Portable Sanitation Association International

PSAI Association Insight, July 7, 2021 I 17 increased to $1.5 million last year. Sales of $2.6 million are being forecast for 1973." In 1986, Virginia Fiberglass Products, Inc changed its name to VFP, Inc. As fiberglass restrooms decreased in need and popularity, VFP continued to expand its production of other fiberglass products. VFP's Frank Van Balen was at the initial organizing meeting of the soon-to-be- named Portable Sanitation Association (PSA) on January 29, 1971. He was the Membership Co-Chairman with friend and local operator, Robert Churchill of Churchill's in Roanoke, Virginia. Van Balen was also a member of the May 1971 Organizing Committee at the Chartering Congress of the PSA. At that meeting, three of the 34 company representatives were from Virginia Fiberglass. The Roanoke, Miami, and Weaverville, NC VFP facilities had representatives present to organize and work with this new association. According to the 1976 article, Frank was also friends with Luther (Lucky) Elkins of Sani-Kan in Crofton, Maryland and Luther's son-in-law, Tim Haszard with Monogram. It is no coincidence, then, that both Sani-Kan and Monogram were represented at the May 1971 Chartering Congress. Frank served on the PSA Board and was instrumental in the growth of the Association in the early days of its existence. His business knowledge and organizational skills were a tremendous benefit for the fledgling group. The high degree of his dedication and service were acknowledged in 1987 when Frank Van Balen was named Small Business Person of the Year for the Commonwealth of Virginia. We owe much to this member of the founding group of our Association. The Phil Carter System—Newport News, Virginia Phil Carter began his company in Newport News, Virginia on November 13, 1967. Located near the intersection of the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, fiberglass boats would be one of the primary products the company would produce. By this point, the reader should not be surprised at this particular business plan. Soon, however, portable restrooms became a new product line, and Phil converted the Newport News facility to manufacture these units. Another location at Arnold, Maryland became the sole home of Revel Craft, Inc, and the company's boat manufacturing business. Frank Ranson was named President of The Phil Carter System, and it was his sales skills and business acumen that grew the portable restroom sector of the business. In an August 24, 1972, article in the Newport News Daily Press, Phil Carter stated, "We sell restrooms to dealers in 35 states who rent them to construction firms and various other businesses and organizations." The Phil Carter System was growing as our industry was growing. A headline article in the same newspaper on November 17, 1973, read "Fiberglass Firms Facing Cutbacks." This was in response to the energy crisis at that time. According to The Daily Press, the lack of resin, which has high styrene content, a petroleum product, "has forced the curtailment of use of fiberglass." Around this same time, Frank Ranson and Warren Spivey developed a franchise system. Franchisees were provided the equipment and the knowledge to run a portable restroom business under the "Sani-Serva System, Inc." – also known as "SSS." This was an innovative way to grow the portable sanitation industry with Phil Carter units as the backbone of the operation. There were somewhere between 25 and 35 locations stretching from Louisiana to Florida along the Gulf Coast and north along the Atlantic Seaboard to New England. There was also a Mid-West Sani-Serva location in Nebraska. It should be noted that Warren Spivery was another early operator in our industry, and he founded Spivey Rentals in Tidewater, Virginia in 1969. Warren went on to serve as CEO of The Phil Carter System, Inc. The Phil Carter System had a unique honor in 1982 when, according to the Daily Press headline from September 19, 1982: "Plant Displays Assembly Line for US Tour." The Phil Carter System manufacturing plant was chosen to host a dignitary from South Africa who had an interest in portable restrooms for construction sites in that country. Portable restrooms were non- existent in South Africa at the time, and the possible export of Phil Carter units was discussed. Frank Ranson stated that Fiberglass Units – The Bridge Between Wood and Plastic (continued from page 15) (continued on page 18) Frank Ranson

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