Features
Two California companies involved in toilet contract
BOISE, Idaho — An Idaho company landed a $3 million contract for what might be the most sought after seats at the Winter Games in Salt Lake City — the portable potties.
“Jobs of this scope are very rare,” said Larry Moore, chairman of A-Company Inc.
The job is so big that A-Company has had to partner with four other firms to supply the 2,600 portable toilets Olympic organizers have ordered for the Winter Games.
Because of the size of the project, the company realized it would be difficult to handle it all, so they recruited four other companies to help, Moore said. The other companies are Andy Gump Inc. and A Throne Co., both of California, and Northwest Cascade of Tacoma, Wash., and Super Bowl Portable Restrooms Inc. of Denver.
Moore said the Olympic potty contract is 10 times bigger than any other in the company’s 29-year history. The firm has had the portable toilet contract for the Boise River Festival for the past few years, but that job only involved a few hundred potties.
Still, Moore is confident he can handle the job.
“There’s a lot of work involved, but we feel good about it,” he said. “We’re right on schedule.”
The firm’s road to the Olympics began in earnest two years ago when the Moore brothers started putting together a bid for the project.
Jeff Moore said they ended up spending more than $40,000 just preparing the bid.
A-Company was awarded the contract in March 2001, and since then has been busily preparing for the job. All 2,600 restrooms are new and are being assembled onsite in Utah. The company has until Feb. 3 to have everything completed and ready to go.
The Moores admit they have heard their share of potty jokes and horror stories. But all smirking aside, they said they want everyone who attends this year’s Olympics to have nothing but good things to say about their portable toilet experiences.
“If our job isn’t taken seriously it will hurt the whole industry,” Larry Moore said. “Our whole goal is to make sure that portable restrooms and sanitation comes off as a high point in the Olympics.”
