Sewer Services Bolster Pumping Company

Service diversification helps Illinois entrepreneur guide her company along a path of steady growth.
Sewer Services Bolster Pumping Company
The All Around Pumping crew includes (from left) Cooper Wallace, Floyd Griffin, Ashley Hartness, Chris Hartness and Cody Hinrichs.

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By 2015, Hartness’ company had grown to 13 employees, four big trucks, two trailer jetters and all the tools needed to support a full menu of services.

The launch

Hartness started the company working from a bedroom office. At the time, she prepared handwritten postcards for mailing and drove around the area looking for places with septic systems. She was also busy taking care of the couple’s three small children and working part time for a preschool and a tax office.

Chris, who had experience in the industry, continued his outside job and handled All Around clients on evenings and weekends — sometimes with his wife as a second hand and occasionally with the kids in the truck. It was a struggle, but they didn’t give up.

During their first two years, the economy dipped, but Hartness says she didn’t notice because the business was so young and she was too busy and focused on making it successful.

By 2008, Chris had left his outside job to devote his time to the company.

“You just see things work, and I had done everything I could to get our name out there,” Hartness says. “I continue with some of the basic things I did originally. For our advertising, I did the postcards, and I am still doing that. The other day, I sent out 30,000 cards that I designed. We have built this company with the basics, and in 2012 we moved out of the house and into a rented property.”

The company recently purchased an adjoining 2 acres and is in the process of building a 98- by 60-foot building with office space and six garage bays.

Casting a net

“What stands out for me as the smartest overall move was in 2012 when we spent money to have our website built,” she says. “That was a very positive thing. It opened us up to so many opportunities — to truly be the ‘All Around’ company.”

All Around is located in Cortland, Illinois, 78 miles west of Chicago, and Hartness says her equipment goes into the city at least once a week to service restaurant grease traps. That business came primarily from the website.

“It was just amazing when we saw the activity from the website,” she continues. “It’s doing its job. When people go online looking for pumping, our name pops up. We are ‘All Around.’ People call us.”

Plumbing companies make up a significant piece of the pie, accounting for at least 25 percent of the company’s work. Other large clients include hospitals, colleges and federal government facilities.

Their customer list also includes several trailer parks in the area, which are on either septic systems or a sewer system. These commercial entities are not managed by the city, so they maintain their own infrastructure. In many instances, All Around has service agreements with the parks, depending on the client’s budget.

“We will maintain their sewer mains, and sometimes manholes get clogged up,” Hartness says. “We have picked up more of the trailer park business since Chris made the suggestion in 2010. He saw the potential of making money with low overhead, and that was what prompted us to buy the first hydro jetter.”

Although Hartness has been aggressive in the company’s expansion, she is also cautious about moving into new services. She has been reluctant to move into relining and pipe bursting because she doesn’t want to branch out hastily into other technology.

Buying power

For Hartness, a new equipment purchase boils down to whether she will lose money by not having it.

“That is my criteria,” she says. “Right now I am losing money because I don’t have enough equipment. This is a busy season for us, and I, unfortunately, cannot make everybody happy because I am booked solid. So I have to think about buying more equipment.”

The current equipment list includes:

  • 2015 Peterbilt built out by Imperial Industries with a 4,000-gallon tank, National Vacuum Equipment blower, and an onboard water jetter
  • 2013 Peterbilt by Imperial Industries with a 3,600-gallon hydraulic hoist tank and National Vacuum Equipment blower
  • 1992 International with a 2,500-gallon tank and Jurop/Chandler pump
  • 2001 Vactor jet/vac truck with a 15-yard body and 6,000 cfm Roots blower
  • 2014 Mercedes Sprinter Van for hauling equipment
  • 2015 Spartan Tool Ultimate Warrior trailer jetter (5,000 psi/18 gpm) with a 600-gallon freshwater tank
  • 2008 Spartan Sidewinder trailer jetter (4,000 psi/18 gpm) with a 300-gallon freshwater tank
  • RIDGID camera with built-in sonde and a RIDGID locator for locating tanks
  • 2015 Bobcat E326 backhoe

She prefers to purchase rather than lease.

“I understand how leasing works, but I feel it is a waste of money on my end. I would rather own something,” she says. “Even at the end of two years, if it is not working out the way I need it, I can sell and get some money back somehow. Each piece of equipment you buy makes you money. Even if you buy a piece of equipment for $40,000 and only use it four times in six months, you look at the profit you made on that. Plus you have to think about keeping your guys employed and busy. You have to run the numbers. How much do you lose on it in those six months? What is your goal?”

To protect their investments, the Hartnesses put great emphasis on equipment maintenance. Her husband handles routine procedures, and much of her stock is still under warranty.

She has developed a daily vehicle inspection policy — or DVI — that includes a checklist for each driver. The checklist goes through everything from tire pressure to proper fluid levels to equipment inventory, including a helmet, safety vest, glasses and gloves.

“Chris, in his past work, had been required to give a similar report, and we adopted the idea,” she says. “We learn from what other companies have done and incorporate ideas. I got tired of a driver forgetting something needed on a job and losing time getting outfitted properly.”

Busy as beavers

While much of the work is routine after 10 years in business, interesting and unusual projects pop up occasionally, like the time they got a call from a local plumbing company to help out at a railroad yard.

“Underneath the railroad tracks was a 48-inch culvert that let water pass to both sides,” says Chris Hartness.

A beaver family had built a dam inside the culvert, stuffing it full of branches and trees. The railroad company was not allowed to kill or trap the animals, so the critters had to be relocated in another manner.

“Another company had tried to dig out all of the trees and branches with a backhoe, but could only reach so far,” Chris says. “They cleared it out as best they could and were going to have us start on the job the following day with our Vactor and the 10-inch hydro jetter. When we showed up, the busy beavers had moved back all of the trees and rebuilt their homes overnight.”

All Around ran a jetter and cleaned out the 48-inch pipe. Then they broke up the trees and branches so the beavers couldn’t rebuild their home. The railroad and plumbing companies were happy with the results. The beavers? Not so much.

Strong management

Responsibility for beaver evictions and other fieldwork falls to Chris, who also supervises the technicians. He answers the technical questions and holds the pumper and system installer licenses.

Ashley manages the whole operation from the office. She says she has succeeded in a male-dominated profession by building a system of respect within her business.

“I believe you treat people as you want to be treated,” she says. “Whenever I hire someone, that is the first thing I say. This is not a glamorous industry, but you don’t have to see it as a negative. Our equipment is in good shape, our workers dress nicely in a uniform with a collared shirt — something we provide — and I, as the boss, dress professionally.”

Her technicians, some of whom have worked at the business for several years, are always willing to train a new hire. She looks for someone with some plumbing experience.

“You need to know how gravity works and how the flow is going to happen with lines if you are hydrojetting,” she says. “You need to be two steps ahead when working with this equipment, as it can be very dangerous. You have to have some education on it.

“My management style is definitely open door,” she adds. “I talk to the guys every day — every single employee. All of our employees have a company cellphone, and if I don’t speak verbally, I will at least send a text. I’ll ask the status of the job or send information. I might even send a joke or forward a good comment from a customer. Anything to let them know I care.”

During winter, she often hosts a slow cooker Friday lunch, serving pulled pork or chili.

“They don’t actually call me ‘Mom’ … but they appreciate I care,” Hartness says.

For those just starting out in a business, she has one final nugget of advice: Be sure someone answers the phone.

“Chris and I are successful because I knew how to run the office and he knew how to do the fieldwork,” she says. “But I needed to be in that office. There is so much paperwork, and you need someone handling promotion and advertising, which lets the person in the field do that part of the job.”


Building a better reputation

Ashley Hartness had planned on being an elementary school teacher. While in college, she worked in the offices of a general contractor, which taught her how an office should be run. Her husband, Chris, had served in the military and worked for a drain cleaning company after he was discharged. That combined experience helped them succeed with their new business.

The business started out in residential septic service, and evolved into expanded procedures. In 2008, Hartness purchased a hydro jetter, which expanded the business into clearing leachfield lines and clogged outlet pipes and taking care of catch basins for car dealerships. The business was becoming a one-stop shop.

The business benefited from little local competition, but it was still a grass-roots effort for Hartness as she got word out.
Community outreach has been important for the company. All Around provides grease trap maintenance to the local Meals on Wheels organization, as well as hydrojetting when needed. They donate services to other charities, sometimes just charging fuel expense. Sometimes, they even deliver Meals on Wheels using their own vehicles.

Hartness says that providing a necessary service in a positive way has brought her and Chris great joy.

“The whole sewer cleaning industry has a negative connotation,” she says. “With our new equipment, and our guys looking professional and speaking to the customer with knowledge, we provide a good image. That is something we are very proud of.”

She enjoys seeing her employees take pride in their work.

“We have a good employee retention record because our employees have the right equipment and are doing the best they can,” she says. “All Around cannot go wrong.”



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