An Open Letter to The Portable Sanitation
Industry From Barry Gump
After much consternation I feel there are some vital issues I and others in our industry must address. I know of no
other way to adequately express my feelings and concern than through this letter.
I am a second generation owner that has participated in this industry for nearly fifty years having helped my brother
and Father build our first five wooden toilets in our garage. I love what I do each day and I cherish the rewards
the business has provided our family and those that we work with. Most of all, I hold dear the opportunity it has
provided me to work with family and now of our extended family of nearly 160 fellow workers.
My Mother and Father made untold sacrifices to create and build our family business. My wife and I have been
blessed to guide our company the past twenty-five years. In the not too distant future the reins will hopefully be
passed to our daughter and there are three grandsons waiting in the wings representing a possible fourth generation
family business. What am I and others doing today to insure the continued success of our family business and the
future of our industry?
Our commitment to our family business is very evident. The vital factors we must pay attention to are: continuing
to improve the community within which we live, adequately compensating our non-family workers and sufficiently
rewarding our shareholders for their investment and trust.
In order for our company and our industry to continue to be successful today and in the future, we must attract
dedicated, loyal and committed family and non-family workers. What are we doing and or what should we be
doing to further enhance our industry image, promote respect and upgrade professionalism in our industry so that
we attract the caliber of worker we need?
Let’s be frank. My Father and other entrepreneurs recognized that they could build a successful business doing
what others would never do, handling other people’s waste. I feel that same adverse job identification and the
existing level of compensation are the prominent reasons we have difficulty attracting a higher caliber of worker.
While we’ve come a long way in bringing professionalism to our industry, we need to further raise the level of
respect and professionalism to attract the best people. Even solid waste workers have demonstrated they think
moving to liquid waste from solid waste is a downgrade.
Our industry is struggling to attract, hire and retain good workers. The opportunity for that to improve is bleak.
Jane Williams, a recent presenter at the PSAI Nuts and Bolts Workshop in San Diego, revealed that currently the
construction industry is short 250,000 workers. Our industry sure isn’t at the top of that list attracting workers.
Our workers deserve to be at a level equal to or even higher than drivers for UPS, water delivery, ready-mix
concrete, propane gas or many others. Workers are the heart of our business and we better figure out a way to
keep that heart beating.
So I challenge our industry to make a dedicated effort to pay attention to the important issues that we face. Let’s
focus on elevating professionalism in our industry in order to attract the best people. Let’s engage in the most cost-
effective and efficient methods to increase the bottom line. In so doing, we can offer higher compensation which
will improve the community where we live, work and play. Success in these areas will produce the best business
model for success and succession.
With sincere concern,
Barry M. Gump
Andy Gump, Inc.
Santa Clarita, California
Industry From Barry Gump
After much consternation I feel there are some vital issues I and others in our industry must address. I know of no
other way to adequately express my feelings and concern than through this letter.
I am a second generation owner that has participated in this industry for nearly fifty years having helped my brother
and Father build our first five wooden toilets in our garage. I love what I do each day and I cherish the rewards
the business has provided our family and those that we work with. Most of all, I hold dear the opportunity it has
provided me to work with family and now of our extended family of nearly 160 fellow workers.
My Mother and Father made untold sacrifices to create and build our family business. My wife and I have been
blessed to guide our company the past twenty-five years. In the not too distant future the reins will hopefully be
passed to our daughter and there are three grandsons waiting in the wings representing a possible fourth generation
family business. What am I and others doing today to insure the continued success of our family business and the
future of our industry?
Our commitment to our family business is very evident. The vital factors we must pay attention to are: continuing
to improve the community within which we live, adequately compensating our non-family workers and sufficiently
rewarding our shareholders for their investment and trust.
In order for our company and our industry to continue to be successful today and in the future, we must attract
dedicated, loyal and committed family and non-family workers. What are we doing and or what should we be
doing to further enhance our industry image, promote respect and upgrade professionalism in our industry so that
we attract the caliber of worker we need?
Let’s be frank. My Father and other entrepreneurs recognized that they could build a successful business doing
what others would never do, handling other people’s waste. I feel that same adverse job identification and the
existing level of compensation are the prominent reasons we have difficulty attracting a higher caliber of worker.
While we’ve come a long way in bringing professionalism to our industry, we need to further raise the level of
respect and professionalism to attract the best people. Even solid waste workers have demonstrated they think
moving to liquid waste from solid waste is a downgrade.
Our industry is struggling to attract, hire and retain good workers. The opportunity for that to improve is bleak.
Jane Williams, a recent presenter at the PSAI Nuts and Bolts Workshop in San Diego, revealed that currently the
construction industry is short 250,000 workers. Our industry sure isn’t at the top of that list attracting workers.
Our workers deserve to be at a level equal to or even higher than drivers for UPS, water delivery, ready-mix
concrete, propane gas or many others. Workers are the heart of our business and we better figure out a way to
keep that heart beating.
So I challenge our industry to make a dedicated effort to pay attention to the important issues that we face. Let’s
focus on elevating professionalism in our industry in order to attract the best people. Let’s engage in the most cost-
effective and efficient methods to increase the bottom line. In so doing, we can offer higher compensation which
will improve the community where we live, work and play. Success in these areas will produce the best business
model for success and succession.
With sincere concern,
Barry M. Gump
Andy Gump, Inc.
Santa Clarita, California
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Serving the American Liquid Waste Industry Since 2002