Convention Conversation, Part 2

By Jodi Dorsch

If you feel like you’ve seen this interview before, you haven’t. We promise.

In July 2020, Scott Steckel was named president of the National Pest Management Association. And according to protocol, in July 2021, President-Elect Justin McCauley should have come on board to start his term. But like most everything else in the past 18 months, plans changed. At its annual membership meeting at virtual PestWorld 2020, members passed a motion allowing the 2020-2021 NPMA Board of Directors to extend their terms by one additional year “in light of changes due to the coronavirus pandemic,” the amendment said. That means all members of the board of directors are serving in their roles from 2020-2022.

Check out last year’s interview with Steckel (online at https://bit.ly/2Hhbb7e) for information about his company, his father’s legacy and why Ohio is such an active state on the national legislative stage. PCT Editor-in-Chief Jodi Dorsch sat down with Steckel in August (no masks this time!) to get an update on this year’s PestWorld (in person!), his goals for his remaining time as president and how NPMA has fared throughout the pandemic.

Jodi Dorsch, PCT: NPMA’s board of directors had its term extended by a year because of COVID. That’s a big deal.

Scott Steckel: Yes, that has never happened before. This essentially came from industry leadership who recognized that the board’s service during the pandemic probably hadn’t been what they had expected when volunteering to serve the association. And from there, understanding that the role of the board, engagement with one another and the membership was one that was extremely valued and so missed during this time, our CEO Dominique Stumpf helped guide us through the process that would allow the membership to make this happen (through the bylaws change last October). The reality was we had no playbook for a pandemic, and everyone’s nose was to the grindstone. We were very active to get new things in place for this unusual time.

I thoroughly enjoyed my first year as president. Why? One, it was interesting because I didn’t have to travel (and I love to travel, by the way). But I could now go to every state association meeting virtually. I couldn’t do that normally because the travel is too much. There are often overlaps where I just couldn’t do everything. Now I literally went to almost every state association meeting that they published. I said, “Hey, would you like me to join you?” And they’re like, “Oh, yeah, great.” So I got to see and meet and be present virtually at a lot more meetings than I would normally get to. That was fulfilling for me because I am high-energy, an extroverted, energy-building person when I’m around people, so I get excited about that. So that was fun and interesting.

PCT: Can you give an update on how NPMA did financially during 2020-2021?

SS: In regards to NPMA’s meetings, when we looked at the finances, there was a surprise of all surprises. Although the revenue was down, and we had planned for about a 50 to 60 percent drop, it was only about a 45 percent drop. So we did better on the revenue than we expected, which was a blessing. Even without PestWorld 2020 in person, we did have income from the virtual event, and with much lower expenses.

We got a PPP loan, which at one point wasn’t available to associations, but became available later. And it was a godsend since as with all trade associations, the bulk of NPMA revenue is made up of meetings and dues. That is how an association remains sustainable, provides programs and operates day to day.

The final piece is that we had a hiring freeze and were down four staff positions.

With all of that, we were better than our initial blush. So you put a plan out there, what I call a “triage financial plan.” They were guesses, but we had a positive result at the end of the year. In July, when we did the review and engaged with our auditors, they said, “You guys did pretty well as an association.” Thank goodness we did.

PCT: In the past 18 months, NPMA really has learned how to put on a virtual event. Moving forward, do you think NPMA trade shows and meetings will be both virtual and in-person?

SS: The initial thought was that trying to do both worlds — both an in- person event and a virtual one — wasn’t going to be financially prudent and it would be a very big resource hog. So we decided that this year, if everything was allowed, we would move back to a full, in-person event for PestWorld. The only option would be face-to-face. But even though we’re not going to do this year’s event virtual, because of the work we did for last year’s show, we do have the building blocks for a virtual event. For example, the educational sessions could be used to offer post- convention training. We now know how to do that. And we are always considering our options.

PCT: When you host a virtual event for the training components, potentially, that allows more technicians and other staff to attend who might otherwise not make the trip to PestWorld.

SS: Right. Generally, it’s only going to be company owners, managers and local technicians who go to the event now. But with a virtual event, more people could attend. We didn’t want to bite off too much in the sense that we’re going to try to be all things to all people and then we do a part of it halfway. We don’t want that reputation.

NPMA had two face-to-face meetings prior to PestWorld 2021: the Executive Leadership Forum in Florida in June and Academy in Tucson, Ariz., in July. The participation levels were at about 90 percent of past years, which is where we estimated they would be. We assumed there would still be some little bit of trepidation, but we didn’t know what that would be. But we met the expectations. As of late August, it appears that PestWorld will be the same.

If you look at what’s going on right now, there is this pent-up demand for getting together. I’m not worried about getting together. My view is that I am not cautiously optimistic, I’m better than that. I’m fully optimistic.

PCT: What are some ways NPMA has shown value to its members during the past 18 months?

SS: One was at the federal, state and local government levels. On behalf of the pest control industry, NPMA advocated for and earned the designation of an “essential service,” which allowed companies to continue to operate during the shut-down period. And then NPMA made sure that information was shared in a timely and digestible manner that really allowed us to continue doing business during the pandemic.

Another big service NPMA provided was around the disinfection service offering. Before COVID, really, only the biggest of big companies that are worldwide had any disinfection services. All of a sudden there was a need for a new service type that most of us hadn’t done anything about. NPMA established a task force to provide a path for pest management professionals interested in this line of service.

Protocols used and steps to get trained were laid out, essentially providing a road map to PMPs. Such insights offered the industry a new service offering.

The additional value to our members was (and still is) the timely delivery of and importance of information through ongoing coronavirus webinars, legislative and safety updates, and information for customers through the newly developed website www.pestcontrolcoronavirus.com.

PCT: Labor is always the No. 1 growth challenge for PMPs. Can you give our readers an update on the Workforce Development Initiative (www.npmaworkforce.org)?

SS: If you ask any PMP what their toughest challenge is, you’ll get a variety of answers. Sometimes it’s public policy or the rules and regulations and sometimes it’s cost of labor. But the No. 1 answer is almost always, “I can’t get people hired and I can’t get them hired fast enough.” That’s been the flavor of the day for years and years. When Chris Gorecki from Rollins was coming up through his NPMA presidency, he said, let’s make this happen. And so (NPMA CEO) Dominique (Stumpf) and Cindy (Mannes, senior vice president of public affairs, NPMA) did a yeoman’s amount of w

Fast forward to last year. NPMA created a digital presence and set the foundation for a long-term Work-Force Development program. To start, NPMA invested a lot of money in this initiative ($250,000) and we knew we’d have to start the process to get the funding to be industry supported. So we said, “Let’s step up.”

We created a path for member companies to support the program. There are two levels for pest control companies and two levels for suppliers to participate in building the foundation and growing this to be a sustainable program for the industry. Our goal is that half of that $250,000 was going to be covered by private industry so that we could de-escalate that expense, and we would take that responsibility and, eventually, we would monetize this so that it would all be self-funded. So Chris’s organization, my organization, we all stepped up. We’re now around 30 companies.

So now, the infrastructure is in place, which a year ago wasn’t. We’re getting the results that Cindy Mannes is sharing with us on a monthly basis. The trajectory went from flat when we were just getting it in place, to now, when we’re starting to see functional use. Plunkett’s is one of the founding patrons. And so for us, we have all our employment engagements through WFD (WorkForce Development) as well. We’re getting leads and we’re putting business opportunities, careers, out there and we’re finding that that’s helpful. Now, is that the only method? Of course not. We’re still advertising and working through normal trade shows and job career fairs and those things that we’ve always done. We’re not getting away from those, just using this new resource.

PCT: In what other ways is the labor market changing in the pest management industry?

SS: Let me answer in two ways. The first way is when the government was funding unemployment at a level that was equal to normal pay, the volume of people interested in a technician career or an office staff career was low. Now that the government has pulled that back, we’re noticing that the employment engagement is much faster. I’m not at zero open positions, but I went from 25 down to 15. We’re thankful that that has been removed.

Now, for a global view of unemployment. One of the things that I think we’re all having to come to terms with is compensation. Some companies pay production, some pay hourly. We (the industry) need to be more competitive with our salaries and benefits for skilled labor.

PCT: What’s the focus for your presidency for the next eight months?

SS: What I want to do is twofold. In past and recent generations, the industry’s legacy and owners have predominantly been white males. However, the board today looks different. While we have a lot of work to do, today’s board does have a modest participation of female and persons of color. With each generation transitioning their business and the appeal of the pest management industry from the investment side, we do see it changing and becoming more diverse.

But that’s not the case in our industry as a whole. I mentor lots of people, and the industry is much more clearly a mix of men and women. Women are equal in leadership roles. So that is what I want to do. I want to use a megaphone loudly to say, “You’re all welcome at the table. We want your input. We want your involvement. And frankly, you probably have a lot of information to share that we just need to listen to.”

Second, diversity, equity and inclusion is a topic that I raised as one that would be integral to my time as president. The pest management industry has more non-white businesses out there than we are aware of. Many are not NPMA members. We have to figure this out.

Now we’ve created a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force. (See related story above.) Erin Richardson, All-American Pest Control in Tennessee, will be the co-chair and Joel Nolasco, NuBorn Pest Control from New York, will be the co-chair. The task force will work together to develop a strategic plan that defines that path for making positive change in the association and industry by growing in diversity through equity and inclusion, thereby growing in engagement, membership and the industry overall.

I will use myself as an example from the view of a fixed mindset versus a growth mindset. I will always say I never know everything today. I’m a lifelong learner. And the simple answer is, if you tell yourself that, hey, I’ve got enough information and you can make a decision, then let’s make a decision. If not, then say, hey, I don’t know what the answer is. But let’s bring all people of varying backgrounds to the table and let’s have this crucial conversation where people can be open and give their own opinions and do it in a meaningful way where we all learn. We can make ourselves better. We can do this the right way.