In March, Anticimex announced its continued U.S. expansion with the acquisition of Jacksonville, Fla.-based Turner Pest Control, a $19.8 million company.

Turner appealed to Anticimex because of its strong brand and commitment to quality service built through a strong management team, Mikael Vinje, president of Anticimex North America, told PCT. Vinje also noted that Turner is very much aligned with Anticimex in terms of growth strategy. “They are extremely focused on growth, but also very disciplined as to which type of growth path they intend to embark upon,” he says. “So, it’s all those factors: a very strong brand; strong local position; and growth mindset established by their team.”

This acquisition also marks Anticimex’s first entry into the all-important Florida market. Vinje said Anticimex’s main focus is investing in Turner’s people and their organic growth initiatives, but he added, “As you know, the Florida market is probably as fragmented as any other market in the U.S., so the opportunity for inorganic growth is as good there as it is anywhere.”

An interesting aspect of this acquisition is that Turner provides lawn care services, which is an almost non-existent Anticimex offering. Vinje believes the company will adapt thanks to its decentralized operating approach. He says he understands lawn care’s importance to the Florida market. “Clearly in a market like Florida, with a different climate and different market dynamics, we do understand that to have long-term success we are going to have to provide top-notch lawn care, and we will make the necessary investments to do that,” he said. “At the same time, it does not mean we are going to be embarking on a strategy to build out a nationwide lawn care business. We are excited that Jacksonville is now our global center of our lawn care operation today and hopefully it will continue to grow.”

Turner Pest Control, established in 1971, has experienced significant growth since 2002 when Ashton Hudson, president and general counsel of Rock Creek Capital and its affiliates, bought into Turner; Hudson has been chairman and majority owner of Turner since 2010. In 2003, Turner Pest Control generated $6.3 million in revenue; in 2017, Turner reported year-end revenues of $19.8 million (a $3 million increase over 2016 when Turner ranked 48^th on the PCT Top 100 List.). In 2016, Turner relocated its headquarters to a new building that was close to 20,000 square feet — nearly twice as big as its previous location.

Turner President and CEO Mark Slater, who joined the company in 2004, runs the daily operations. He and the management team area staying on board. “They have a very strong management team, a very clear vision, and very clear objectives they want to achieve as an organization. We support that and hope we can help them reach their goals faster,” said Vinje, who added that Slater has been added to the leadership team of Anticimex in the U.S.

Hudson, chairman and majority owner of Turner, said in a press release, “Anticimex’s core values — trust, innovation and passion — are perfectly aligned with ours and I’m confident that as part of the Anticimex family of companies Turner has the opportunity to accelerate its growth and achieve even greater s

The acquisition of Turner follows on the heels of previous platform acquisitions of American Pest, Modern Pest Services and Viking Pest Control and forms part of a strategy to expand in the U.S. market via organic and inorganic growth. — Brad Harbison

After the fall of the termite pretreat market in 2008, Peter Eldridge, president of Apex Pest Control in Rockledge, Fla., knew he had to adjust. He limited spending and paid off all company debts, closed two small branches, laid off about 30 employees and sold off any trucks he no longer needed. He also took the phrase, “We don’t do that,” out of his company’s vocabulary and began providing services they had never provided before, including bat exclusion, bird control, bee control, restaurant pest control, live animal trapping, weed control on airport runways, aquatic weed control in lakes and ponds, and termite fumigations.

“Instead of being a pretreat business, we became a full-service pest control company,” he said. Eldridge’s restructuring to a full-service business was a success. He said he hasn’t submitted Apex’s revenue numbers to PCT since the 2004 Top 100 issue because he wanted that information to remain private. But he said Apex has maintained revenues that would have put him on the list had he done so. This year, he stepped back into the public eye, as he’s now aggressively seeking to buy businesses, he said. With a tremendous number of small businesses fighting to compete, Eldridge thinks the South Florida market is ripe with companies looking for buyers. He just finished his third acquisition and is actively seeking more.

“I would say our goal within the next five years is to double our revenue through organic growth, major media marketing and mergers and acquisitions,” said Eldridge.

He began expanding his market area about five years ago, when Apex established a Miami office. That new location was so busy the firm recently opened its sixth branch in West Palm Beach.

That market, much like the rest of Florida, has a heavy termite business, although the pest-intense climate means that Eldridge and his team service everything from bed bugs to rodents and animal trapping. “There’s everything here, and there isn’t really anything seasonal about it,” he said. “It’s 365 days a year.”

With the heavy workload, one of Eldridge’s biggest challenges is finding reliable employees. “Finding the right staff with a good work ethic is difficult these days,” he said. “We really look for people that want a career, not a job. When we hire, we want people to be with the company for a long time.”

In fact, 45 percent of Eldridge’s employees have been with Apex for 10 years and 10 percent have been there more than 20 years. “I feel this is very unique in our industry. We have very little turnover and when someone joins our team it is usually for life.”

And those lifetime employees don’t necessarily need to have experience in pest control when they sign on. “We don’t care what they know about pest control, we’ll train them in the trade. We look for ‘people type’ people. Someone anyone could sit down and have dinner or lunch with,” said Eldridge. “This is 90 percent a people business and 10 percent killing bugs. We don’t just hire bodies to perform a task.”

In return, Apex employees often have long-term relationships with their customers, who are willing to pass on some lower-priced offers from other companies and pay a premium for Apex’s exceptional customer service, Eldridge said. — Laura Straub

All Natural Pest Elimination originated in southern Oregon in 1996 with an owner who was intrigued by the idea of treating homes using only natural products.

In 2013, Eric Ritchey took over as the company’s president. He started with All Natural in 2001, and for more than a decade he excelled as a lead setter/generator, inspector, salesperson and mentor. Twelve years later, he purchased the firm.

Since taking the reins, Ritchey has made big changes to the company culture and customer service protocols. With his passion for sales and exceptional customer service, All Natural Pest Control has experienced at least 20 percent growth in each of the past four years, and 30 percent growth in 2017.

“Twenty-two years ago it was considered really innovative and somewhat controversial to treat homes with natural products,” said Ritchey. “When I started here 16 years ago, I knew that there was something unique about this company and how they were changing the face of pest control. The fact that they were using products that were safer for their customers, for the technicians and for the environment has really driven me to be a part of the changing landscape of pest control.”

Not only was All Natural Pest Elimination using all-natural products, but those products were proprietary, giving Ritchey and his group a unique place in the market. “We have created a unique and proprietary line of pest control products that are safer, effective, truly botanical and mineral-based. Our customers really like the fact that we protect their homes and families with all-natural products and we are continually looking to the 25(b) exempt list for additional products that can be used to treat their homes,” he said.

And Ritchey says those proprietary products get the job done. With the high moisture content in relation to rainfall in his area, the All Natural Pest Elimination team has honed their expertise in treating fungi and dry rot in wood structures. “Wood preservation is what we have built our company on, and although we offer all other pest control services including construction services, we are passionate about protecting structures from wood-destroying pests,” he said.

When it comes to pests, Ritchey says All Natural is dealing with a carpenter ant population 10 to 15 times larger than in other areas of the country, with individual colonies ranging from 100,000 to 150,000 ants. They also treat Western subterranean and Pacific dampwood termites, plus the firm has seen a significant increase in rodent activity around structures in recent years.

But with the right training, All Natural Pest Elimination technicians are able to tackle the job. “Training with our inspectors and technicians has always provided a unique challenge,” said Ritchey. “We tend to stay away from employing folks who have been in the industry because of the paradigm shift they need to go through. The training for our unique brand of pest control is very specialized with the use of botanical, mineral and inorganic products.”

At All Natural, the training program focuses on the biological approach to pest control. But custom training isn’t all employees at All Natural Pest Elimination enjoy; Ritchey says when employees join the All Natural team they also become part of the family.

“With almost 50 employees, we strive to create a family-like culture,” said Ritchey. “We treat our employees and their families to family fun days, where we rent the local activity center for some fun and fellowship. In addition to this, we also have an annual summer party that includes jet boat rides, a catered barbecue, bounce houses as well as an ice cream truck.”

Ritchey ensures his employees are receiving traditional benefits too. He said he’s met his goal of increasing yearly wages for all employees, as well as adding a significant benefits package. He’s also always looking for ways to advance technology to make jobs easier for employees, and to improve service for their customers.

“We are very pleased and humbled to be a part of this list and our goal for this year is to be even higher on the list next year,” Ritchey said. — Laura Straub

Complacency is not a word that exists in the Arrow Exterminators vocabulary. But growth certainly is.

Family-owned and Atlanta-based Arrow Exterminators, ranked #6 on this year’s PCT Top 100 list, has made growth part of its DNA and a pillar of the company’s core values.

Kendrick, whose grandparents James “Starkey” and Jean Thomas started the company in 1964 in the back of a beauty parlor, says Arrow’s growth — double digits for the last eight consecutive years — has come through both acquisitions and organically.

“Our expectations are always going to be high and that isn’t going to change,” says Kendrick. “It took 47 years to get to $100 million and seven more years to double that, and our team members know what’s next.”

And although Arrow is just shy of $200 million on this year’s list (the company’s 2017 revenues were $199,504,000), the goal was achieved in February 2018. The company celebrated the achievement in New Orleans by shutting down Canal Street for a parade on Bourbon Street. Kendrick posted to her Facebook page that week, “A High School Band, a Jazz Band, and over 500 of our award winning ROCK STARS!!! WE ARE JUST GETTING STARTED! Thank you to our wonderful customers and congratulations to all of our incredible ladies and gentlemen! You’re unbelievable! #200million #arrowstrong #4YrsTill300 #Opportunities #ArrowStrong #IWorkWithSuperStars”

JOBS & CULTIRE. Besides the obvious excitement of the $200 million revenue milestone, two aspects of the growth that Kendrick is most proud of are the company’s ability to generate new job opportunities — Arrow has added 1,000 team members in the last seven years and projects it will add another 1,000 in the coming years — and safeguard the culture her grandparents and father, Joe, built.

How does a company successfully on-board more than a 1,000 team members — many of whom joined Arrow through an acquisition — while introducing and protecting its culture without losing sight of its end goals?

Tim Pollard, Arrow’s COO and senior executive vice president, says Arrow looks closely at cultural fit early on in the valuation process.

“We place a high value on cultural fit and go all-in from the top down when we bring a new company on board,” says Pollard.

A transition team stays in place to help with the assimilation process and Pollard says they expect new employees to stay in place and grow just as they do longtime Arrow staffers.

“Many companies can create jobs but we pride ourselves on creating career opportunities,” says Kendrick. “In our culture our people have always been our largest competitive advantage and we want to protect that at all costs.”

As companies grow, whether it is from $1 million to $5 million or $100 million to $200 million, challenges arise that make it hard to stay true to the values and culture that existed at the beginning.

While Kendrick acknowledges there have been challenges along the way for Arrow, she sees the company’s continued growth as a source of pride and she relishes being able to follow the original recipe for the “secret sauce” that allows the company to continue to excel.

“Our growth allows us to not only add and retain more people and offer them better career opportunities, but it helps us retain our culture as well,” she says.