Troy Company Finds Opportunity Helping Churches Set Up Shop in Rented Space
One Troy-based company has a business strategy that might also be thought of as a divine calling.
While many small businesses are hurting, Portable Church Industries Inc. (PCI) has seen sales growth – and gained recognition – as a designer and supplier of portable church facilities. The company, which was formed in 1990, benefits from a little-known trend: the growth of churches that rent space for their weekly services as a way to limit costs, rather than erect their own buildings.
“We’re a cost-effective option when compared with other fixed church sites,” said Peter van der Harst, PCI founder and president. “It’s a win-win for everyone involved because the church controls its costs." And the property owners who lease the space to the churches get a regular tenant for Sunday, typically slow day of the week.
PCI markets itself as a consultant that allows a church’s organizers to focus on their ministry and people by taking the hassle out creating a temporary site location. The company manufacturers and designs equipment as necessary and distributes existing portable church equipment, selling to customers across the United States.
The idea, van der Harst said, came from his experience serving as operations manager nearly 20 years ago for the Kensington Church in Troy – a church that currently offers services in four locations, including local high schools. While working with Kensington, van der Harst was part of a team that developed a process for setting up the church’s ceremonies each week.
“It didn’t take long for me to realize that these types of churches need more than consulting help and could benefit from products to help make the portable church concept possible,” van der Harst said. “Pastors are in the life-changing business so our service is beneficial – it makes their lives easier so they can concentrate on ministering.”
The term “portable church” was essentially invented by PCI. It is loosely defined as a church that does not control its primary meeting space 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Instead a portable church converts to a rented space when needed.
Churches in general are unique in that they require a large amount of square footage for a few hours per week, usually on Sundays. Schools and movie theaters (in metro Detroit and around the country) are commonly used by portable churches because they are generally vacant on Sunday morning van der Harst said.
The growth of the portable church market can’t be directly measured – but it has been big enough to give PCI consistent sales growth.
“All I really have from an industry standpoint is anecdotal information,” van der Harst said. “In this state we have numerous school districts that are completely consumed on Sunday mornings with church services.”
PCI’s 2007 revenue was approximately $9.6 million with more growth expected in 2008. Revenue has been a bit sluggish with an earlier-than-usual Easter date in March. Heading into 2008 PCI’s revenue had increased by approximately $2 million each year of the past three years.
“It’s been a bizarre economy this year but we’re weathering it,” van der Harst said. “Right now one of my biggest initiatives is to negotiate lower freight costs with our vendors as a way to save expenses.”
PCI’s customers are located around the country. Van der Harst and his team are on the road almost weekly to such states as California, Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Texas and more.
Van der Harst has been featured on the cover of Inc. magazine (PCI was on Inc.’s Fastest Growing Companies two years in a row in 2006-07) and in numerous other national publications. This year PCI was named one of the 50 companies to watch in Michigan by the Edward Lowe Foundation.
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One Troy-based company has a business strategy that might also be thought of as a divine calling.
