[2004 State of the Industry Report] About This Report

In February and March of this year, PCT commissioned an independent research firm to mail a random survey to 1,000 of its readers. There was no indication given in the mailings to show for whom the survey was being conducted. We received 530 responses to the survey, for a response rate of 53.9 percent (this takes into account for surveys not delivered, etc.). The data were analyzed over the summer and are used throughout this report and online at www.pctonline.com.

About 93 percent of the survey respondents were male. Respondents represented states from all areas of the country, with the largest number being located in the states of Florida, California, Texas and New York. About 50 percent (55.4 percent) of respondents are the owners of the business and about 21 percent are presidents. Most others held various management positions.

Most of the stories in this State of the Industry report were written by Lisa McKenna, a former managing editor of PCT and a frequent contributor to the magazine. Other contributors include PCT Contributing Writer Marisa Peters; and Gary Curl of Specialty Product Consultants, Mendham, N.J. The information for the chart on page 15 was supplied by the Professional Pest Management Alliance, Dunn Loring, Va.

Many thanks to Bayer Environmental Science for the company’s advertising support of this special supplement. Without Bayer’s commitment, this report and the research included in it would not be possible.