[View Point] In troubling economic times, industry remains optimistic

As this issue went to press, Congress had just passed a bailout bill for Wall Street. While it would be foolish for me to comment one way or the other about what’s going to happen in the wake of this landmark legislation, it’s safe to say the U.S. economy — and thereby the world economy — is on shaky ground. (I’m really going out on a limb, huh?)

The stock market is behaving like a yo-yo and legislators can’t decide how best to handle the situation. Investors are anxious, as is anyone who has to meet payroll (like you). So what do all of these ups and downs mean for an entrepreneurial industry like ours?

For more than 10 years, PCT has produced an annual State of the Industry report. As have all such reports in the past, this year’s State of the Industry features exclusive research and analysis by our staff and team of writers. We report on a wide range of topics, from the termite market and health-care costs to gas prices and the small business “friendliness” of various states. So is it all doom and gloom for pest management professionals? You’ll have to turn to page 27 to find out.

Certainly the answer may be different if we asked it today (or next week or next month), but this summer (when the research used in this report was performed) when PCT asked our readers if, in general, they are satisfied or dissatisfied with the way things are currently going in the pest management industry, almost 60 percent (58.9 percent) said they were “satisfied” (23.4 percent said they were dissatisfied and 17.7 percent had no opinion). It’s not great, but I think three out of five PCOs saying they are satisfied is a decent number in such times of economic stress.

And while there are lots of negatives occurring in most industries right now — high health-care costs, increasing fuel expenses, a downtrodden housing market — there are some silver linings for the professional pest control market. It’s often said that our industry is recession proof, meaning that commercial structures always need pest protection (regardless of the economy) and many homeowners will still pick up the phone to call you when they’re having a problem (although perhaps they’re doing so today after they’ve tried solving the situation once or twice themselves). The 2007 termite swarm in many areas of the country was better than years past and compared to 2006, nearly 55 percent of professionals surveyed said 2007 service revenues increased, and 44 percent saw profits rise.

No one knows what will happen as the government and the private sector work their way through the financial mess that hit Wall Street this fall, but we hope PCT’s State of the Industry report, sponsored by Bayer Environmental Science, will provide you a glimpse into your industry and what your peers are doing to stay afloat during this wave of uncertainty.

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You may notice a few design changes to PCT this month. The magazine had its own mini makeover and we’re pleased to show it off. We have a new typeface for both feature articles and sidebars (the typeface you’re reading right now is called antenna — how appropriate!) and we’ve redesigned the way features, departments and columns are presented. We hope you like the changes we’ve worked on the past few months.

The credit for the redesign goes to designers Jim Blayney and Andrea Vagas of the PCT art department. Without their vision and expertise, you’d receive a magazine every month that was chock-full of information but boring to look at and read. Our intent was to freshen up the pages of our magazine so they looked more modern and were easier for you to read. I hope you like it! If you have comments about the new look, please send them my way.

The author is editor of PCT magazine.