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Satellite Industries, Inc. was founded in 1958 by Al Hilde, Jr. During service with the US Army, Hilde had noticed that the Army supplied adequate food, shelter, and clothing at temporary camps. However, adequate toilet facilities were missing. Hilde had previously made the same observations at sporting events and construction sites. This lead Mr. Hilde to believe that supplying portable toilet services would be a valuable service in many industries. Mr. Hilde built the first wooden prototype toilet in Texas and hauled it to his home city of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Mr. Hilde designed a service truck equipped with a vacuum pump and waste tank. He then developed a deodorizer formula to ensure pleasing conditions inside the toilets. With a fleet of 36 toilets, a service truck and the deodorizer formula, Mr. Hilde began selling the new toilet rental and service to construction companies. Portable toilets were indeed needed by contractors and quickly caught on. Hilde opened up his second location within a few years. As systems and procedures were developed to handle the operational logistics, new locations were added. Satellite had significant motivation to make sure its equipment was designed the best it could be. Reducing minutes, even seconds, on service and repair times immensely improved the company's profitability. Satellite redesigned its toilets to be more durable and easier to clean in order to shorten service times. That same strategy was applied to the design of vacuum tanks on service trucks. Satellite also shortened service times by making the hoses, pump and deodorizers on trucks more easily accessible. The trucks' safety and maneuverability were also improved. In 1972, Satellite began producing polyethylene toilets, which were much lighter and more hygienic than wooden toilets. This new equipment quickly became sought after by other portable toilet service companies around the US. As Satellite began exporting its products, business also grew quickly in Germany, Japan, and Australia. Soon, Satellite products could be found around the world at major events and commercial applications. In 1987, Satellite was the largest portable toilet service company in the world with over 18 branch locations and approximately 20,000 toilets in its rental fleet. At this time, Satellite had two distinct divisions: service, and design/manufacturing. In January of 1988, Satellite decided to focus on the design and manufacture of equipment, and sold its service division. Since Satellite was no longer a potential competitor to portable toilet rental and service companies, this allowed Satellite to supply its equipment to businesses throughout the US. In 1995, Satellite established its European head office in Brussels, Belgium. An Asia-Pacific office was then opened in Hong Kong. In 1996, Satellite became the first portable toilet manufacturer to achieve ISO-9002 certification, an international standard of quality assurance. Over the next few years, Satellite went on to open offices in Spain, the UK and established a joint-venture in Japan. Warehouses were set up in the Netherlands, the UK, and regional manufacturing was started in various countries to improve lead times and service. As the business grew, Satellite decided to expand its product line to further penetrate the global market and the products lines from leading Japanese and French manufacturers were acquired. In 2004, Satellite acquired Synergy World and their world-class line of portable toilets. Today, Satellite exports equipment and offers training and consultative assistance to companies in 75 countries around the world. It is the world's largest portable toilet manufacturer with the most comprehensive array of products and services. These products and services represent the culmination of nearly 50 years of continuous quality improvements. Today, product designs continue to benefit from the feedback of customers around the world. Satellite Industries continues today under the ownership and direction of Todd Hilde.