[2014 Crown Leadership Awards] Scott Steckel

Scott Steckel, a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and a one time “wanna-be” astronaut, brought a unique military and business background to Varment Guard Environmental Services when he joined the company in 1996 as one of the owners. At that time he merged his two smaller pest control companies into the larger Columbus, Ohio-based firm. Calling himself “a serial entrepreneur,” Steckel had acquired four years of business experience and computer and software savvy by owning several small companies in other industries.

His Varment Guard partners – James and Sandy Vaive, and John Livingston – will tell you that Steckel’s background, knowledge, experience and ability has had a significant impact on the success of the firm. Today he is the operations director for the pest control division and heads their technology department. “My collaboration with the Varment Guard owners and managers has been a life- and career-enriching experience for me,” Steckel says.

His 13-year military career gave him invaluable training and teaching experience that he brought to pest control, he said. “When I was younger, I knew Astronaut John Glenn personally; he came from my old neighborhood and was a great influence in my early career thinking. But when I was in the service, I found out that I didn’t enjoy the ego that’s necessary for astronauts and fighter pilots. Instead I was very people-oriented, which led me to becoming a flight instructor.

“And after my Air Force service, I cut my eye teeth on my various companies to gain an understanding of how business should work,” he said. “In such small businesses you don’t have a manager — you are a manager, a strongly committed manager. Not only that, you live the business and work the business every day.”
 

Pest Control: A Family Tradition

Steckel has pest control in his blood. His grandfather, Dr. H.K. Steckel, was the first member of his family to enter the industry. He manufactured some of the pesticides that were used in the Panama Canal to fight the mosquito-borne malaria outbreaks that plagued the laborers. He also started Torco Pest Control Co. after World War I and was a charter member of the NPMA, which was founded in Ohio. “He did much to help grow the association and was one of its earliest presidents,” he said.

The second pest controller in Steckel’s family, his late father, Jim, returned from fighting in World War II to join Torco and ultimately became the NPMA’s 17th president. “I worked part-time for my dad at Torco from age eight to age 17 when I went off to the Air Force Academy. I originally met and worked with Jim Vaive and John Livingston at Torco when they both worked with my father. I left active duty in the Air Force in 1992 when my dad became ill and I felt I had to return home to help him out in the business. I went to Air Force reserve status with a unit in Ohio in order to continue my passion for flying. That enabled me to relocate back home.”
 

A Good Decision

Steckel said his greatest joys in life are the relationships he has developed both personally and professionally. “This second career has provided outlets for my other passions: interpersonal relationships, problem solving, and direct connection with end customers. Each day I’ve had the opportunity to make new relationships and develop deeper ones as problems arise that need solving. Usually there is a customer in the middle that needs to understand what’s going on. These situations provide me with the energy to create and relate.”

Steckel said he is also passionate about bettering the pest control industry and devotes much time and energy to improve things. “I’m currently an at-large director for the NPMA and an active member of the Ohio Pest Management Association, as well as Copesan,” he said. At Copesan, he has just celebrated his seventh year as a member of the marketing consortium of pest control companies seeking national accounts.

Why is he active in these groups? “There’s much that’s good about our industry and other things that could stand improvement. You can’t make changes sitting on the sidelines. You can’t run your business in a vacuum. Being in an industry organization enables you to understand what the issues are, enables you to see where trends might take you, lets you share ideas with your peers and exposes you to different viewpoints.”

Steckel said he was quite serious about monitoring regulatory and government affairs affecting the pest control industry, especially wildlife control. “Like my father, I believe that government puts too much burden on business in general and specifically on our pest control industry. I’m an advocate of controlling government growth. And concerning the wildlife sector of our industry, we’ve discovered that government agencies themselves are doing wildlife, geese, and bird control jobs. They’ve got a charter to do that. I believe that’s unfair. Government is not intended to compete with private industry.”
 

A Family-Values Company

The Varment Guard organization today is on PCT’s Top 100 List “and is grounded with family values and clear business ethics while focusing on the customers’ needs,” he said. “It was founded about 30 years ago by James Vaive and a partner. They started out with $25 and a pickup truck and initially operated out of Jim’s home.”

After their first year, they moved out of Vaive’s house into business offices in Northeast Columbus where their corporate office and Columbus branch office are located today. They found an important niche – wildlife control – in that no one in the area was doing such work. That began years of steady growth and Varment Guard now services all of Ohio, as well as Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, and Indiana.

As time went on and the company grew, the owners divided the business into five distinct departments and teams: Pest Control and Management; Termite Control and Treatment; Wildlife Trapping and Exclusion; ProGuard Bird Control; and Consultation and Training. Also, in 2005 they rebranded the commercial service division by creating ProGuard Commercial Pest Solutions.

“At Varment Guard we continually train employees to give high-quality services to our customers, and develop a spirit of teamwork. We are committed to our customers’ needs and to our employees’ personal success,” Steckel said.

“We believe the success of our company and our owner team is due to the fact that each of us has different and distinct strengths and personalities: I’m an intuitive problem solver. Problem solving is another of my several passions. John is a steady performer, Sandy is very conscientious, and Jim is a dynamic individual. Dr. Gerry Wegner, a former owner who is close to retirement, is still active as our certified entomologist. Utilizing those positive attributes, we all synergize and work well together,” he said.

“Our team covers all four areas of the DISC personality profile, an assessment tool used to improve work productivity, teamwork and communication. It allows us to analyze our business and people from multiple views and prevents, to a large degree, blind spots in the decision- making process. In our decision-making deliberations, we each have equal weight, equal ideas, equal buy-in. Because we’re always careful, we’ve been able to avoid making bad decisions by taking the time to study and consider all the pros and cons of each issue. It’s not like it’s a single owner acting quickly on something. We’re all in our 50s and 60s and have come to realize that ego is not as important as it once was. Our maturity usually helps us reach a unanimous decision.”
 

Valued Mentors

According to Steckel, his pest control career has been enriched by his business partners and his various industry friends and mentors, including his father who, after selling Torco, had worked with him at Varment Guard as a consultant until his death. “He would discuss and work on metrics and personnel matters, and help us solve tough problems.”

Steve Scherzinger of Scherzinger Pest Control in Cincinnati has been another important mentor for Steckel. “I trust him because of his ability to share truths that help me learn about myself, and his ability to shoot holes into bad ideas that I might come up with,” he said.

Steckel respects both Lonnie Alonso of Columbus Pest Control and Ronald Belknap of Capital City Exterminating in Worthington, Ohio. “Their businesses and ours are similar in nature. We share similar passions and the same business ideologies.”

Belknap said of Steckel, “He always takes time away from his business and personal life to work on Ohio and national issues through OPMA and NPMA. He’s very dedicated to help to make the pest control industry better and, if asked, he’s always willing to help fellow PMPs with problem solving and advice.”

Steckel also considers Kevin Clark, CEO of Critter Control, Traverse City, Mich., another of his mentors. “He has an exceptional view of what’s right about the industry and is a good analyst of the Washington and regulatory scenes,” he said.

Said Clark, “Scott’s father was an early mentor of mine and Scott continues to carry the torch for his family and our industry today. He’s well-informed and well-spoken. He’s been a pleasure to work with.”

Steckel has a high opinion of Sprague Pest Solutions’ Alfie and Larry Treleven, too, having worked with both of them on various projects. According to Alfie, whose company is based in Tacoma, Wash., “I have had the opportunity to work directly with Scott on Copesan and industry matters and have observed him as he worked with others. On every occasion, he has been a significant contributor and has seen what he was involved with to its conclusion. The breadth of projects Scott has participated on is equally impressive. From complicated technology issues, to on-line learning systems to wildlife issues, Scott has successfully contributed to the success of our industry. You can count on Scott.”

And when it comes to business, there is no greater endorsement of one’s value to an organization. Varment Guard Environmental Services is clearly in good hands.