Registration Open for PestWorld 2020

FAIRFAX, Va. — The National Pest Management Association (NPMA) announced that registration is now open for PestWorld 2020, scheduled for Oct. 13-16, in Nashville, Tenn.

University of Kentucky 2020 Short Course Canceled

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The 50^th anniversary of the University of Kentucky Pest Control Short Course, originally planned for this November, has been put on hold until 2021.

The Short Course, which has been in operation for 49 years, provides training and education for PMPs across the nation. Zachary DeVries, new urban entomologist at UK, announced the cancellation of the conference out of consideration for the health and safety of attendees during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This decision does not come lightly and has been made to ensure all our attendees are able to continue working and protecting the health and well-being of those they serve,” DeVries wrote in a letter to the conference’s mailing list. “We hope that you can take this time that you would normally be immersed in pest control education, learning new techniques and networking with others in the profession, and spend it with your family, friends and loved ones as we all work to get through these tough times together.”

As a temporary replacement for the Short Course, University of Kentucky’s Department of Entomology will be offering a series of online webinars available for credit. That being said, the webinars are temporary and will not replace the Short Course itself.

DeVries said plans for the conference’s 50^th anniversary are already in the works; the event is scheduled for Nov. 9-11, 2021. Visit https://sites.google.com/site/kyshortcourse for more information.

Veseris Announces Director of Corporate Strategy

AUSTIN, Texas — Veseris, the professional pest management industry’s largest distributor, announced that 30-year industry veteran Karl J. Kisner will join the company in July as director of corporate strategy. In this role, Kisner will focus on:

• Driving customer activation and engagement to improve the overall customer experience;
• Developing new opportunities for growth in both existing and synergistic markets;
• Deepening supplier relationships to provide the right solutions and product needs to customers.

“I am very honored to join Veseris and work again with my previous teammates from Univar ES. This is a great opportunity to help further build this new, fully independent company with a strong focus on growth. I truly value the fact that, though the name may be different, our commitment is always about helping our customers succeed by providing the best in class products and services. Over the last 18 months, I was focused on marketing global industrial chemicals and ingredients. So, I look forward to applying my learnings and experience from that role to this new position at Veseris,” Kisner said.

Trace McEuen, CEO of Veseris, said, “Having had the opportunity to work with Karl, both as a customer and a peer, I truly appreciate his knowledge, experience and vision. I look forward to working closely with him again to grow this new business enterprise”

Arrow Exterminators Promotes Tim Pollard to President and COO

ATLANTA — Atlanta-based Arrow Exterminators recently announced the promotion of Chief Operating Officer Tim Pollard to the position of president and COO.

Pollard joined Arrow as the senior vice president of sales in 2009 and was promoted to COO in 2012. Prior to joining Arrow, Pollard served in various sales, marketing and leadership roles with The Dow Chemical Company for more than 16 years.

“Tim has been absolutely instrumental in Arrow’s decade-long run of double-digit revenue growth and surpassing $250 million in revenue. This promotion reflects my immense confidence in his leadership as well as his importance to the future of Arrow,” said Emily Thomas Kendrick, chief executive officer. “I’d like to personally thank him for being my trusted business partner. We both believe our team is just getting started and we’re excited about the Arrow family’s future.”

Joe Thomas, chairman of the board, said, “The leadership Tim has undertaken since assuming the COO position is immense. He is highly respected by our team members, partners and other industry leaders.”

Pollard said he was “deeply grateful” to serve at such a highly regarded, community-minded and successful company. “Our team members delivering uncompromised service to our customers since 1964 is what makes Arrow a truly unique and special place,” he said. “I am proud to be a part of our family culture that is so clearly focused on our customers and those who make the company great — our people.”

DA’s Reynolds Appointed to Louisiana’s SPCC

COVINGTON, La. — Ed Reynolds, vice president of DA Exterminating’s Covington, La., branch, was recently appointed to the Louisiana Structural Pest Control Commission (SPCC).

“We’re proud of Ed. No one from DA has ever served in that capacity in our 61-year history,” said Chris Caire, vice president of DA Exterminating.

Reynolds came to work for DA Exterminating seven years ago, after practicing law for more than 30 years. While in practice, he mostly did insurance defense work, primarily with construction and redhibition claims in which he represented pest control operators in Southeast Louisiana. (Under Louisiana law, redhibition is a civil action against the seller or manufacturer of a defective product.)

“I really enjoyed representing pest control operators, so it’s really an honor to have been chosen to be on the Structural Pest Control Commission because I know, by and large, what good people these operators are,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds added that he has found that pest control operators take their claims personally and truly care about their customers.

Termite control in Louisiana provides pest management professionals with challenges and opportunities as the state has heavy termite pressure and many homes have foundation issues.

“It benefits the homeowner to have a seasoned termite tech or licensee that is good at troubleshooting,” Reynolds said.

The SPCC approves rules and regulations for the pest control industry in Louisiana; holds hearings on and takes appropriate action against companies or licensees in violation of the rules and regulations; and approves any new pesticides for use by any pest control operators in the state — among other functions — according to Reynolds.

Reynolds was appointed through a vote by the licensees in the state and ultimately chosen by the commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture, Mike Strain. — Erin Ross

EvolveYT Holds its First Virtual Knowledge Session

YARDLEY, Pa. — EvolveYT held its first virtual Knowledge Session on April 2. This event, which was attended by more than 200 PMPs from across the country, provided insights to help the pest management industry better navigate through this ongoing crisis. To further support the industry, Think Tanks will be created whereby industry professionals will be able to share the challenges they are facing.

Open to all pest management leaders, the Think Tanks will help monitor the changing environment and stimulate thought during these uncertain times. “We felt the interactive aspect of our knowledge session would provide a good support system to the industry,” said Phil Cooper, CEO. “It resonated with the attendees well beyond what I could ever have dreamed of and spurred on a host of new ideas to keeping the industry interacting.”

Two types of Think Tanks are being created, each with different objectives: Discussion Groups and Data Collection & Trending. The Discussion Groups have a weekly one-hour time commitment while the Data Collection & Trending is a quick three-minute survey twice a week.

The Discussion Groups will focus on one of five major topical areas: Commercial Pest, Residential Pest, Public Health Pests, Seasonal Pests and Sterilization/Disinfection Services as it relates to the ongoing crisis. The participants will meet virtually one hour per week where each attendee gets a minute or two to talk about what they are observing and then opening it up into a discussion group. A member of the EvolveYT team will moderate each group. Enrollment in the discussion groups is underway.

The Data Collection & Trending group will include up to 30 companies per topic with up to six multiple choice questions being asked twice per week. The goal is to look for changing consumer behavior within the industry with information being fed back to the National Pest Management Association and the entire industry in a timely fashion. These Data Collection groups are now being formed and interested companies can register to help in this industry effort.

EvolveYT kicked off these initiatives with its 2020 Economic Crisis Virtual Knowledge Session, which is available for ongoing viewing.

Five pest management leaders joined the EvolveYT team in an interactive session to stimulate thought and provoke conversation. The panelists included: Mike Rottler, CEO, Rottler Pest Solutions; Stacy O’Reilly, CEO, Plunkett’s Pest Control; Cleveland Dixon, owner, Holiday Termite & Pest Control; Adam Vannest, VP of training and technical services, Northwest Exterminating; and Mike Panichi, vice president, Platinum Pest Solutions.

ESA 2020 Moves to Virtual Event

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The Entomology 2020 Program Committee and the ESA Governing Board recently decided to move Entomology 2020 to a fully virtual format.

ESA commented, “We are excited to embrace the virtual format and build an exceptional meeting that will truly embody the spirit of ‘Entomology for All’ — a meeting where all insect scientists can participate and share their work, regardless of location, specialty area or ability to travel.”

Entomology 2020 will feature multiple live-streams running simultaneously Nov. 16-19. On-demand content will be available from Nov. 11-25.

Those who submit to Entomology 2020 will be automatically registered at no additional cost, with full access to all live-streamed and on-demand content. Submissions reopened in June.

To learn more, visit ESA’s Virtual Annual Meeting FAQ page.

Seven Students Awarded NCPMA Scholarships

RALEIGH, N.C. — The Education Foundation of the North Carolina Pest Management Association (NCPMA) recently awarded scholarships to seven students pursuing post-high school education programs.

The Foundation awarded a scholarship to Maria Gonzalez to assist in the continuation of her studies at North Carolina State University. Gonzalez is a graduate student studying entomology. She is working on her Ph.D., and is completing research focused on issues pertaining to cockroaches and bed bugs.

The NCPMA Education Foundation awards $1,500 annually to a student attending North Carolina State University. The scholarship was presented at the NCPMA Pest Control Technician’s School earlier this year in Durham.

In addition, the NCPMA Education Foundation awarded six Past President’s Scholarships to students pursuing post-high school degrees.

Students, companies and schools include:

• Ashley Terrell, Carolina Pest Management, Liberty University
• Makayla Roberts, A-1 Termite and Pest, North Carolina State University
• Ansley Smith, Rid-A-Pest, East Carolina University
• Ethan Davidson, Master Exterminators, Carolina College of Biblical Studies
• Joseph Hall, McNeely Pest Control, unknown
• Samantha Barber, Lake Norman Pest Control, Western Carolina University

The Past President’s Scholarship by the Education Foundation of the NCPMA was created in 2004 to help encourage and build the next generation of pest management professionals. Scholarships are awarded to owners or employees of NCPMA member companies and/or their family members including spouses, children and grandchildren. Preference is given to those who demonstrate an interest in pursuing careers in the pest management industry.

Bobby Corrigan Interviewed for ‘Talking Pest Management’ Video Program

BORCHEN, Germany— In a wide-ranging interview undertaken as part of the new Talking Pest Management series, Dr. Bobby Corrigan of RMC Pest Management Consulting looked to the future and discussed the rapidly increasing use of remote sensing digital technology. “Remote sensors can capture data, but it cannot interpret it. Technicians will never be replaced by new technology,” Corrigan said.

This is one of the many predictions expressed by Corrigan in his interview with Daniel Schröer of Talking Pest Management in the new topical international interview series. Visit https://www.futura-germany.com/unsere-industrie/tpm/liste-tpm/tpm-13.php to listen.

Corrigan explained how it is the obligation of professional pest managers to not just treat the pests but to profile the population, so progress can be assessed. Remote digital monitoring provides the means of doing this. Interpretation of the data will enhance the standing of the technician, not threaten them. The technician of tomorrow is one of an “observational biologist.”

This view echoes the thoughts of Hakan Kjellberg, the technical director of Anticimex, based in Sweden, who was also recently interviewed by Schröer. Kjellberg neatly sums up the difference between the old and the new way of collecting data as the difference between “guessing and knowing.”

Tesco, with nearly 7,000 stores worldwide, has certainly embraced this new technology as revealed by Tony O’Donovan, the company’s global head of pest control, in another interview in the series. In what O’Donovan believes is the largest contract for connected technology in the world, he said, “This surely marks the tipping point for digital pest control in our industry. For Tesco, data is gold. We need to know what is going on and why.”

Talking Pest Management is a new series of short topical video interviews undertaken with pest professionals around the world — made by pest professionals and aimed at pest professionals. All can be seen on YouTube with a reminder sent either directly to individual’s email or via WhatsApp each Tuesday upon release.

The series is the brainchild of Daniel Schröer, based in Germany and CEO of specialist product manufacturer, Futura. Schröer features an interview with an industry leader, entrepreneur, technical expert or practical pest controller each week.

Those selected are known for saying what they think and are not afraid of sharing their opinions. Each interview is informal, recorded in the interviewee’s office and shown uncut and unedited. There are no commercial references to products or any advertising. Each interview varies in length, ranging from 15 to 50 minutes.

Arrow’s Brent Giardino Wins GPCA Photo Contest

NORCROSS, Ga. — Brent Giardino, Arrow Exterminators, was announced as the winner of the Georgia Pest Control Association’s (GPCA) April Pest Control Month Photo Contest. Giardino won with his photo of an eastern hercules beetle.

GPCA says it received several entries for this contest and were “overwhelmed with the quality and originality of the photos submitted.” Judging was based on the photo’s color, clarity and content.

Giardino has been with Arrow Exterminators since September 2015. He currently serves as the manger of the company’s Milton, Ga., service office.

Pestmaster Services Helps Protect Ponderosa Pines

According to USDA, western pine beetles have been actively infesting ponderosa pine trees in parts of Idaho, including Sawtooth National Forest.

A Pestmaster spokesperson said the company’s technicians used high-pressure water tanks to apply liquid pesticides upwards of 60 feet in the air. The company used a combination of Carbaryl 4L, Sezin SL and Liberate Lecitech to make applications targeted to the first 45 feet of the tree trunk.

The spokesperson added, “Western pine bark beetles are known to aggressively attack and kill ponderosa pine trees. This is what we call ‘Pest Management with Environmentality.’ As our mission statement reads, ‘We are unconditionally committed to providing the most effective service with earnest concern for our environment and safety.’ We continue to strive to be on the cutting edge performing a variety of services and products.” — Brad Harbison

PCO Bookkeepers Launches Paycheck Protection Program Loan Services

NEWTON, N.J. — PCO Bookkeepers launched a new service to help pest management companies prepare an accurate Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan application and maximize their loan forgiveness.

The service includes:

• Developing a spending optimization plan where appropriate.
• Loan forgiveness application preparation.
• Collecting documentation that supports the reporting of eligible expenses, such as payroll and benefit records, rent, utilities and mortgage interest, among other data.
• Determining the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) employees for both the measurement period and the baseline periods. This figure is required to perform an accurate loan forgiveness calculation.
• Computing excess wage reduction amounts, if any, for the loan forgiveness calculation.
• Completing and reviewing your final PPP loan forgiveness calculation/application prior to submission to the bank or other appropriate entities.

For more information email PCO Bookkeepers at info@pcobookkeepers.com with the subject line: “PPP Loan Help.” Include the date the firm received its PPP loan proceeds and the number of employees.