The job went great and the Jet Vac name was passed around to many more boroughs and townships as a company that was both professional and trust worthy.  A cleaning project of the entire sewer system for the Borough of Wormleysburg followed the Manchester Township operation.  After doing another excellent job, Wormleysburg requested some additional work from Jet Vac, which involved something new for both Steve and his Father.  “After we completed the cleaning project they wanted us to televise the entire system.  Not knowing anything about televising equipment, we researched and bought our first Cues trailer TV/Grout equipment.”  That equipment purchase was an early introduction for Steve to the constantly evolving technology used in the sewer maintenance industry.  He would continue to experience the growth and development of such equipment first hand over the next three decades. 

Jet Vac’s original televising equipment started with just a black and white camera that was pulled manually through sewer lines.  One of the earliest developments Steve witnessed was the advent of a color camera and an electric winch that would pull both the camera and grout equipment through the line by flipping a switch.  This winch was eventually replaced by the self-propelled camera and then the pan and tilt camera.  In recent years a new main line camera was introduced that had the capability to launch a “mini camera” from the main line into a lateral, all in color.  Steve did not just see the growth of the camera equipment though; he also saw new trenchless rehabilitation technologies implemented.  “On the rehabilitation side I was able to witness the development of the ‘cured-in-place’ spot liner, mainline manhole to manhole lining, and lateral lining.  Jet Vac at one time or another provided all of these services.”

During this time of technological growth new competition began showing up in the boroughs and townships Steve had been working for.  While competition is viewed as a serious obstacle to many, Steve maintained his positive disposition and built relationships with many of the “new guys” in town.  One such relationship was with a project manager for Gannett Fleming named Jim Clark.  Jim would leave Gannett Fleming and begin his own business, Mr. Rehab, Inc. in 2000.  “Jim… was providing similar types of services as Jet Vac.  As his company grew he began expanding into services that we did not offer.”  Because Mr. Rehab was offering these services, Steve would occasionally subcontract projects to them, such as the testing and grouting of laterals.  This further developed a relationship of providing consultation and services with each other.

Steve has two sons who he introduced to the sewer maintenance industry by letting them work during summer breaks while in high school.  As they got older he waited to see if either would be interested in taking over his business.  Instead Steve’s oldest decided to move out to Colorado and his younger son decided the business was not for him.  In addition to that, by the mid 2000s Steve saw that Mr. Rehab and other competitors were vying for clients much more aggressively than they had in the past.  Steve felt he was loosing his edge on the market and began to question what the future would hold.  “So with the family not interested in the business, my equipment starting to age, and having very little debt, I thought maybe it might be a good time to sell the business.  One day when both Jim and I attended a pre-bid meeting together and afterwards we had lunch together.  I discussed my interest in selling Jet Vac and he suggested moving into my facility as his lease was soon to expire.  Jim expressed great enthusiasm and a year later, on April 13^th, 2007, we merged.”

Steve’s work in sewer maintenance has yielded some very unique memories.   Perhaps his most remarkable event was a job Jet Vac was contracted to do on the Azores, a small archipelago in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.  Steve and his crew were required to do some main line sewer lining on a US military base located there.  “We had some experience lining laterals but never did any main line lining.  I quoted a price and got the job.  Now I only had six weeks to figure out how I was going to do this job and get the equipment together.  I purchased a new TV truck, got a boiler installed on my flush truck, and then we dug a 200 foot trench in front of my shop.  We laid a pipe and then lined it.”  Their first attempt at lining was successful and thus they had the experience they needed.  They got everything ready by boat and left from Virginia.  Finally, after 3 months and with just two crews doing the lining, they completed what became a very successful and rewarding project.  “It was an experience everyone will remember”.

An influx of competition was not the only hardship Steve faced during his time running Jet Vac.  In 1979 they had a major fire in their office shop in New Cumberland.  They lost several employees personal vehicles as well as five years of records.  Most devastating of all was the destruction of video cassette tapes for a job in the Pittsburgh area that had just been completed.  At their expense they had to return to Pittsburgh and redo the entire job.  “This was a major set back, but we bounced back and started making money again.”  Steve also had to deal with the loss of his close friend and right hand man due to a motorcycle accident in 2005.  “We continued on, but there was always that emptiness and that is when I started having more thoughts of selling the business.”

Now with retirement in the picture Steve is looking forward to taking life as it comes, no longer dealing with the stresses of running his own business or the responsibilities of being a Project Manager.  Throughout his years running Jet Vac he took very few vacations and even then he could never totally relax while being away from his company.  One of the first things Steve is looking forward to doing while retired is getting reconnected with retail, which is what he was involved in before his father invited him to begin Jet Vac years ago.  He is also considering getting involved with various volunteer work.  First and foremost though, Steve has just one goal: “I plan to just take it easy for the summer”.  Good luck Steve!

Mr. Rehab’s story began with an engineering firm’s announcement that they would be selling their sewer maintenance division, where at the time, Jim was working.  The sale opened up the prospect of starting his own company and Jim, along with his wife Margaret, decided that it was time to go for it.  Jim and Margaret sold their home taking the first step in starting Mr. Rehab and investing all they had in the process.   They were taking a risk at success; Jim compared it to jumping out of an airplane, as both the excitement and fear involved were great unknowns.  “Statistics say that only 1 out of 10 new business ventures will be successful in their first year.  That potential of failure made me very nervous.”

Cherishing the memories of Mr. Rehab’s humble beginnings, Jim fondly recollected his original staff, consisting of only himself and Margaret.  Their base of operations, a barn they actually shared with several bovine companions.  In the early days Jim had only one camera with which to work with as well as one Televising truck.  Jim proudly reflected how his wife Margaret stood by his side to help keep the dream alive.  “She kept her full time job in the medical field while still getting down into the manholes and working with me when I needed her help.” 

Mr. Rehab earned its earliest work with contracts with Gannet Fleming.  The first big milestones in Mr. Rehab’s project development were with Hampden and Spring Township.  These jobs got the momentum rolling for Mr. Rehab and began a strong relationship with them and other municipalities that continue today.  Helping Mr. Rehab prosper from the beginning were Jason Smith and Karen Losch, who both joined not long after the company began.  With their added support, Jim was able to take a step back from the field work and focus his time on new business opportunities that would help Mr. Rehab grow as a company.  Others like Jim Deets, Bryan Seeger, and Marcin Walczak brought their expertise and field experience as a part of the Mr. Rehab family soon thereafter.  Many other valuable employees continued to be recruited through the years that made the company what it is today.   

The company did not stay in one place for long in the early years.  As Mr. Rehab continued to grow it moved its headquarters from the barn to a facility in Hershey.  Over time Hershey proved to be too far from the main Harrisburg network and the office moved once again to Colonial Park.  Eventually it was a call from Jim’s friend Steve Bowman, where Steve suggested the merging of Mr. Rehab with his company Jet Vac Services. The successful merger brought the company operations to its current location in Mechanicsburg.

Jim’s creed of taking something good from the little things in day to day life helped him get through the earlier years when work was difficult to obtain.  It also helped him stay humble during the more prosperous years.  Even with the negative winds of the current economic climate, Jim continues to find the positives in every situation.  He knows that like many other businesses out there, “Mr. Rehab has not been exempt from the poor economy”.   To help keep operations running Jim held off on spending, capitalized on opportunities, and is leading the way through the economic downturn.  The efficiency Mr. Rehab employed during this time has helped the company learn valuable lessons.  In Jim’s opinion the economic troubles have made Mr. Rehab a healthier company in the long run, taking the bad situation and making the best of it.

With an iron determination fueled by enthusiasm and positivity, Jim Clark is continuing to fulfill his dream.  Persevering through difficult and humble beginnings, Jim and Margaret now preside over a company that has grown to employ over 30 individuals and a fleet of over 60 vehicles.  Jim is a visionary and continues to have aspirations for the future of Mr. Rehab.  He currently has hopes to expand the company into satellite offices, branch into consultant services, and to move full steam ahead as a leader in the industry.