Issue link: http://psai.uberflip.com/i/810924
W EEKLY EDITION APRIL 12, 2017 International Member Spotlight Bahamas Waste As we mentioned on the previous page , in just a few short weeks, Members of the PSAI will make their way to Nassau, Bahamas fo r the PSAI Board of Director's spring meeting. While there will be a little time spent on the beach, the Board is excited to hold their meeting on the island in order to visit one of our International Members, Bahamas Waste. For the last 18 years, Bahamas Waste has been a major player in the Bahamas portable sanitation industry, thanks to leadership by Francisco (Franny) de Cardenas and Ethelyn Davis. Bahamas Waste was founded in 1987 by Peter Andrews, who was convinced that there had to be a better alte rnative to the islands' waste collection services. As the company expanded and the demand for their range of services grew, Ethelyn was brought on to assist in the office. Ten years later, in 1997, there was a change in management. Mr. Andrews came to Fran ny, who was working for a shipping company at the time, and persistently asked him to take over as General Manager. In June of 1998, Peter Andrews resigned from the General Manager role as Franny assumed the position. At this time, Ethelyn became the offic ial Operations Manager. Under this new leadership, Bahamas Waste began to expand their solid waste collection business. Thanks to Franny and Ethelyn's hard work, they were able to take the company public in 2000. With the proceeds from the IPO, Bahamas Wa ste built their new facilities and moved locations in 2001 (see photo, pictured below ). In the midst of this change, they broke into the portable restroom business in 1999. There were multiple large construction jobs on Paradise Island and a lack of proper ly maintained portable restroom options. Bahamas Waste was able to capitalize on the opportunity – after a bit of convincing to the company's "founding fathers." According to Franny, when he explained that he wanted to break into the portable restroom indu stry, he received the reply of "You want to get into what ?!" However, Franny explained that he partially owes his portable restroom start to fellow PSAI Member, Dave Bamberg from Black Tie Products. Dave, who Franny explained was with Synergy at the time , gave him the push that he needed. Dave came down to the Bahamas Waste headquarters and lent a hand as they broke into the portable restroom industry. They have grown this portion of their business ever since. They purchased their first restroom trailer i n April of 2015 and just purchased their second one this year! Ethelyn attended the 2016 PSAI Convention and Trade Show in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she was able to meet and connect with Members who she described as incredibly helpful and willing t o share their industry knowledge. The company offers a number of portable restroom grades – from construction grade, special event or large crowd, to VIP, and "Very" VIP, high - end options. They strive for high standards and excel in what they do – they rar ely receive complaints and the people of the Bahamas love what they offer! In May, the Board will have the opportunity to visit a few of the Bahamas Waste sites. It will be interesting for the Board to see the difference between their process of servicing a unit on an island, compared to the systems used by some of our United States or Canadian Members – and Franny and Ethelyn look forward to learning about these differences themselves. P AGE 5