Pumper was born 30 years ago this month after pumping contractor Pete Lawonn of Three Lakes, Wis., had a spare 2,000-gallon vacuum tank he needed to sell, but no effective way to market it. Word-of-mouth and newspaper advertising didn’t seem like good ways to reach the network of contractors who might be interested in his tank.
Then the late John DiVall, of the company then known as Jay’s Waste Equipment, gave Lawonn an idea.
“John said, ‘You know, what we really need is a trade journal for this industry,’ ” Lawonn recalls. “Basically, he put the bug in my ear to start this.” Pete soon discussed the idea with Bob Kendall, with whom he operated two other businesses. The two agreed to launch a trade publication, and the company now known as COLE Publishing was born. Pete was 27. Bob was 24.
The first issue of Midwest Pumper was mailed to 2,500 contractors in eight states. It contained eight pages and four display advertisements. Today, Pumper is a flagship magazine for COLE Publishing and COLE Inc., which includes seven trade magazines and the Pumper & Cleaner Environmental Expo International, poised to celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2010.
SUCCESS CAME QUICKLY
The magazine quickly showed potential. “We knew it was going to succeed when a couple of the people who had stuck their necks out and tried an ad came back and said, ‘Wow, this is really working,’ ” Kendall recalls.
“Once we got the publication started, it just grew,” says Lawonn. “The manufacturers really needed a way to get to their customers without having direct salesmen trying to cover five or six states.”
Kendall adds, “Early on, we thought we were going to be a classified ad publication, from pumper-to-pumper. We didn’t realize that the manufacturers were having such a hard time reaching the industry. The reason the pumpers were so hard to reach was that these guys work hard. They would leave early in the morning and work until late at night. The manufacturers couldn’t put salesmen on the road to reach them, and it was hard to have in-house salesmen call them, because they were never there. That was before the days of voice mail, e-mail and cell phones.
“Now, all of a sudden, if you’re a septic pumper and you need a tank, there it was in Midwest Pumper: five manufacturers, 20 manufacturers, or whatever number advertised in that issue. A guy could call them and find out what they made, what the price would be, and how quick they could get it. It is still a valuable tool for the pumper and the best way for the manufacturer to get in front of that buyer.”
The East Pumper was launched in 1979, then West Pumper in early 1980. In 1987, the publication became The Pumper, produced in three regional editions. The partners launched Cleaner magazine in 1985. Onsite Installer, directed at septic system installers, was added in 2004. Also in 2004, COLE acquired the magazine PRO, or Portable Restroom Operator, for the portable sanitation industry. MSW, or Municipal Sewer & Water, aimed at contractors serving municipalities, was launched in 2006. In 2008, COLE acquired Construction Guide, now called EQ, directed at construction-related companies in the Midwest. The newest COLE magazine, TPO, or Treatment Plant Operator, debuted in January.
Links to the magazines and information about the publishing company and its staff can be found at www.colepublishing.com.
REMEMBERING OUR ROOTS
Lawonn moved on to other ventures at the end of 1986, but Kendall has never forgotten his contributions. “The seed for all that is COLE Publishing was Pete’s ideas, with the help of others like John DiVall and Rick Howe,” he says. “None of this would exist if not for them. I’m aware of that every day.”
The publishing arm of COLE has grown to 18 employees. The longest-tenured staff members include production manager Tim Krueger, hired in 1987, and office manager Karen Safer, hired in 1993. President Jeff Bruss handles most day-to-day responsibilities.
“My fond memories are of all the great people in this industry — the advertisers and the readers alike,” says Kendall. “I have traveled all over. I’ve stopped pumpers and introduced myself, and I’ve ridden with them and pumped tanks and dug up tanks. I’ve made a lot of friends and met a lot of interesting people. I truly enjoy the industry to this day.”
