History
History
The first U.S. patent for a polyethylene plastic portable restroom was issued in the 1960s to George Harding, who co-founded PolyJohn Enterprises Corporation with Ed Cooper and George Hiskes. Patent number 3,447,167 described a portable toilet cabana that would be made out of a rigid plastic rather than wood or metal.
Founder Ed Cooper's career in the waste industry began when he took a job working on the backend of a garbage truck in Chicago Illinois. His employer owned one truck, and Ed was his only employee. Not long after Ed started, the owner died unexpectedly, and his widow sold Ed the old truck and a small customer list. Now Ed, with support from his young wife Sas, was in business for himself. With Ed's hard work, penchant for providing great service and his outgoing personality attracting new customers the business started to grow quickly. Ed's brother-in-law George Hiskes saw what Ed was creating and realized the opportunity for growth in the garbage business. The two men formed a partnership which proved fruitful. By the early 80's the company grew to a substantial size serving a wide swath of Greater Chicago. The solid waste industry in the late 70's and early 80's was undergoing a huge consolidation and as a result a much larger company made Ed and George an offer they couldn't refuse to sell their business.
After the sale Ed and George were searching for something to do next. They came across a small Portable toilet company that was for sale just across the Illinois border in Indiana. They figured since the business was very closely related to what they did in the garbage industry they would take a chance and made the deal to buy it. The company had a smattering of fiberglass toilets and a truck that was on it's last legs, but Ed and George used their know how to turn it around, and soon the company started to grow and prosper. One day a gentleman named George Harding made a sales call on them to show off a new plastic portable toilet that he invented, and was peddling to take the place of the fiberglass and wood units that were prevalent in those days.
Harding was the consummate entrepreneur. During the 1930s, he was in senior management with the General Motors Corporation. In the 40s, Harding played an important role in the U.S. War Department as a senior official in the Department of Strategic Metals, where he worked in building the Liberty Ships. In the 1950s, Harding entered the burgeoning fiberglass boat industry and also started an underwater photography business with Walt Disney as a partner.
At a time in his life when most men would have been satisfied with retirement, George Harding became interested in the brand new field of plastics. In researching practical uses for this new “wonder material,” he invented the polyethylene portable toilet. Harding became the number-one salesman for his new invention, traveling throughout the U.S. and Canada with two toilet units on a trailer pulled behind his car.
Harding's new restroom technology intrigued Ed and George. The three went to lunch and after several hours the three men made a deal to start a company to design and manufacture a new line of plastic restrooms. PolyJohn was born soon after with a manufacturing facility located in Orillia Ontario Canada.
The company grew and prospered along with the expansion and acceptance of the portable restroom industry. It wasn't long before PolyJohn opened a larger USA based manufacturing facility and corporate offices in Whiting Indiana As time went by the company evolved, George Harding retired at a ripe old age and in the early 90's Ed purchased the company outright when George Hiskes and his sons decided to go back into the solid waste business. Ed's sons Mike and Ken joined PolyJohn soon after and later assumed full ownership after Ed's unfortunate passing in 2007. Ed Cooper was awarded the PSAI's Andy Gump Award the same year recognizing his contribution as a pioneer in the Portable Restroom Industry.
Since then the company has risen to new heights and now with the 3rd generation of Coopers taking over the sky is the limit. Ed's goal of PolyJohn being a successful global company is being realized. Ed was a true leader and visionary and the culture he created at PolyJohn of always putting the customer first is alive and well.