[PCT Leadership Winner] Stephen Certa

Successful businesses, like successful marriages, are partnerships. And Stephen Certa, president of Watch All, Inc. – one of New England’s most respected pest management firms – knows something about successful partnerships. He’s had hundreds of them during a distinguished career spanning more than two decades. But his two most important and highly valued relationships have been with his wife, Paula, and his longtime business partner, Peter Comrack.

TAKING THE PLUNGE. Married more than 30 years, Certa first broached the subject of starting his own pest control business in 1980, after identifying pest control as a way to supplement his modest salary as a high school industrial arts teacher. When Massachusetts passed "Proposition 2½" and his teaching position was eliminated, Certa decided it was time for a career change, despite his wife’s initial reservations. "I figured I had nothing to lose and everything to gain," he says.

Yet with a two-year-old daughter, a house payment and no health insurance, the stakes were high. "As it turns out, it was the best thing to ever happen to me," Certa says. At the time, however, Paula wasn’t so sure. "Needless to say, it was a very, very stressful time," she says. "He was always a very ambitious person, but I didn’t know if Steve had the necessary business sense to be successful, and I’m all about security. I wasn’t quite as confident as he was, but I was willing to support him because I knew it was something he wanted to do."

She needn’t have worried. Certa and his partner Peter Comrack, a fellow schoolteacher, had established a fledgling home repair business during their summers off and on weekends that complemented Watch All’s pest control services. Much of this "moonlighting" work involved providing structural damage repair of homes infested by termites. As a result, Certa says, "We would call a pest control company to do the pest control work and we realized we were doing more to control conducive conditions than they were. We said to ourselves, ‘We can do this,’ so we got certified."

The rest, as they say, is history. Watch All’s unique market positioning combining pest management and structural repair services has been a boon to the 44-person company. "No other competitor in our geographic area can compete with the structural repair aspects of our service," Comrack says. "Sill and foundation repairs, cement work, house leveling and lifting, integrity restoration, and roof work are all services typical of our Structural Damage Repair Division. We restore structural confidence to our customers, value to their property and integrity to their environment."

"Clients appreciate our common sense approach and industry-unique ability to ‘think structurally,’" Certa adds. "Our philosophy has always been to solve pest problems in the most efficient and environmentally responsible manner possible." The company has been so successful in living out that vision that Watch All was honored as a "Partner in Change" by the Environmental Protection Agency. "This prestigious recognition came as a result of the efforts and achievements we’ve made to help protect the environment in our business and educational practices," Certa says.

Such recognition has helped Watch All become a leading supplier of pest management services in the Boston metropolitan area, but Certa says his company’s success is based on a simple premise. "The service business – whether structural repairs or structural pest control – really isn’t very complicated. You tell people what you’re going to do. You do what you say you’re going to do. You send them a bill after the service is performed and they pay it. You don’t have to go to the Harvard Business School to figure that out."

It’s a lesson he learned from his father, John, an Italian immigrant who raised four children while applying his trade as a decorative artist in the shadow of New York City. "He could take a piece of cheesecloth and some paint and turn a white wall into a piece of marble," Certa says. "He was a blue-collar guy who took a lot of pride in his work." It’s a pride he passed on to his son, a first-generation Italian American who – like his father – personifies the American dream. "He always told me that when you go to sleep at night you should be happy to wake up and go to work. I go to bed every night excited about the coming day. I can’t wait to go to work in the morning."

GROWTH ORIENTED. All that hard work apparently is paying off. In the past 20 years Watch All has grown from having six employees in 1988 to having 44 employees in 2004 with an impressive 13% annual growth rate. The company, which serves eastern Massachusetts, Cape Cod, and Providence, R.I., provides a wide range of services, including general pest control, structural damage repair, termite control, bird management, commercial services and fur-bearing animal control. In 1995, the company even ventured into the lawn care market, offering a variety of lawn care services to its commercial clients.

Key members of the Watch All management team include co-owner Peter Comrack, vice president and manager of the company’s Structural Damage Repair Division; Technical Director Doug Hayes; Jonathan Boyer, director of marketing and sales; Scott Josselyn, Todd Fallon and Eric Murphy, commercial supervisors; Paul Croake, manager of the Nuisance Wildlife Control Division; Bill DiMarco, Termite Division manager; George Schuwerk, Lawn Care Division manager; and Betsy Smith, office/customer service manager.

Watch All’s fastest-growing business segment is commercial pest control, which has benefited from the country’s rebounding economy and Boston’s highly educated work force, which lures hundreds of start-up companies to the area every year. Watch All also has benefited from the addition of Jonathan Boyer in 1997, who has helped secure such high-profile accounts as the new Boston Convention Center. "He has been very instrumental in our company’s growth because he’s focused on growing our commercial business," Certa says. "He’s been a great addition to the business."

Certa’s brother in law – Doug Hayes – also has played a key role in the growth of the company. "If I identify a business opportunity, they give me the latitude to try it out," he observes. Hayes believes Certa has been able to build a successful business because "he’s always willing to hear other people’s perspectives on an issue, which is very useful when making a decision. He also holds people accountable, which is important in any business."

The oldest of four children who spent his early childhood in the Bronx, Certa says his leadership style has evolved over time as he has matured. "When I was younger, I was demanding. I made people answer the phone on the first ring. I jumped up and down. Now my leadership style is more laid back. I demand quality, but I don’t jump up and down any more," he says with a laugh, "although I’m still very involved in the business."

It’s a leadership style that complements partner Peter Comrack’s more hands-off approach to the day-to-day operation of Watch All. "We’re similar in many ways, but we’re also very different in other ways," Certa says. "We’ve been successful because we stay out of each other’s hair, yet we both have common goals for the business."

Certa enjoys being the face of Watch All in the community, while Comrack prefers working behind the scenes and interacting with customers. "I enjoy being out on the job site," Comrack says. "I don’t like being cooped up in the office."

Certa understands the feeling, but he’s gradually taken on more management responsibilities as the company has evolved, devoting more and more time to strategic planning and employee development. "The one moment in my career that really stands out is the day in 2000 when I woke up and got dressed and I realized I was putting on my business shoes and not my work boots," Certa says. "Being a technician in the field for 18 years and finally turning from a technician to a businessman was a point in my career I will never forget."

Certa says it was a challenging, yet gratifying transition. "It was a difficult thing to do because I’m a fella who likes to be out on the road, who likes seeing clients. I had to get used to sitting behind a desk. I’m still doing the same thing, but now it’s behind a desk rather than behind the wheel of a truck. Instead of working in my business, I’m working on my business.

"My job at Watch All is to be the face of the company," Certa adds. "I’m the current president of the Weymouth Rotary Club and active in the South Shore Chamber of Commerce and the South Shore Women’s Business Network. Our company also sponsors little league teams and supports other worthy organizations. We feel it’s important to give back to the people who give to us."

Certa says such visibility reinforces the fact that Watch All is a local business with deep roots in the community, a competitive advantage over the large national firms that also service the lucrative Boston market. "It’s a way for us to differentiate ourselves," he says, "and it’s also the right thing to do."

CONCLUSION. It’s a business philosophy that has served Certa well during his distinguished career, while at the same time contributing to the community. "I’ve always said if you’re going to be a member of a group you should be active. It’s an important part of our reputation, which is based on honesty and integrity. I’ve always said I’d rather walk away from a job being honest than to perform a job and get paid for something I didn’t do. When I was working in the field as a technician, I gave my customers the best value I could possibly give them and I’ve tried to instill that philosophy in our current technicians." If sales performance is any indication, by all accounts, they’ve followed Certa’s example very well. "Steve’s a good person," Doug Hayes says, "who always tries to do the right thing."

When asked how he would like to be remembered by his peers at the end of his life, Certa has a simple answer. "I’d like people to say that I was fair and honest in my dealings with them. I once heard a speaker at a pest control conference say, ‘It’s all about the dash. The year you were born and the year you died. It’s the dash in the middle that makes the difference.’"

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Building a Brand

When deciding what to call his company, Stephen Certa resisted the temptation to highlight his family’s name. Why? "I wanted to build a brand that would stand on its own, regardless if I had an affiliation with the company or not," he says.

Ultimately, Certa and longtime business partner Peter Comrack decided to name the company Watch All because as pest management professionals with damage repair expertise "we were responsible for watching everything in our customers’ homes," he says. "We didn’t call it Pete and Steve’s Pest Control because we were interested in building a brand, not our names. We wanted to give the business a ‘big company’ look and feel."

Selecting an owl as the company mascot also seemed like a logical choice since it’s an animal that is alert and wise, reinforcing the company’s image of providing "security" for their customers’ homes and property. "The logo has undergone some changes, but it’s been with us throughout the company’s 24-year history," Certa says. "I think it represents our company well."

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A Unique Request

When Stephen Certa, president of Watch All, Inc., inquired about joining the South Shore Women’s Business Network nearly a decade ago, he got some strange looks from members of the all-female group. But he didn’t let their initial reservations deter him. "When I first heard about the organization I said to myself, ‘This would be a great group to join since they’re my target customer base,’" he recalls. "If there’s a pest problem, who calls? It’s usually the woman of the house."

So Certa set out to convince the members of the Women’s Business Network that he was serious about his commitment to the organization. "They weren’t sure about me at first, but I eventually won them over," he says. In fact, he recently was named to the Board of Directors.

"The benefit to my business of being a part of the organization has been great. It’s resulted in a lot of new business for Watch All and I’ve learned a lot from being a part of the group."

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A Taste of the Real World

Every PCO knows that employee recruitment and retention is one of the most challenging aspects of running a successful pest control business. However, Stephen Certa has taken some of the risk out of hiring and retaining quality employees by initiating a unique employee recruitment practice.

"I do something a little different," he says. "I have potential technicians spend a day working with one of our technicians in the field. At the end of the day, I ask them if they’re still interested in the position." If they respond ‘yes’ they’re brought back to work the rest of the week, earning an hourly wage and getting a taste of "real-world" pest control. At the end of the week, if they perform well and their references check out, they’re hired.

"It gives you an idea if the person applying for the job is equipped to do it," Certa says. "Are they afraid of bugs? Do they mind crawling around in dirty places? If you can’t bring yourself to take a rat off a snap trap, if you’re afraid to go into crawlspaces, you’re not cut out for this job. We run them through the ringer. By the end of the week we find out if we want them and they find out if they want us."