[News]

Rollins Urban and Structural Entomology Facility Opens at Texas A&M University

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The department of entomology at Texas A&M University celebrated the grand opening of the Rollins Urban and Structural Entomology Facility in College Station in May. The luncheon event featured remarks by Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp, Vice Chancellor and Dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences Mark Hussey, and Rollins President and COO John Wilson.

“The Rollins Urban and Structural Entomology Facility sets Texas A&M apart from every other university and system in the nation,” Sharp said. “It provides world-class amenities to teach, conduct Texas A&M AgriLife Research and host Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service programs for decades to come.”

The new building, located at the corner of F&B Road and Agronomy Road in College Station, is named in honor of the O. Wayne Rollins Foundation, whose $2 million gift helped make it a reality, officials said. The 10,000-square-foot building, designed by WHR Architects, includes laboratories, a conference room, offices and training areas. Most importantly, it is home to a dynamic urban entomology program that supports both the pest management industry and the public interests of Texas and beyond, officials said.

The new structure is paired with the department’s Endowed Chair for Urban and Structural Entomology. Ed Vargo was recently named as the endowed chair upon the retirement of Roger Gold, who was instrumental in the creation of the facility. “The Rollins Urban and Structural Entomology Facility played a major role in my decision to come to Texas A&M as the new endowed chair,” Vargo said. “It’s an inspiring place to conduct research, mentor students and hold training sessions.”

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Alan Caruba, Longtime Pest Control Industry Advocate, Dies

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. — Alan Caruba, who staunchly defended the pest control industry as a PR professional for the New Jersey Pest Control Association (NJPCA) and New York Pest Management Association (NYPMA), passed away on June 15. He was 77.

A native of Newark, N.J., Caruba was a prolific writer who was never afraid to share his conservative viewpoints. After working as a reporter and columnist for the Morris County (NJ) Record, he founded the PR firm The Caruba Organization, in 1970. Among his clients were those involved in the chemical and pest control sectors.

“Alan knew the industry really well, so much so that he would come up with topics for press releases, then research and write them up, and he didn’t need a lot of direction from us,” said Len Douglen, executive director of NJPMA and NYPMA. “Alan was avidly pro-pesticide and sometimes even over the top, but he was well respected.”

In addition to his public relations work, Caruba authored several books and wrote a column, “Warning Signs,” that appeared on many Internet news and opinion websites, as well as blogs.

Caruba was a founding member and charter member of the National Book Critics Circle. He was a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, American Society of Journalists and Authors and the National Association of Science Writers. Caruba is survived by an older brother, Robert, one nephew and one niece. — Brad Harbison

University of Kentucky Announces 45th Annual Short Course Program

Lexington, Ky. — The 45th Annual University of Kentucky Pest Control Short Course will be held Nov. 3-5 in Lexington, Ky. The conference includes a money-back satisfaction guarantee and features one of the strongest programs in the country. Topics include an equipment “house of learning”; how pests enter and travel through buildings; effects of weather and climate on insects; pesticides versus pollinators; a half-day business roundtable; new bed bug research; battling brown recluse spiders; advances in technician training; and useful sessions on managing rodents, roaches, termites, wood-boring beetles, snakes, vultures, and other challenging pests typically not discussed at industry meetings.

Featured speakers include Bobby Corrigan, Stoy Hedges, Rick Cooper, Bill Robinson, Ray Johnson, Chris Christensen, Jamel Sandidge, Joe Barile, Pete Markham, Jeff McGovern and Claude Thomas.

For more information, contact Dr. Michael F. Potter, 859/257-5955 or e-mail dthorpe@uky.edu.

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Weed Man USA On Forbes Magazine’s ‘Best Franchises to Buy’ List

TORONTO — Lawn care franchise Weed Man USA was recently ranked on Forbes magazine’s “Best Franchises to Buy” list.

“We are honored to be recognized by Forbes as an outstanding franchise opportunity,” said Jennifer Lemcke, COO of Turf Holdings, and Weed Man USA. “Our franchisees are growing at a phenomenal rate, and prospective franchisees feel confident about investing in a brand that has such an impressive track record of success.”

Split into three rating categories, including Initial Investment <$150k, Initial Investment $150k-$500k, and Initial Investment >$500k, only 30 brands made the cut. Weed Man was listed as #10 in the <$150k category, making it an affordable franchise investment for entrepreneurs.

“We’re so excited to see what’s next for Weed Man. We’ve seen double-digit growth year after year and it shows no signs of slowing down,” said Lemcke. “Our franchisees are really knocking it out of the park, which is garnering a lot of interest across the United States.”
 

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NPMA, Bedbug Central Announce Bed Bug Track at PestWorld 2015

Fairfax, Va. — The National Pest Management Association and BedBug Central announced a special co-branded bed bug training track to be featured during PestWorld 2015, NPMA’s annual convention and expo, scheduled for Oct. 20-23 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tenn.

This track includes six sessions led by top industry experts and will feature educational bed bug-related topics including public and mental health implications, the latest research in bed bug biology and behavior, Chagas disease, canine scent detection, and tips on dealing with tricky infestations. For more information or to register for PestWorld 2015, visit http://conference.npmapestworld.org.

In addition, NPMA and BedBug Central are once again hosting a Global Bed Bug Summit in January 2017. More details on the Global Bed Bug Summit are forthcoming, NPMA announced.

Bayer Announces New Hires, Roles

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — Environmental Science, a division of Bayer CropScience, announced Jennifer Poore as the new marketing communications manager for the professional pest management business, Ray Daniels as the general insect control product manager and Kristen Fielding as the bait and termite product manager.

“Our priority is to deliver innovative pest management solutions to our customers to help them grow their business,” said Eric Lentz, head of marketing for Bayer’s professional pest management and vector businesses. “We made these strategic updates within our marketing team to continue strengthening how we communicate our latest innovations to the industry and support the great work PMPs are doing every day for their customers.”

Poore joins the professional pest management team after spending five years with Bayer CropScience. Poore brings 20 years of corporate and marketing communications experience to the team and most recently served as internal communications manager, where she managed internal employee communications and promotion strategies to educate and engage employees, promote a high-performance culture and enhance the reputation of Bayer CropScience. She holds a bachelor of science in marketing from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

Daniels joined the professional pest management marketing team in 2012 as bait and termite product manager. In his new role, Daniels is now responsible for all aspects of the planning and execution of strategic campaigns for the general insect control portfolio, including brands such as Temprid, Suspend PolyZone and Harmonix. Prior to joining the marketing team, Daniels served as an area sales manager for Bayer from 2008 to 2012. He holds a bachelor of science in agriculture business from the University of Georgia and will complete his master’s in business administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School later this year.

Fielding joined the professional pest management marketing team in 2013 as marketing communications manager. She is now responsible for the conceptualization, planning and implementation of the marketing and brand activations for the bait and termite portfolio, including Maxforce and Premise. Fielding brings 14 years of marketing experience to the team, including her time as a brand manager for the Bayer Advanced lawn and garden business. She holds a bachelor of arts in Spanish from Saint Michael’s College.

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Rockwell Labs Provides Internships to Young Women Pursuing Non-Traditional Careers

North Kansas City, Mo. — It began in early 2014 when a teacher at North Kansas City High School contacted Dr. Cisse Spragins (Rockwell Labs founder and CEO) mentioning that he had a remarkable young woman who had an interest in “science and business” that he would like her to meet. The young woman, Yareli Hernandez, had a challenging upbringing, having lived at times with her mother, who moved frequently, and at times with her father, who worked in the oil fields. She had not spent more than a year at any one school, until her last 2½ years at North Kansas City High School. “I was really impressed by her confidence and composure, and she was obviously very bright. I spent a couple of hours showing her around and explaining what we did and she asked a ton of questions,” Spragins said. “I asked her if she would like a paid internship in our chemistry lab and she jumped at the opportunity.” She worked part time during the school year and full time over the summer, before leaving to study Neuroscience at Coe College in Iowa. “She did a great job at a wide variety of tasks in the lab, and for her final month I gave her her own product development project to work on, which was a real learning experience for her and she performed very well,” Spragins added.

In late 2014, Spragins learned about the Northland CAPS (Center for Advanced Professional Studies) program. The program works with area businesses to provide unpaid internships to high school students in several technical and business areas. “I told them I would like to work with young women interested in science, engineering and/or entrepreneurship,” Spragins said. Sarah Piburn worked at Rockwell during the Spring semester through the CAPS Advanced Manufacturing program. During that semester, she completed and updated process flow documents for various production lines, as well as a 5S mapping project as part of the company’s lean manufacturing initiative. Rockwell offered Sarah a full time paid internship for the summer and she is working in the chemistry lab researching methods and completing chemical and physical properties testing on numerous products. She will be studying chemical engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology at Rolla, in the fall.

In late spring, Spragins met Katie Soden, daughter of Rockwell Controller Nancy Soden. Katie was finishing her second year at MU, and while she had always done well in science and math, she wasn’t entirely sure what she wanted to do. “I offered her a paid internship in the chemistry lab, as I felt it would give her an understanding of the practical applications of science and help her develop more confidence and hopefully interest,” Spragins said. She is spending the summer performing quantitative analysis on Rockwell’s products, including method development for new products.

Laura Spatz just finished her second year studying accounting and human resources at the University of Kansas. She really wanted an internship in her field versus just a more typical “summer job.” “Nancy always has a number of projects in the works, plus we are in the midst of a lot of internal process development which she is helping with, so she’s getting good exposure to a number of different accounting and internal control projects,” Spragins said. “It’s wonderful having these bright, capable young women here. I’ve always felt that areas of study come alive when they can be applied in the practical world, and it’s also excellent preparation for one’s ultimate career. I’m glad we can provide that opportunity, and it helps us as well. There is much talk about under-representation of women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) areas, and particularly entrepreneurship in STEM areas. I’m a strong believer that role models can help build young women’s confidence to pursue these areas. It helps to see what is possible. Social change ultimately comes down to individuals acting one on one.”

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Copesan President Named to AIB International Certification Services’ Board

MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. — Copesan Services President Deni Naumann has been named to the Board of Directors for AIB International—Certification Services, a provider of third-party audit certification services and food safety education.

AIBI’s Board provides strategic direction and management oversight to the AIB organization and is composed of tenured individuals in the legal compliance and/or food industry who have an impact on food safety and a proven record of successful leadership.

“I’m excited to contribute to the Board and AIB as an organization, especially in the areas of food safety education and certification services which are key to protecting health, property and brands, a mission we also place the utmost importance on at Copesan. It’s an honor to represent the pest management industry in this capacity,” Naumann said.

“Both Deni’s knowledge of the food business and her deep technical expertise make her a great addition to our Board,” said AIBI-CS President Stephanie Lopez.

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NPMA Announces Call for Nominations for Two Award Programs

FAIRFAX, Va. — NPMA announced it is accepting nominations for the annual Young Entrepreneur Award, presented by Rentokil Pest Control, and the Women of Excellence Award, sponsored by Target Specialty Products.

Young Entrepeneur Award. This award recognizes young entrepreneurs (40 years of age or less) working in the professional pest management industry who have helped create or develop an industry business and/or those who have stewarded a meaningful industry concept to fruition. All nominations must be received by 5 p.m. (EST) on Aug. 29.

Applicants will be evaluated on:

1. Notable contributions made to his or her company in a management level capacity (50%)
2. Contributions to the pest management industry (25%)
3. Personal leadership and community involvement (25%)
    

An independent judges’ panel will select one award recipient who will be recognized at PestWorld 2015, Oct. 20-23, in Nashville.

NPMA Women of Excellence Award. is also accepting nominations for the annual Women of Excellence Award, designed to recognize women who advance the pest management industry every day, in every way.

The international honor is open to women across the pest management industry — PMPs, manufacturers, research organizations, etc. — who demonstrate outstanding leadership and have made notable contributions to the development and growth of the profession, their business, and other women in the industry.

Award nominations are due by Aug. 29, and the recipient will be recognized at PestWorld 2015, Oct. 20-23, in Nashville.

Visit www.npmapestworld.com to learn more.
 

AIB International Adds New BRC Training Academy Courses to its Lineup

Manhattan, Kan. — AIB International, a BRC-approved training provider, recently added five new courses from the official BRC Training Academy to its repertoire of in-plant training.

AIB has added the following courses, offered as on-site training, to its catalog:

• Implementing the BRC Global Standard Food Safety Issue 7 (also available in Spanish: Cómo implementar la Norma Mundial BRC de Seguridad Alimentaria 7ª edición)
• BRC Global Standard Food Safety: Conversion Course for Manufacturers Issue 6 to 7 (also available in Spanish: Norma Mundial BRC de Seguridad Alimentaria 7ª edición: Curso de conversion para fabricantes Edición 6 a 7)
• Introduction to the Global Standard for Storage and Distribution Issue 2
   

These approved products have been specifically developed by BRC to guide facilities through the successful implementation of BRC’s newly published Global Standard for Food Safety: Issue 7 as well as the Global Standard for Storage and Distribution Issue 2, to help them prepare for the audit requirements. In addition to revised clauses, Issue 7 introduces new requirements for food fraud, traceability and supplier management.

“AIB International continues to meet the food industry’s demand for convenient, timely training for GFSI certification implementation from experienced professionals,” said Susan Hancock, vice president, ennovation and product development, AIB International.

AIB International, a BRC Approved Training Establishment, has five BRC Approved Training Providers (ATP) on staff that are able to offer courses globally in English and Spanish. Of the 33 ATPs currently certified in the United States, four of those are employed by AIB International. The company also has on staff one of only four ATPs currently certified in the entire country of Australia.

For more information about AIB International’s catalog of food safety training offerings, visit www.aibonline.org or call 800/633-5137.

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Carl Tanner to Retire as Liphatech CEO; Manny Martinez Named Successor

MILWAUKEE, Wis. — After more than 20 years of service, Liphatech CEO Carl Tanner will retire on Dec. 31. Liphatech said in a release that Tanner’s tenure has developed the firm into a respected resource for pest management solutions. His leadership has created a culture of proud Liphatech employees, emphasized quality improvement and spearheaded Liphatech’s double-digit growth, the company reports.

Manny Martinez has been named Lipha-tech’s next CEO, effective Sept. 1. Martinez brings valuable knowledge and experience to the role, Liphatech said.

Since joining the company in 2011, Martinez has been responsible for research and development, international sales and the development of Liphatech’s export business. Most recently he served as executive director of the pest management division business unit.

“Having worked with Manny for the last four years, I am confident I am leaving Liphatech in good hands,” Tanner said. “I see a bright future for Liphatech and continued success and growth as an innovative leader in the pest control industry.”

Added Martinez, “We appreciate all Carl has contributed to Liphatech and wish him all the best in his retirement.” For more information about Liphatech products and services, visit www.liphatech.com or call 888/331-7900.

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GIE Media Acquires Cannabis Business Times

VALLEY VIEW, Ohio — GIE Media, parent company of PCT magazine, announced the acquisition of Cannabis Business Times from Hermes Media and Research in Arlington, Va. This new title serves the state-legal cannabis industry, and joins PCT’s sister publications in GIE Media’s Horticulture group, which include Greenhouse Management, Nursery Management, Garden Center, Produce Grower, Ornamental Breeder, Lawn & Landscape and Golf Course Industry.

“The economic opportunities are beginning to explode in this industry, and will continue to grow as legislation continues to advance the issue,” says Christopher Foster, GIE Media’s CEO. “We are excited to expand our portfolio into this emerging segment of the market.”

Noelle Skodzinski, co-founder and editor of Cannabis Business Times, also joins GIE Media and will continue to oversee Cannabis Business Times’ editorial. As the former editorial director of the Publishing Group at North American Publishing Co., along with a number of other editorial management positions, Skodzinski brings more than 20 years of journalism experience to the team.

Jim Gilbride serves as the group publisher of Cannabis Business Times. “This is a huge opportunity for some of our existing clients who are already capitalizing on this growth opportunity. We are excited to be on the forefront of B2B communications giving even greater access to this developing area,” says Gilbride.

Cannabis Business Times provides actionable intelligence for the legal cannabis industry through its website (CannabisBusinessTimes.com) and its weekly e-newsletter. An official media partner of the National Cannabis Industry Association’s (NCIA) Cultivation Management Symposium and its 2015 Cannabis Business Summit and Expo, Cannabis Business Times provides daily updates on marijuana legislation and regulations, as well as strategic business and investment information, legal insights and other intelligence serving cannabis businesses. For more information, visit www.cannabisbusinesstimes.com.