Old School

In 1933, Roy Rich was born in Clay, Ky., (western Kentucky). Raised in a coal miner’s family, he learned the value of hard work and after graduating from Wheatcroft High School in 1951, he worked in the coal mines for a year. He then enlisted in the Air Force and served overseas in Korea and Okinawa during the Korean War. After serving his country for four years, he attended Murray State University and finished his degree in business administration at Campbellsville College.

In January 1967, Rich became director of pest and noxious weed control with the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. It’s there, he said, working in the regulatory arena, that he learned the pest control business inside and out. Rich, Dr. Bobby Pass (who was with the University of Kentucky Entomology Department at the time), and various members of the pest control industry were instrumental in establishing the University of Kentucky Pest Control Short Course. The UK Short Course, which last year celebrated its 45th anniversary, was one of Rich’s fondest memories as a state regulator, and he said he still enjoys attending the meeting today.

In 1972, Rich joined Orkin Pest Control and advanced through its management program. He served as branch manager for Orkin in Elizabethtown and Lexington. In July 1976, Rich and his wife Brenda decided to start E-Town Exterminating in Elizabethtown, Ky.

With two young children, Gina and Shawn, Rich and Brenda took a leap of faith to achieve the American dream of owning their own pest control business. “I had zero accounts,” said Rich. “I had to hit the streets every day making sales calls.” While Rich went door-to-door, Brenda manned the office, which was located in their house. He gradually started picking up business, eventually landing several big commercial accounts. The biggest shot in the arm for the company was when Rich started working with Realtors to perform termite inspections that were required to sell homes.

INDUSTRY SUPPORT. While establishing a new business, Rich became active in the Kentucky Pest Management Association. He served as president twice and continually served on the board of directors for more than 30 years. He also was involved with the board in passing important pest control laws over the years.

Rich also has served as the governor’s representative on the Pest Control Advisory Board for a number of years. (The Pest Control Advisory Board is responsible for administering the Kentucky Pest Licensing examinations in conjunction with the Kentucky Department of Agriculture.)

In 1994, his son, Shawn, joined the company after graduating from Georgetown College. Shawn said he was excited to step into his father’s role in 2003 as CEO, especially after watching the business his entire life. He said that it was all he ever wanted to do. He also has followed in his father’s footsteps by serving as president and on the board of directors for the Kentucky Pest Management Association. He also has been appointed to the Pest Control Advisory Board.

“Our family has supplied the Rich family with products from the first day of business; Roy Rich has been an icon for the industry. His continued service to the pest management industry is still a valuable asset,” said Millard L. Oldham, president, Oldham Chemicals Co. “And Shawn has demonstrated the leadership skills and talents that have been demonstrated over the years from his father.”

Roy Rich is still involved in the company, but says E-Town Exterminating is finding greater success under Shawn’s leadership — the company now has 25 employees. “He’s doing a great job,” he said. “He’s more inventive than I am. I’m more of a nuts and bolts man. He’s more high-tech, which is important with the changes in our industry.”

Shawn said working with his father has been successful because they have different personalities and skills that complement each other. “It’s been a labor of love,” he said, adding that it took a lot of hard work, loyal customers and tremendous employees to build E-Town Exterminating into the successful business it is today. There is a framed print hung in Rich’s office displaying the equipment of a coal miner and a dog tag that has the name of his father, Roy Rich. This is a daily reminder of the lessons of hard work his father taught him from a small coal mining town in western Kentucky, he said.

That hard work has paid off handsomely for the firm: “I think of honesty, integrity and professionalism when I look back on the years and years of business dealings with Roy Rich and Shawn Rich,” Oldham added.