Paul Becker likes to keep business simple: “We want to stick to one thing and do it well.”

Since 2007, that formula has worked for his Becker Sanitation business, which pumps septic and holding tanks throughout Door County, a peninsula that separates Lake Michigan from the bay of Green Bay and forms “the thumb” on the map of Wisconsin. Becker also does minor maintenance on septic systems, like cleaning effluent filters and performing quick visual inspections, but he has no plans for further diversification.

The same approach defines the newly formed Peninsula Privies restroom business that Becker operates with life partner Danielle Shannon. They stick to renting luxury trailers for weddings and other upscale private events. “There are enough companies around here that rent porta potties,” says Becker. “That’s something we don’t want to do.”

Becker and Shannon are content doing business in an area with beautiful lake scenery and picturesque landscapes that make it a magnet for tourists. They’re based in Sturgeon Bay, a city of 10,000 at the county’s southern end, but they also serve the areas in and around the daisy chain of quaint villages running north toward the peninsula’s tip.

Family connection

Becker has lived in Door County since age 8. After graduating from Gibraltar High School in Fish Creek, he worked for a custom yacht builder and then at a machining company.

In 2007, he and his now former wife bought Graf’s Environmental Services pumping business from her father. It was a natural step since Becker had helped his father-in-law on jobs and learned about the business from him. The couple operated the business together for 15 years. In 2022, Becker became the sole owner and renamed it Becker Sanitation.

The company relies on a 2016 Kenworth T880 with a 4,700-gallon steel tank from Morocco Welding and a Masport 400W vacuum pump, a 2000 Sterling LT with a 2025 3,600- gallon steel tank from National Truck Center also carrying a Masport 400W pump and a 1987 International S2500 with a T-Line 2,300-gallon steel tank and Battioni pump.

Becker built the business slowly. “People liked my work and my personality,” he says. “People who knew me found out about the business. I would show up and do a great job, and word spread. I didn’t do any advertising for many years. Each year, the numbers got bigger.”

Two years ago, with more business than he could handle alone, he brought on Drew Klaubauf, who now helps operate the vacuum trucks. With a full-time team member on board, Becker began promoting the business with a website, a Facebook page, a large billboard on one of the two highways running up the peninsula, and advertising in the Peninsula Pulse 
newspaper.

The company also got involved in Chamber of Commerce promotions and community business organizations and takes part in the Fourth of July parade in the small Lake Michigan community of Baileys Harbor, an event that draws some 20,000 people.

On the job

Becker takes pride in giving customers a quality experience. “If I haven’t been to a place before, I get out before backing in and look at the driveway, so I don’t wreck any trees or drive on the lawn,” he says. “I locate the tank and do a nice clean job. I run the hoses around the flower beds. I don’t trample over anything.

“While I’m pumping the tank, if I see a stick lying in the yard or a piece of stone that should be put back in the landscaping, I take care of it. I want people to know I was there, and I want each place to look better than before I got there. I try to treat each property as my own.”

The Door County landscape is unusual for its high limestone bedrock that on many properties precludes septic systems. About 12.5% of unsewered homes in the county are served by holding tanks. “In many places, there’s only 6-12 inches of soil on top of the bedrock,” says Becker.

On a typical day, Becker and Klaubauf pump seven or eight holding tanks and two to four septic tanks. The holding tank jobs go faster. They are pumped about every six weeks on average. By law, they must be installed within 25 feet of the driveway. “We back in, deploy a 4-inch hose, suck it out and we’re done,” Becker says.

“A lot of holding tanks have 4-inch suction lines on them. We hook the hose and camlock fitting right onto that line and never even open the cover. Now you’re not taking a hose out of the tank that may have debris on it and dragging it across the yard. It’s a much cleaner job.” Becker hauls all septage and holding tank pumpings to municipal treatment plants.

Busy season

The workload spikes in summer as owners of seasonal homes arrive and the county sanitation department sends out notices of required inspections and/or septic tank pumping (every three years). Tourist season traffic on the two main highways creates challenges.

“Sometimes in the small towns, it’s stop and go,” says Becker. “You have to wait longer to pull out into the traffic. But I’ve lived here for 41 years, so I know every single backroad in the county. I often take a longer route, but I get there faster because there’s a lot less traffic.”

Klaubauf has been a major help with the company’s growth and during peak-season business; he is employed year-round. “I always told myself that when I had employees, I would treat them as I’d want to be treated,” says Becker.

“That’s how I treat Drew. It’s a boss-employee relationship, but also a friend relationship. We work very well together.” Klaubauf receives benefits that include a 401(k) retirement account with a company match, a fuel card and bonuses for taking weekend calls.

Branching out

While the pumping business thrived, Becker and Shannon discovered a new opportunity. Attending the summer wedding of a friend’s daughter at a waterfront home, they noticed the eight-stall restroom trailer the hosts had provided. “They rented it from a place an hour away from here,” says Becker. “That’s what started us talking about it.”

At the 2025 WWETT Show, they looked at a variety of luxury trailers. They saw a unit that looked like a cottage. “We decided, let’s make it work,” Shannon says. And Peninsula Privies was born.

They bought a 12-foot, two-stall trailer that was in stock from Comforts of Home Services and ordered an 18-foot custom-built model with three stalls for women, and one stall and two urinals on the men’s side. Then they added personal touches to both.

“We were able to send them our own vanities and mirrors,” says Shannon. “We designed them exactly how we wanted them. We brought them home, and a friend who is in the construction business helped us add painted wooden siding.”

The trailers have porch lights and sturdy cedar steps. Planter boxes with real flowers hide the wheels. “They don’t look like trailers,” Shannon says. “They look like minicottages.”

Becker adds, “We did a lot of research before we started this. We wanted to set ourselves apart from everybody else. We can’t find another company that has the look that we do.”

The interiors have wainscoting on the walls, area rugs on the floor, flush toilets and hand-wash sinks and baby-changing stations. “They smell good,” says Shannon. “They have air purifiers in them. They give you a homey, clean feeling. They match the aesthetics of pretty outdoor weddings and events of all kinds.”

Shannon sources chemicals and deodorizers locally: “I strive to be particular. Our hand soaps and lotions are provided by a local company, Logan Creek Soap. We buy our oils from Door County Candle Company. I’ve bought bamboo toilet paper because it’s a little more eco-friendly.”

Staying with the program

They market Peninsula Privies with a website and Facebook page. They displayed the larger trailer in the Baileys Harbors parade, ran newspaper ads and reached out to wedding venues and wedding planners around the county.

They’re also represented on The Knot and WeddingWire, global wedding planning websites. “If you went on The Knot, for example,” says Shannon, “you could search restroom trailers in this area and we would pop up in a couple of places.”

The business had some bookings in 2025, and interest grew quickly. “We receive three to five inquiries a week,” says Shannon. “We’re getting a lot of bookings for 2026, mostly for private parties.

“We offer a very customizable experience. We can provide whatever flower package people want. If they want all the conveniences of home, whether it’s feminine hygiene products or makeup or Tums, I can stock the units with those kinds of things.”

There are no grandiose plans for expansion. Shannon observes, “I take pride in making it perfect. I want to do that for each and every customer. The bigger you get, the harder it is to do that.” It’s all in keeping with the basic theme: Do a few things well.