When you live in a beautiful area and work with a great team, it’s easier and rewarding to run a business, according to Rich and Mandy Sogge. 

The couple owns a couple of businesses in the lakes area of northwest Michigan on the shores of Lake Michigan. Though the region can be challenging in the winter, it’s also filled with recreational opportunities and events that need portable restrooms from their Security Sanitation business, based in Traverse City. Increased demand from construction and popular attractions has helped them grow from 200 units purchased from a business in 1997 to 2,400 today in a variety of colors and styles. 

EMPLOYEE TO ENTREPRENEUR

After graduating from high school, Rich worked for a large local excavating company along with his dad and brother. He thought he’d be there for the rest of his working career, until an annual review. That’s when his employer told Rich he was doing a great job and could see 

him working there the next 30 years. Although he loved his job, it got Rich thinking, “Do I want to work for someone else for the next 30 years, or can I do this on my own and make my own destiny?” 

So, in 1994, when the opportunity came up to purchase Belanger Excavating, he partnered with his dad and brother to buy the business, which Rich and Mandy bought out later. Along with digging basements and residential work, they focused on installing septic systems. The business was successful enough to require a new shop in 1997, and in the process of renting a portable restroom on a job site, they learned the owner of the company wanted to sell the business. It was the largest portable restroom business in the area at the time.

“Traverse City is a nice place to live, so construction is busy and there are a lot of festivals,” Rich says, which made the business a wise investment.

At first Security Sanitation was just a sideline business, he notes, but as demand grew, he realized its potential and took it more seriously. Over the next years he expanded by buying out three more companies that had between 150 and 300 portable restrooms. In 2007, the Sogges added Belanger Septic to their holdings and sold the excavating part of the business. Both the septic and portable restroom rentals continue to grow, with about two-thirds of the income coming from portable sanitation.

COLORFUL INVENTORY

Because they purchased from different companies, the restrooms at Security Sanitation come in sedate grays and greens to colorful pastels in pink, purple and blue.

“We like the Tuff-Jon restrooms (from T.S.F. Company Inc.) for our rough winters for construction,” Rich says. They also work well for the 100-150 restrooms and sink units they provide for agriculture, especially the many cherry orchards and grape vineyards in the area. The 2,400-restroom inventory also includes Aspen, Comfort XL and ADA-compliant units from Satellite Industries as well as PJ3 models from PolyJohn.

With growing interest in the region as a wedding venue, Security Sanitation invested in six restroom trailers from A Restroom Trailer (ART) Company, two each of three-stall, four-stall and six-stall units.

The business’ most recent purchase included 75 T.S.F. hand-wash stations to add to the 75 units it already had, plus 25 hand sanitizer stations from PolyJohn. The focus on hand sanitizers has been part of the business for a long time.

The Sogges’ business has two locations with 25,000 square feet of shop space to maintain, clean and store all vehicles and event equipment inventory.

Rich ordered the 75 extra wash stations at the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown in early 2020. It proved to be a smart move.

“We lost construction for about eight weeks, I worried about that and the loss of events and school activities,” he says. “But everyone [grocery stores and businesses that sold food] wanted sink units and hand sanitizers, and by the end of the year we ended up ahead [on income]. We also did a lot more septic work. We are in a big area for second homes and people stayed at their cabins and needed their holding tanks pumped more often.”

With the increase in business, he hired more employees in 2020, who will be appreciated as demand for septic and portable restroom services continues to grow. “We wanted to get enough employees so they are not working every weekend,” Rich says.

HARDWORKING TEAM

“We’re nothing without our guys and gals. We have great people who work here,” he notes, emphasizing the importance of the team to make the business successful. Employees have 401(k)s, full family health care, vision, dental and life insurance and higher-than-average wages. As a result, employee retention is good. A few have been with the company more than 15 years; one has been there more than 25 years. 

Key employees with experience — Rob Snyder (lead restroom service technician), Larry Yetter (lead septic service technician), Cole Nevarez (satellite shop manager) and Jack Sage (the longest-tenured employee) — pass down their knowledge to all the other employees. The rest of the team includes Cody Mavis, Izzy Ruoff, Brandon Flannagin, Chris Fineout, Nate Wilkes and Rick Arnold (portable restrooms) and Drew Burmania and Ray Fritz (septic pumping).

“They excel at taking care of our customers’ needs and each other, giving us confidence that the future for Security Sanitation and Belanger Septic is bright,” Rich says. “I spend about an hour every morning to have a quick talk with each guy, as they come in, to see what their needs are and give them their paperwork for the day.”

New employees ride with other team members for four to six weeks to learn both sides of the business and pick up best practices from others. The trucks they drive also make it easier for them to provide quality service to customers.

“We don’t want them wasting time and deodorizer [on site], so we do pre-mixed so it’s more consistent and they can get in and out quickly at events and construction sites,” Rich says.

To accommodate that he has had his last three pickup/delivery trucks built with three-part compartments. The Ford F-550 trucks (2016, 2018 and 2021) built out by Marsh Industrial have 200-gallon pre-mix/100-gallon freshwater/400-gallon wastewater stainless steel tanks, NVE 304 pumps and can carry 6 to 8 units. The premix tank holds enough to fill about 50 units.

In addition to space for restrooms on the trucks, the Sogges own six locally made trailers that hold 8 to 16 restrooms for quicker delivery for events. 

All service trucks are from Marsh Industrial. They include six Ford F-550s (2013-2021) with 600-gallon waste/350-gallon freshwater stainless steel tanks and one 2017 Ford F-350 with a 450-gallon waste/250-gallon freshwater stainless steel tank. All carry National Vacuum Equipment pumps. For the Belanger Septic side of the business, there are three Western Star trucks (two 2016 and a 2021) with 3,600- and 5,000-gallon stainless steel tanks, manufactured by Marsh Industrial and utilizing NVE pumps.

FAMILY AFFAIR

“The bigger we get, the less I’m in the field, so I change oils, run for parts, order supplies and deal with the day-to-day things. My wife and I deliver and set up the restroom trailers. That’s almost full time in the summer,” Rich says. The trailers require more time — finding the best site to setup, educating the customer and making sure everything is satisfactory.

The Sogges are grateful that their son, Brandon, mirrors their emphasis on quality. At 25, he’s worked with the business since he graduated from high school in 2014. He’s learned every part of the business by working at events, running routes, pickup and deliveries, and septic pumping. 

“It was really nice when Brandon started working here. I like having him here and being able to see him every day,” Mandy says. “Customers have no idea that he is our son when he’s on the job. When they call the office to say what a great young man he is and how professional he was, that makes me so proud.” 

Brandon is being groomed to eventually take over the business when his parents retire. He is already changing how they do marketing.  Brandon adds social media to the radio, online and the phone book ads the business runs. He is moving more towards digital since it seems to have good results. 

COMMUNITY CONCERNS

While about half of the restrooms are used for construction, demand for events, weddings and residential gatherings continues to grow. After being canceled in 2020 due to COVID, most large events were expected to be back in 2021.

“Typically, it starts getting busy about the beginning of April and goes to the end of November,” Rich says. Some events require many restrooms: 190 units for two days for a Memorial Day marathon and 180 units for Bell’s Iceman Cometh Challenge bike race (in November), for example. About 300 units are needed for Traverse City’s National Cherry Festival (every July). In addition, ongoing events with horse arenas that are part of the Great Lakes Equestrian Festival from June-September keep Security Sanitation staff busy servicing up to 30 units, nine restroom trailers (owned by Great Lakes) and as many as 20 campers a day. There are also winery- and beer taproom-related events.

By working side by side with their team and employing occasional spot checks, Rich and Brandon maintain quality of service and units to keep customers happy, which, in turn, keeps employees happy. “Every unit that comes back to the yard is power washed and sanitized. We can tell if they are not maintained,” Rich says. If they see any issues, they talk to the employee in a way that makes it a learning experience.

It’s also a priority with the business owners to support their community. “We purchase locally and in Michigan as much as possible,” Brandon says. “They support us, so we want to support them.” Local causes are also important.

“We really pride ourselves in helping out our community. We give a $10 discount for veterans, donate to our local 4-H, among quite a few charity events in the area.” Mandy says. For example, they purchase cattle and hogs at the 4-H auction at the county fair, have them processed and give the meat to their employees as a bonus for their hard work and long days during the hectic summer months.

“This is the greatest area to live and work,” Rich concludes. “We have the best, dedicated employees and a lot of great customers.”