[2008 Leadership Profiles] Sandy Jenkins

In a sprawling ranch deep in Texas hill country, members of the National Pest Management Association gather to share industry trends, develop skills and enjoy the southern hospitality offered by Sandy Jenkins. Jenkins has been hosting these meetings for years and shares her home with various groups as many as 40 times a year. "She’s just wonderful that way," says Dennis Jenkins, one of Sandy’s three sons. "It’s kept her extremely busy and filled her life since my dad’s been gone."

Sandy now finds herself the matriarch of a family with a long history in the pest control industry, starting with her late husband’s first pest control business in the 1960s. And being honored with a 2008 Leadership Award is just another feather in the cap of this woman who considers herself in "phase three" of her life — the phase not about growing up or rearing her own children, but about personal accomplishment.

Bob and Sandy Jenkins were college sweethearts who married and started their family as Bob began a military career. That changed when Sandy’s father died at 47, leaving her mother to operate the family’s mattress company. Bob agreed to leave his Army position and move his family to San Antonio, Sandy’s hometown, to help manage the business. But things faltered when Sandy’s mother wouldn’t release the reins. "Bob said, ‘If you won’t step aside and let me run this thing, I’m going to have to find something else to do,’" Sandy recalls. "And she said, ‘Good luck.’ So we were unemployed with three boys, ages 3, 5 and 7, in 1965."

Drawing upon his degree in personnel management from Texas A&M, Bob Jenkins first sought to buy an employment agency, but found the purchase out of reach. "It was a desperate time," Sandy says. "Then one day Bob said, ‘I think I want to buy a pest control company.’ I said, ‘What do you know about pest control?’ He said, "Nothing, but I can learn it.’"

Sandy placed a condition on Bob’s new endeavor: She would work in the fledgling business for one year, max. "I hated leaving my children when they were little," she says. Using a small inheritance, borrowed funds and money from the sale of Bob’s life insurance policy, Bob and Sandy bought ABC Pest Control in 1965. Bob handled sales and service while Sandy managed the office. "He worked hard," Sandy says. "And within a year, I came back home and got to be with my babies."

After more than 20 years as owner of ABC Pest Control, Bob sold the company to Waste Management, staying with them for about a year. He and Sandy also continued the venture they had started years before: helping Dennis start a new office in the Dallas-Fort Worth market, as they had already done in years past with Bobby in Austin and Raleigh in Houston.

Today the three brothers run ABC Services Inc., an umbrella corporation housing their three companies which provide pest control, lawn care, handyman services, and pool construction and maintenance from 11 locations throughout Texas and Florida. Sandy’s son Bobby believes her to be "the spirit and glue that holds ABC together. Nobody is as committed and passionate about ABC and what the business stands for." And Raleigh notes, "Mom’s greatest contribution has been her inspiration to the three of us who followed in our father’s footsteps as PMPs."

Sandy continues to support the industry and also remains politically active. "Sandy Jenkins Day" was declared on her 70th birthday, Nov. 1, 2007, in Marble Falls, Texas, the town where she lives and still contributes to the community. She is chairwoman of the county chapter of the Republican Party. And she remains visible in town in parades and civic events with her 40-member drill team, the Plungettes.

Looking back, Sandy says, "I’m just thrilled this is what Bob fell into. The people in the pest control industry are some of the finest people you could ever know."

Sandy Jenkins at a Glance

• Matriarch of one of the pest control industry’s most successful families
• Mother of Bobby, Raleigh and Dennis 
• Nov. 1 named “Sandy Jenkins Day” in Marble Falls, Texas
• Active in local Chamber of Commerce and in local and national politics; board member of community theater group
• Strong supporter of NPMA