75 Years Of Excellence

It was early 1928, and J. Edwin (J.E.) Sameth, then just 20 years old, had returned to his home in West Virginia from New York City where he’d been visiting a cousin, a successful exterminator.

J.E. had a big announcement to make: he was thinking about a career in pest control. Then an even bigger announcement: his family would need to move to Newark, N.J., to start the company. J.E. convinced his family to move, and the company opened its doors for business on February 1 of that year, operating out of the basement of the family’s new home. There were three employees: J.E., his sister Ailene, and their father Maurice.

Although the company was off to a humble start, J.E. had big ideas even then. He envisioned the new firm not as a small, local business, but instead as a significant market leader with an extensive service area. The name of this company had to follow suit. The three employees came up with several ideas: National, American, Federal, General, Eastern and Western. The names were written on slips of paper and literally thrown into a hat. J.E. drew the winning name and Western Pest Services was born.

AN EXCITING HISTORY. Western certainly has come a long way since its early years in Newark. The basement office was quickly outgrown, and today Western operates more than 30 locations from Connecticut to Florida out of its corporate headquarters in Parsippany, N.J. The much-admired company now serves more than 130,000 customers located throughout the East Coast. Its double-digit growth rates have led to an annual revenue level of $90 million, and counting. And Western’s more than 800 employees are among the most talented and loyal in the industry.

J.E. led the company to many of these milestones and lived to see the company reach its 75th year. J.E. died on May 20, 2002. He was 94. His sons Bob and Dick, and daughter Jeanne, have been involved with Western for more than 35 years each and run the company today.

Bob Sameth, president of Western Pest Services, cites three key elements that have been crucial to the company’s long-term success. “Good people, good service, good ethics — these are what have enabled us to be at the top of our industry in our 75th year,” he said. These values are also reflected in the company’s mission statement, developed in 1991: “To always exceed customer expectations by providing unequalled service in an ethical, environmentally responsible, caring and responsive manner.”

Sameth, who has been president of the company for 25 years, notes that while the company has changed over the years, its emphasis on people, service and ethics have not. “We believe strongly in getting the best people and providing the best service we can as a company,” Sameth said. “Those are two primary focuses of our company. High ethical standards also are a big part of our company’s corporate culture and that started with my dad. He always wanted to deal fairly with people. That’s just the way he was. Our people understand that if they’re making a decision in the field, making the right and fair decision is what is most important to us as a company.”

From the company’s evolution over the years, it’s clear that these virtues have served the company well. Having reached $90 million in revenue, the company continues to grow at double-digit rates. And Sameth notes that continued profitable growth, via internal efforts and through acquisitions, is one of Western’s priorities. “We want to see our company hit the $100 million mark in the next year and we’re well on our way,” he said.

Dick Sameth, vice president and brother to the president, pointed out that continued growth would also help the company provide opportunities for its loyal employees. “We operate from southern New York down the East Coast to Florida,” he said. “I’d like us to fill in the blank spots.”

Today the company’s service area is divided into four regions, with a regional manager overseeing each area. “These are the people driving the company forward,” Bob Sameth says. Of the company’s customers, 55 percent are in the commercial sector and 45 percent are residential.

A DYNAMIC ORGANIZATION. A strong promoter of delegating responsibility to the field, Bob Sameth believes in pushing the decision-making process down through the organization. As such, he notes that his management style differs from his father’s. “My style is more oriented toward attracting and hiring good people and giving them a chance to succeed in their job,” he said. In contrast, “My father was much more involved in the day-to-day operation of the business.” However, Sameth notes, because the company was smaller when J.E. served as president, he was involved in just about every decision. He also knew every employee, as well as spouses and children. “That’s possible with 30 to 35 employees; that’s not possible today,” he says.

Other significant organizational changes for Western occurred in 2001, when longtime general manager Bruce Nelson retired. The company then named Tom Walters to the post of general manager and also created three new positions: residential services division manager, commercial services division manager and operations manager. Those positions are held by Mike Wakefield, Bob Suriano and Bill Sullivan, respectively. The structural changes were part of a four-year business plan that Sameth says has paid dividends for Western in terms of service quality and targeted business growth.

“We took these steps knowing it would be expensive, but we believed in the long term it would pay off, and we were right,” he said, adding that the company has seen a significant improvement in both growth and profits. “When someone can focus in one area of the business more, you’re going to see some significant benefits.” He says he expects the company to grow between 10 and 12 percent in 2002.

AN INDUSTRY LEADER. Investing in its people and its processes is nothing new for Western. The company has always made a priority of hiring the right people, then training and rewarding employees for performance. The company also has a strong commitment to ongoing education with many classes taught by staff entomologists. And Western rewards its employees with top salaries and a comprehensive benefits package.

This commitment to finding the right employees, training them well, and working to retain them adds up to unmatched loyalty: many of Western’s employees have been with the company for more than 15 years. But the additional benefit, Sameth points out, is that knowledgeable technicians provide superior service, exceeding customer expectations.

And it appears that Western’s customers are more than satisfied with the firm’s service. Sameth cites more than 130,000 active customers on the books and he can personally list customers that have been with Western for more than 25 years, some of them for generations. “As president of this company, I occasionally hear from customers about both their positive and negative experiences with our company,” he said. “We want that feedback because our single most important goal is to continue to improve.”

A CHANGING MARKETPLACE. In addition to its employees and satisfied customers, Western is also an innovator and a leader. Dick Sameth points to the “good ethics” portion of the company mantra as the beacon guiding Western’s leadership. For example, he noted that the company helped to start the trend of IPM by being among the first to promote preventive and environmentally friendlier pest control measures over the earlier industry standard of “just treating the symptoms.” Today the company continues this missive by training its technicians to make long-term decisions on how to solve problems, rather than opting for short-term, quick-fix solutions.

Western was also part of the first team of pest control companies invited by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to establish and implement the model for IPM standards in schools.

Part of Western’s early IPM effort was adopting targeted treatments over widespread spraying. While it may seem commonplace today, using targeted treatments was a major change in pest control methodology in the 1970s. Instead of widespread spraying in areas where children, adults and pets could be affected, targeting harborage sites located away from family activity was much safer environmentally and more effective in controlling pests. It also allowed Western to begin guaranteeing its services to customers.

Western was also a leader in changing its pesticide protocols. In 1988, when EPA said that chlordane was not environmentally friendly, Western ceased using it, even though there was no obligation to do so. And in the mid-1990s, as organophosphates were under fire, Western pulled such pesticides from its trucks before regulatory actions were mandated. Western has literally led the industry as well. Three Western executives have served as president of the National Pest Control Association (now known as the National Pest Management Association): J.E. Sameth in 1950-51, Frank Guenther in 1969-70, and Dick Sameth in 1996-97.

Western encourages its executives to serve as advocates for the pest control industry at municipal, state and federal levels. The company also encourages its management to take an active role in state industry associations.

The company has also been a leader in being among the first companies to implement a number of high-tech tools designed to provide more efficient, more effective service. For example, Western has made a significant investment in handheld computers to enter information about pest control services and treatments provided and the company is rolling out their use in commercial accounts. Corporate software allows Western’s customer service representatives to run reports quickly and easily. And Western is working on account access through its Web site so that customers will be able to review their records and print reports for their own regulatory requirements. Even after 75 years of service, Western Pest Services still focuses on the customer and on hiring and training the best employees to provide the best service. “I don’t think the corporate culture has changed that much since my dad was president,” Bob Sameth said. “I don’t think it ever will.” Always one step ahead, the company continues to investigate the best ways to control pests, ways that are ever more effective, efficient and environmentally sound. “All these goals,” says Sameth, “lead to the same thing: a completely satisfied customer.” The author is former managing editor of PCT magazine.

The author is former managing editor of PCT magazine. She can be reached at lmckenna@pctonline.com.

J. Edwin (J.E.) Sameth was one of the industry’s earliest visionaries and entrepreneurs. His company, Western Pest Services, grew to become one of the nation’s most admired and largest pest control companies. The founder of Western Pest Services, based in Parsippany, N.J., died on May 20, 2002, at the age of 94.

The oldest of seven children, Sameth was born in Bluefield, W.Va. A hard worker, he took his first full-time job at age 13, working at a lumber camp, cutting, sawing and hauling wood. "He woke up at 4:30 a.m. to start the fire stove in the bunkhouse, so when the others would get up it would be warm," said J.E.’s son Bob Sameth, president of Western Pest Services.

At 17, J.E. left home and went looking for work to help support the family. There weren’t many job opportunities in his home state, so Sameth traveled to New York, where he found a job working on the piers of New York City. "It was a tough life but it gave him the financial resources to get into the pest control business," Bob said.

J.E. then spent several months working with a cousin in New York who ran an exterminating business. It didn’t take him long to realize there were opportunities in pest control. He called his parents and convinced them to bring the rest of the family up to Newark, N.J., where he planned to start his company.

The family moved, and in February 1928, with the help of his father Maurice and sister Ailene, J.E. founded Western Exterminating Co. Right from the start, J.E. visualized his company as a far-reaching organization with a large service area. He went to work growing his company, and before long his vision became reality.

J.E.’s son Dick recalls his father’s hard work ethic, and his constant efforts to grow the company. "It was a bold move on his part to expand the operation at such an early stage in the business," Dick said. "He started the business in 1928 and began opening new offices in 1937."

Over the years J.E. developed Western into a major provider of pest control services and a respected industry leader. He also made an indelible mark on the pest management industry, setting standards of excellence for customer service, employment practices and techniques of pest management.

"My father guided Western by his own personal ethics and high quality standards," Bob said. "He believed in hiring the right people who would provide top-notch service to customers." Those standards, Bob added, are what have made the company so successful today.

Jeanne recalls her father as an intelligent but humble man. "He was a very bright guy. He loved to read and loved to learn about new things. He was very inquisitive and he was always asking questions," Jeanne said. "His mind soaked up information like a sponge."

When it came to his career, Bob says, his father truly enjoyed the pest control industry. "He derived a great sense of enjoyment and pride in seeing an organization grow and seeing the people in the organization succeed both professionally and financially," he said. "I think he was very comfortable with himself, but he was never satisfied. He always wanted to improve. We continue to be very self-critical as a company. That attitude comes from dad."

Dick recalls his father’s genuine concern for others, and his high ethical standards. "There were no gray areas in dad’s life. Things were right or wrong. You didn’t have to guess which way he was going to act because he was very consistent," Dick said. "He was going to treat one employee the same as the next employee. He was going to treat one customer the same as the next customer."

J.E. was president of Western Pest Services, and later its parent company, Western Industries, from its inception until 1978. He served as chairman of the Board of Trustees from 1978 until his retirement in 1998.

J.E. was also one of the co-founders of Copesan, the alliance of regional pest management companies throughout North America, and he served as president of the National Pest Control Association (now National Pest Management Association) from 1950 to 1951.

J.E. is survived by his children, Robert (Bob), Richard (Dick), and Jeanne S. Burke, all of whom are executives of Western and active in the pest control industry.

Memorial contributions can be sent to: American Diabetes Association, 19 School House Road, Somerset, NJ 08873. Expressions of sympathy can be sent to: The Sameth Family, Western Industries, Inc., P.O. Box 367, Parsippany, N.J. 07054-0367.