Bert Dodson Jr.

One of the things that makes the pest management industry unique is the collaborative spirit among business leaders. Rather than viewing one another as archrivals, pest management professionals understand there’s enough business to go around and believe in the ideal that a rising tide lifts all boats. The more we know about safe, effective pest management, the better our industry looks and the more successful each business can become.

Bert Dodson Jr., president/CEO of Dodson Pest Control, embodies this collaborative spirit — and takes it to an even higher level. Dodson not only freely shares knowledge, expertise and best practices with other PMPs, but also provides financial resources to help strengthen the professionalism of the industry.

“Bert is, above all else, loyal and devoted — to his family, his father’s memory, his business, his community and our industry,” said Victor Hammel, chairman emeritus, Rentokil North America. Hammel shared that he and his wife, Dena, have always held Dodson in the highest esteem, as did Hammel’s late brother, Bobby Hammel. “When something needs to be done, Bert is always the first to sign on and get involved. His support is unwavering.”

Dodson’s support of industry research and education stand out as particularly notable, according to Virginia Pest Management Association (VPMA) Executive Director Andrea Coron: “Bert’s appreciation of the importance of supporting the scientific base of our industry sets up the industry as a whole to keep growing in recognition and professionalism. That is a legacy that will continue for generations to come.”

FAMILY VALUES. When Dodson’s dad, the late Bert Dodson Sr., established Dodson Pest Control in Lynchburg, Va., with his older brother Robert in 1944, he was just 18 years old. Another brother, Arthur, joined shortly after the company’s opening. Together, the trio built the foundation of the business. (Bert Sr. bought his brothers out years later.)

“Even as a young man, my father had a strong sense of what salesmanship, dedication and customer service should look like,” said Dodson. He shared a story to illustrate his dad’s determination in the early days of building the business:

“One of the markets my father was servicing was quite a distance from Lynchburg, so he would drive there at night and sleep in his chemical truck. He would wake up very early in the morning and freshen up before his first stop, which was a restaurant — but he did not get paid in cash by that account. Instead, he bartered pest control services for his breakfast. If he did not provide good service, he did not eat, so as you can imagine, he was committed to providing good service! This story reminds me that, in comparison to all that my father was willing to do to build our company, anything we do today is easy.”

Like many second-generation owner/operators, Bert Jr. began working in pest control early in his life. “I started working as a termite technician when I was 15, and worked almost every summer in high school and college at Dodson Pest Control and on the farm my dad owned,” he said. “I grew to understand the value of sweat equity and learned the pest control business from the ground up.”

Upon his graduation from the University of Richmond Robins School of Business in 1976, Dodson became a district manager at Dodson’s Richmond, Va., office, advancing to a regional manager position three years later. Five years into that stint, he was called to the corporate office in Lynchburg to serve as vice president after his father was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Six months before Bert Sr. passed away in 1989, Bert Jr. became president/CEO — the role he continues to fill today.

“When I first approached my father about the district manager job in Richmond, he said, ‘Bertram, you do not know anything about managing office operations. You just got out of college, and while you do have pest management experience, you don’t know how to manage.’ I said, ‘I can learn and I can work.’ And that is what I did,” Dodson said.

Indeed, Bert Jr. worked to grow Dodson Pest Control into one of the largest pest management companies in the country. Exceeding $73 million in annual revenue, employing more than 650 team members and operating 38 offices in six states, Dodson Pest Control earned the No. 19 spot on PCT’s Top 100 this year (up from No. 20 last year) and is among the top 10 family-owned pest management businesses in revenue.

Dodson pointed out that the company has succeeded in achieving that growth without incurring debt: “My father told me that back in the 1950s, he borrowed some money from a bank, and every Friday they came looking for their money. He did not like that arrangement and vowed to never take out another loan. We have followed his lead and kept the company debt-free for 70 years.”

Zero debt and ongoing growth make Dodson confident about the company’s future. “We feel secure about our future and satisfied with our past,” he said.

The culture Dodson has built focuses on giving team members the tools they need to succeed and move up in their careers. Employee training is exemplary, according to Rottler Pest Solutions Chairman and CEO Mike Rottler, who serves with Dodson on the board of the Professional Pest Management Alliance (PPMA). “Bert believes in investing in his people. He does what’s right for them and stands as a role model for other businesses. He was an early adopter of driver training and other innovative programs, for example, which sent the message to other companies that this is where we need to be as an industry.”

Incentive programs for managers, salespeople, technicians, customer service representatives and company leaders keep everyone energized about revenue and profitability, Dodson shared, and, aside from occasional exceptions during the busy season, employees have weekends off to be with their families.

This culture keeps Dodson team members, and often their family members, with the company for many years. District Manager Eddie Pinigis has been part of the Dodson team for 44 years, for example, following in the footsteps of his late father, who served for many years as executive vice president of operations. Now Pinigis’ son works at the company, too. “We have a number of multigenerational families that work in the company,” said Dodson. He added that many people join Dodson Pest Control in their 20s and stay on through retirement. One tenured team member, 80-year-old Harold Mynes, has run the same route for more than 50 years. “Harold gets up so early in the morning that he starts the coffee before the customers are out of bed. He’s a part-time farmer, too. He’s our hero,” Dodson said.

In terms of his own family members, Dodson is proud to talk about the company’s board of directors. “I work for a majority female-owned company. My mother, Dorothy, who is 97, and my two sisters, Bonny Dodson and Karen Dodson-Whitt, are our stockholders and board members,” he explained. “We meet at least four times a year, when I report to them about the company’s progress. They are not involved in day-to-day operations, but they provide invaluable insights and strongly influence the character of the company.”

LEGACY OF EDUCATION. Dr. Dini Miller, professor of Urban Pest Management in the Department of Entomology at Virginia Tech, calls the contributions of the Dodson family to the university a blessing. Decades ago, Bert Sr. helped fund what is now known as the Dodson Urban Pest Management Laboratory, and in the past several years, Bert Jr. and his family established the million-dollar Bert Dodson Sr. Urban Entomology Enrichment Fund, which supports an endowed chair as well as ongoing research.

“One of the challenges of being an entomologist is that most of the research funding that comes in is dedicated to insects in agricultural settings. But the Dodson funding enables us to do more urban entomology research. Bert’s generosity and his focus on urban pest management allow us to address issues people are having in their homes,” Miller shared, pointing to two recently completed bed bug fumigation studies designed to benefit low-income populations.

Beyond research, Miller said Dodson’s efforts are helping change pest management industry perceptions. “When I travel, I’m disheartened seeing how many people still believe that the magic of pest control is in the spray, rather than in the technician. Bert is dedicated to promoting the professionalism of our industry — our people — so the public can understand, appreciate and have confidence in what we do,” she said.

Dodson and his team support other industry institutions and organizations as well. Dodson Pest Control’s longtime director of technical services, the late Dr. Eric Smith, coauthored the ubiquitous “NPMA Field Guide to Structural Pests” and the company’s technical team has historically held a place on VPMA’s education committee. Notably, they were instrumental in the development of VPMA’s Master Tech, WDI Inspector and Jeffrey M. Johnson Memorial Associate Certified Entomologist (ACE) Prep Courses. Providing those resources was one of the reasons Dodson was recognized with the VPMA Industry Stewardship Award in 2002. The other reason was his legislative savvy.

“In 2002, the pest control industry in Virginia was 13 years into being more tightly regulated by the Pesticide Control Act after substantial changes enacted in regulation in 1989. Over all those years, Bert and his family were on the front line working with our regulators,” VPMA’s Coron said. “To the regulators that came in way back then, industry practitioners like Bert provided common sense, science-based information about pest control. Bert collaborated with them as part of a team from VPMA, helping them see how things could and should work. His was one of the companies that were doing things right, that had the professionalism and the education even before it was required.”

LEGISLATIVE PROWESS. If you don’t have a seat at the table, you’re probably on the menu. Dodson believes there is truth in this adage, and he has spent the better part of his adult life ensuring the pest management industry always has a seat at the table.

“People tend to focus on politics, but it’s really the legislation that is crucial. Getting involved at the state level gives you the opportunity to help legislators, regardless of political party, understand where we are coming from — let them know what pest control is all about and what we need to continue protecting people and the environment,” he said.

Dodson has certainly done his part at the state level, Coron emphasized. “Bert has been a cornerstone of VPMA’s legislative and regulatory affairs team for as long as I’ve known him. He spends a lot of his personal time and resources building and nurturing important relationships with Virginia’s legislators. His understanding of the legislative process and the needs of small businesses makes him a force to be reckoned with. He is very generous with his knowledge, too — always happy to support other industry folks who are newer to the legislative scene.”

One of the Virginia legislators Dodson came to know quite well in his career was current U.S. Senator and 2016 Vice Presidential Candidate Tim Kaine (D-Va.). Dodson, who has been a friend of the senator since the latter served as mayor of Richmond (1998-2001), recruited Kaine to speak at NPMA’s 2024 Legislative Day.

“Bringing his friend in to address a largely conservative audience was a great move by Bert,” said Coron. “He helped others recognize the importance of coming together, regardless of political leanings, to protect our industry and the livelihood of everyone who works in the industry. Senator Kaine supports a lot of what we stand for; he was very well-received.”

HOMETOWN COMMITMENT. If you’re old enough to remember the reception Norm Peterson would get when he walked through the door at Cheers, then you have a sense of what it’s like when Dodson walks through his hometown of Lynchburg. He was elected to Lynchburg City Council for three terms, serving a total of 12 years (1998-2010), six of those as vice mayor. In 2011, he ran for the 22nd District Virginia State Senate seat. He has earned countless awards for his commitment to community organizations, teams and causes.

“I’ve had the opportunity to walk around town and attend community events with Bertram, and everybody knew him. I swear he was kissing babies, hugging people — people from all walks of life were going out of their way to say hi to Bert,” said Sprague Pest Solutions Chair Alfie Treleven. “It’s not surprising, because he deeply cares about everybody and is willing to listen even when he doesn’t agree with someone. And he gets things done, whether by taking action himself or connecting people so that they can lead the charge. It is amazing to see the depth and breadth of people he has touched in his local community, as well as within our industry.”

For Dodson, like his father, public service was a calling. “Local government is such a pleasure. You get to meet the people, the constituents whose lives are directly affected by the work you do. I dedicated 80 to 100 hours a month to the Lynchburg community when I served on city council, and I loved it,” he said. “I have always thought that we need more business-minded people in local government to make it work to its fullest potential.”

Dodson is committed to philanthropic work in the community, too. He and his family donate and raise funds for the local police department and many other local and regional organizations. His mother’s scholarship fund, the University of Lynchburg Dorothy Hayes Dodson Scholarship Fund, provides students with grants to attend the university. In all, 120 organizations representing education, the arts, underserved communities, health care and other causes benefit from the Dodsons’ generosity each year.

It’s all part of Bert Dodson Jr.’s philosophy that when you’re as blessed as he feels his family has been, you give back all you can. He plans to continue doing that for a long time to come.

“I ran cross-country and the half mile in college [with All-American and NCAA honors at University of Richmond in 1976],” Dodson said. “When you are running, you do not worry about the miles behind you; you worry about the miles ahead of you. I have taken that attitude with life. I do not think about the days, years or decades behind me. I think about what is ahead of me. That is not just to blow smoke; that is what I live by every day.”