As the owner of a septic pumping company in Bruceton Mills, West Virginia, Randy Cunningham takes his business very seriously. But he’s also willing to be a clown at the local rodeo or dress up as Cousin Eddie in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (yes, including the leopard-print swim trunks) for the Christmas parade.
Randy runs the business, Cunningham Septic Pumping, with his wife Jennifer who handles back office operations. The Cunninghams are big supporters of their community, Randy says, which in turn provides exposure and advertising for the company. “We support the fire department, softball, basketball, football and school boosters.”
“We also donate money to a local high-schooler who does lawn mower racing,” Jennifer adds. “He provides us with advertising on his materials.”
At community events they have handouts for people with their company name on them, including coffee mugs, canned beverage sleeves, and T-shirts.
The rodeo gig has been a fun activity for Randy and his twin brother Rodney for the last 10 years or so. “They dress up,” Jennifer says. “They haven’t been in with the bulls, thankfully, because that makes me nervous. But they’ve been in with the mutton busting and doing a lot of entertainment.”
The Cousin Eddie role — along with the truck decked out in lights — has been done a couple times for the Bruceton Community Lions Club Christmas Homecoming and Lighted Parade.
The truck also gets shined up for participation in summer parades in the area. The Cunninghams like to create humorous themes. “Instead of the ‘Duke Boys’ we do the ‘Poop Boys,’” Jennifer says. And in a future parade, they’re thinking of “Poopbusters” playing off the theme of “Ghostbusters.”
They do all these activities in a spirit of lightheartedness. The company slogan is “You dump it, we pump it.”
“We always try to make those things fun,” Jennifer says. “One year I did plungers with our name on the side or we may throw out rolls of toilet paper. Just things to make it fun and interactive. That gets your name out there and people remember you more.”
Read more about Cunningham Septic Pumping in this month’s issue of Pumper magazine.
