[News]

PPMA Releases Results of Pest Control Attitudes and Usage Survey

FAIRFAX, Va. — Late last year, PPMA released the results of its 2013 Pest Control Attitudes and Usage Survey results.

The Professional Pest Management Alliance (PPMA) commissions a national survey every three to five years to answer questions like “Why do consumers use professional pest control services?” and perhaps more importantly, “Why don’t consumers use professional pest control services?” and explore the opinions of homeowners across the United States.

PPMA invests in consumer research to help shape the industry’s national marketing presence, but the survey results also can be helpful to pest professionals and the suppliers who support them as they work to better understand the concerns and attitudes of their customers. Additionally, the results can be used as a resource when crafting individual companies’ marketing messages, which aim to educate the media and homeowners about the value of professional pest management.

A few highlights from the survey:

• 29 percent of those not currently using professional pest control said they would be extremely or very likely to use a professional in the future compared with 17 percent who indicated that in 2010.
• 57 percent of the public feels positively about this industry vs. 40 percent who did in 2010.
   

The study results offer a look at what pests consumers most fear, insights into buying decisions and perceptions about the professional pest management industry. The survey consisted of self-administered online interviews from 1,001 homeowners, each with a household income of $60,000 or more. The household profile breaks down as such:

• 78 percent are married
• 41 percent have children younger than 18
• 67 percent have pets
• 61 percent live in a suburban community
• Collectively, these homeowners mirror a national sample on several key dimensions, including age, gender and geography.
• The responses were collected between Sept. 5-10, 2013.
   

The information offers significant insight to aid PMPs in marketing and planning for the years ahead. The full survey results are only available to PPMA Guardians and Contributors. To learn more about PPMA, visit www.npmapestworld.org/ppma.
 

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Despite Snow, 78th Annual Purdue Pest Management Conference Goes On

Editor’s note: The annual Purdue Pest Management Conference features the latest research findings and field observations from renowned industry speakers, as well as an exhibit hall filled with product innovations from various industry suppliers. The Purdue Conference Planning Committee had put together another stellar lineup of speakers and topics for this year’s conference but unfortunately, Mother Nature did not cooperate. Indiana was crippled by blizzard-like conditions and sub-zero temperatures that closed the university on Jan. 6 (the first day of the conference). The conference resumed on Jan. 7.

Purdue’s Gary Bennett provided the following recap of this year’s memorable event in West Lafayette, Ind.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — About 50 pest management professionals gathered in the Purdue Union Club Hotel and other local hotels Jan. 5 for the 78th Purdue Conference scheduled to start Jan. 6.

Speakers Ted Granovsky, Dale Hodgson, Pat Hottel, Jay Kelley, Drew Martin, Jeff McGovern, David Mueller, Arnold Ramsey, Mark (Shep) Sheperdigian and Gerry Wegner were present, and in consultation with the others present, decided to proceed with the conference program despite the closure of Purdue’s campus due to 8 to 10 inches of snow on the ground and blizzard conditions. With Shep, Scott Robbins, Gene White, Ted Granovsky and Jeff McGovern filling in for speakers who couldn’t get to Purdue, the updates on spiders, flies, carpenter and odorous house ants, and rodents were admirably covered.

The 50 or so “pioneers” met the first afternoon in the Exhibit Hall (with Scott Robbins providing the AV equipment and Shep helping out with his laptop). The second and third days of the conference were held in regular classrooms in Stewart Center (courtesy of room keys provided by Purdue Memorial Union staff). Attendance numbers jumped dramatically on the second day with an additional 50 PMPs joining the conference.

The 78th Purdue Conference will be remembered for its unique organization and delivery. The program was reshaped daily to match speakers with the topics on the program. Those knowledgeable with the subject matter were inserted on short notice for those speakers who could not get to the conference, and in every case, these substitute speakers did a wonderful job. Meetings were held in places where we had never had meetings before, and audio-visual equipment just happened to be available because Scott Robbins had the equipment in his vehicle. Food and beverage was virtually unavailable for a day or two. It was truly a great example of the “can do” spirit of the pest management industry.

Next year’s Purdue Pest Management Conference will be Jan. 12-14, 2015.— Gary Bennett

 

America’s Wildlife Problems a Recent Time Magazine Cover Story

NEW YORK CITY — Time magazine’s cover story for its issue the week of Nov. 27 was “America’s Pest Problem: It’s Time to Cull the Herd,” and it focused on why wildlife in the United States needs stronger management.

The article noted that Americans now live, work and play in closer proximity to untamed fauna than any other generation of Americans in more than a century.

Some examples highlighted in the article include:

“Faced with an outbreak of Lyme disease and rising deer-related car accidents, the city council of Durham, N.C., authorized bow hunting inside city limits in November. Authorities in San Jose, Calif., in the heart of Silicon Valley, voted to allow hunting wild pigs within that city in October. Rock Island, Ill., one of the five Quad Cities on the Mississippi River, recently approved bow hunting in town, provided that it occurs in green spaces — golf courses, parks, cemeteries — or on private land.”

Read the issue here: http://ti.me/1cjg6YC.
 

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Industry Educator Doug Palmer Passes Away

DAVIE, Fla. — Dudley (Doug) Palmer, who headed up the Pest Control Technology program at Broward Community College for more than 30 years, died on Nov. 16. He was 81.

Palmer was a University of Florida graduate who majored in entomology and horticulture. Prior to joining Broward College he worked for the Florida Department of Agriculture, Division of Plant Industry as a plant inspector.

While at BCC, Palmer started the Pest Control Tutoring School, which was the first of its kind tutoring students on how to take the state of Florida pest control exams. Palmer taught hundreds of students about insects and pest control. Many of those students eventually went into business for themselves.

Palmer retired from Broward College in 1994 and moved to Avon Park where he lived until his passing.
 

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Naffziger Forms Product Development Consulting Firm

ST. LOUIS — David H. Naffziger has established a product development consulting firm, DHN Solutions in St. Louis.

In this new position, Naffziger will work with companies to develop products in the professional pest control market, greenhouse, turf and ornamental markets, animal health market and the ag market. Specific services will include identifying and reviewing product offerings, identifying new technology for licensing, product design, product efficacy studies, toxicology studies and EPA registration package compilation.

Naffziger most recently worked for BASF as a senior research associate. Before that he was business development/senior research scientist for Whitmire Micro-Gen, where he identified and developed products for the professional pest control industry.

Throughout his career, he was instrumental in developing numerous products and EPA registrations as well as licenses in the European market, Mexico, Canada and South American and Asian countries.

Naffziger has degrees in chemistry from the University of Northern Iowa and the University of Iowa.

DHN Solutions can be reached at 636/439-7047 or at dhnaffziger@yahoo.com.
 
 

Bob Dold Featured in New York Times Story on 2014 Election

CHICAGO — Rose Pest Solutions’ Bob Dold, a former congressman who represented the 10th District of Illinois, was featured as part of the recent New York Times article “G.O.P. Firebrands Tone Down Their Message and Run Again.”

Dold is seeking a political resurrection in November’s election, after serving one term on Capitol Hill.

Visit http://nyti.ms/1m91yzR to read the article.
 

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Pappas Honored for Contributions to the Industry

HOUSTON, Texas — With his family beside him, Emile Pappas was honored at the Greater Houston Pest Control Association’s annual holiday party in December in Houston, Texas. Mark Foltz, the president of GHPCA, presented Pappas with a certificate from the president of the Texas Pest Control Association, Kerry Maples-Batterman, recognizing his contributions to the industry. The party also celebrated his 88th birthday.

Pappas began in the pest control industry in 1942 in Mobile, Ala., at the age of 16. During WWII, the Navy discovered he had pest control experience and asked if he could rid a hospital ship of Pharaoh ants that were transmitting staph infections to wounded soldiers. Since early pest control operators had to mix their own pesticides, he agreed as long as they provided him the ingredients for his bait — for which he had to dissolve thallium sulfate in boiling water on the deck of the ship. Pappas successfully eliminated the ants and was asked to perform this service many times during WWII. Pappas also served during the Korean War.

He eventually moved to Houston where he began VP Exterminators. When he sold his company to his son this past year, 68 of his regular customers had been using his services since the 1950s.

Pappas consulted, lectured and helped many leaders in the industry over the years and was a regular fixture at National Pest Control Association meetings.

Videos of Pappas stories are posted at www.youtube.com/bravofincannon.
 

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Fumigants & Pheromones Event: ‘Pest Management Around The World’

WESTFIELD, Ind. — The 11th International Fumigants & Pheromones Conference will be held June 2-4, in Krakow, Poland. The theme of the conference is “Pest Management Around the World.”

The program includes two days of presentations on current issues in pest management, with day three offering various guided excursions in and around the historic city of Krakow. The UNESCO Wieliczka Salt Mines will be the venue for this year’s gala dinner on June 3.

Professor Stanislaw Ignatowicz from Warsaw University of Natural Sciences will welcome guests to his country. For conference information and registration, visit www.insectslimited.com.
 

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UPF&DA Spring Conference to be Held in April in Orlando

ORLANDO — The UPF&DA Spring Conference will be held April 22-24, at the Rosen at Shingle Creek Property in Orlando. There will be a golf outing on Tuesday morning, April 22. For reservations, call 866/996-6338. Price per night is $235.

To learn more about UPF&DA, visit www.upfda.com.