Quick answer: How long has Onsite Installer been in print? Believe it or not, we’re halfway through our fifth year.

This issue, the annual Buyer’s Guide, shows the full spectrum of products and services available to installation and design professionals. Until January 2004 when this magazine was launched, there was no such regular monthly resource exclusive to the onsite community.

When COLE Publishing started this magazine, we were surprised at how quickly the industry embraced it. Almost from the first month in which it hit the mailboxes, requests began coming from onsite associations for multiple copies, often hundreds at a time, to give to members and prospects, to hand out at annual conferences, to distribute to county or state regulators.

Growing up

We launched Onsite Installer at a time when the industry was maturing — when the U.S. EPA had recognized decentralized systems as a permanent part of the nation’s wastewater treatment infrastructure, when advanced treatment systems were becoming more common for use on lots previously considered ill suited to septic systems.

So, we have been able to follow (and help lead) the industry in a time of growth in business potential and prestige. We’ve tried to appeal to a wide range of practitioners. The monthly system profiles, describing challenging and usually advanced treatment system installations, appeal to experienced installers, designers and engineers.

Contractor profiles (our cover stories) spotlight professionals whose exemplary work and sound business practices can provide inspiration to others. The “Basic Training” column, written by Jim Anderson and David Gustafson of the University of Minnesota onsite program, helps installers who are newer to the profession and acts as a refresher for more experienced hands.

Looking ahead

Now, on publication of our fifth Buyer’s Guide, it’s appropriate to revisit a question we asked several months after our first issue: How can we serve you better? Underneath that big-picture question are several others:

• What are we doing well?

• What are we not doing that we should be?

• Are there any areas of the practice that we’re neglecting?

• Do our articles speak directly to your interests as a professional?

• Do you have ideas for specific topics we should explore?

Please feel free anytime to drop me a note and let me know what you’re thinking. We want Onsite Installer to be a welcome item in your mailbox — a magazine that helps you in some way with every issue. In other words, a magazine that justifies in benefits the time you spend with it.

Stepping forward

Now it’s my turn to ask something of you. Have you committed to being a regular reader of this magazine? We decided from the start to make Onsite Installer subscriptions free to qualified readers — those in some way involved in the industry as professionals.

All you have to do to subscribe is fill in and return the subscription form on the facing page or one of our business reply cards. You can also complete a form on the magazine web site (onsiteinstaller.com).

To date, we have been sending the magazine to many more professionals than have officially subscribed. If you have not subscribed already, now is a great time to do so. By committing to receive Onsite Installer every month, you’re in effect saying: “I am a part of this industry. I support its growth and development. I am dedicated to my own growth as a professional.”

So please complete the postpaid subscription card that comes with this issue and send it back. If you’d like, include a note with your thoughts on how Onsite Installer can deliver more value to you. Let’s work together to build a community that helps each member meet the challenges and enjoy the opportunities the onsite industry brings.