his own boss. One of his best friends' father was looking to exit the trash hauling business in Chicago. This operation consisted of one truck, one driver, and one employee—Ed Cooper. When the owner retired, he sold the company to Ed, and Ed's business career began. With help and support from his wife "Sas" (Sandra), Ed Cooper began to develop and hone skills that would eventually propel him into becoming a pioneer in our industry. He believed in hard work and providing customers with great service. Ed's tremendous work ethic and outgoing personality allowed him to build his fledgling company into a successful operation. Soon, Ed began buying other Chicago-based waste companies. His brother-in-law, George Hiskes, who was an expert mechanic, saw the success Ed was having in the garbage business and approached Ed about forming a partnership. They began working together in 1976, and by the early 80s, the companies, B+G Disposal, West Englewood Disposal, and Skokie Disposal—all serving the Chicagoland area—had grown to a substantial size. As the solid waste industry was undergoing a massive consolidation in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Ed and George sold their company in 1982 and began to explore other business opportunities. Entry into the Portable Restroom Industry An important date in the history of our industry is 1982. That's when Ed Cooper and George Hiskes bought a small portable restroom company just across the Illinois state line in Whiting, Indiana. These two young entrepreneurs chose to enter the portable restroom marketplace because it was closely tied to the solid waste industry. The company, Service Sanitation, consisted of a few fiberglass portable restrooms and one "well aged" service truck. As an investment, they also purchased a property that once housed the Amoco research and development labs. Again with his strong work ethic and desire to provide exceptional customer service, Ed, along with George, was able to grow Service Sanitation into a very prosperous enterprise. It was during these early days that Ed began to formulate a lifelong philosophy in working with his customers, "We're there when you need us." Unknowingly, portable restroom history was altered forever on an fateful day in 1984 when a salesman paid a call to Ed and George. The salesman, also named George—George W. Harding—was traveling the area, selling "a new plastic portable toilet" that he had invented and patented in 1967 (see FIG. 1 at left).

• Cover