MEMPHIS, Tenn. — In late October, ServiceMaster, parent company of Terminix, announced the acquisition of Gregory Pest Solutions, a $26.5 million firm based in Greenville, S.C., that ranked #30 on the PCT Top 100. Also in October, PCT reported that ServiceMaster closed on the acquisition of Chicago area-based McCloud Services. These acquisitions greatly expand ServiceMaster’s footprint in the Southeast and Midwest, respectively.

“We continue to deliver on our commitment to build an industry-leading commercial pest business, starting with our Copesan acquisition in 2018, and followed by the acquisitions of other Copesan providers such as Assured Environments and Cooper Pest (Solutions),” Nik Varty, CEO of ServiceMaster, said in a press release. “We are excited to continue our progress by welcoming two additional providers in Gregory and McCloud. These acquisitions are helping us build a multi-brand service network while strategically adding incredible commercial talent and capabilities to differentiate ourselves in the eyes of our customers, and to take advantage of having the most recognized and preferred brands in the commercial sector.”

Varty added, “The Gregory and McCloud acquisitions accelerate this commercial journey. By adding extremely talented industry experts with strong capabilities in a variety of commercial sectors such as farm-to-table and multifamily housing, we add to our previous capabilities in the areas of national accounts management, bed bug treatments and urban pest solutions.”

Phil Gregory, founder and CEO of Gregory Pest Solutions, said in the press release, “We firmly believe that it’s been our core value of taking care of people, both the employees and our customers, that has made Gregory Pest Solutions the success it is today. As a Copesan partner, we had the opportunity to experience how ServiceMaster conducts its business. It is because of the shared commitment to caring that we chose to partner with ServiceMaster.”

Ben Walker will continue to be president of Gregory Pest Solutions. In addition to this responsibility, he will be the Southeast area leader of commercial pest operations, reporting to Greg Rutherford, president of Terminix Commercial. This follows the recent announcement that Andrew Klein, former CEO of Assured Environments, will serve as Northeast area leader of commercial pest, reporting to Rutherford. Stephanie Dickson and Chris McCloud also will continue in their leadership roles for McCloud Services, which will take a leading position as part of Terminix’s Midwest division. The management teams of both businesses also will have continuing roles in the respective divisional management teams. — Brad Harbison

ServiceMaster Acquires McCloud Services

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — ServiceMaster acquired Elgin, Ill.-based McCloud Services, a $25 million firm that ranked #31 on the most recent PCT Top 100 list. The deal closed in early October, a ServiceMaster spokesperson confirmed.

Founded in 1904, McCloud Services has grown to become a leading pest control provider in the commercial sector, particularly health care, hospitality, property management and retail industries. McCloud Services protects more than half of the nation’s largest food-related brands and services a 10-state region with more than 200 employees.

Since 2008, McCloud Services has been led by CEO Chris McCloud. Earlier this year, longtime industry professional Stephanie Dickson was promoted to president of McCloud Services. Both Chris McCloud and Dickson will continue to lead the business in their current roles, alongside the company’s existing management team.

Greg Rutherford, president of Terminix Commercial, said in a statement, “We are excited about teaming up with Chris, Stephanie and the McCloud Services team. This partnership, based on innovative pest management in the food industry, will strengthen our position in the Midwest, and our ability to provide exceptional commercial pest management experiences.”

In addition to expanding its Midwest footprint, Terminix Commercial will benefit from McCloud’s expertise in providing a next generation, data-driven platform for integrated pest management in the food supply chain, Rutherford said in the statement. “We intend to leverage the McCloud team to help us apply their innovative food industry practices across our global pest management system, leading the way to accelerate better and safer food practices and providing protection to millions of families.”

McCloud Services is a current stockholder and original Copesan Services partner. Chris McCloud served on the Copesan Board of Directors beginning in 2007 and concluding in 2018 when Copesan Services was acquired by ServiceMaster.

McCloud Services will continue to operate under its current brand.

LR Tullius acted as exclusive financial adviser to McCloud on the transaction.

Matt Stevenson Out at Terminix

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — ServiceMaster announced the departure of Matt Stevenson as president of Terminix Residential, as part of its Oct. 22 earnings call. Stevenson joined Terminix in 2017.

ServiceMaster CEO Nik Varty said a search is underway for a successor. In the interim period, until a successor is named, Terminix Residential’s operational leadership team will report directly to Varty.

“I would like to thank Matt Stevenson for his contribution to our Terminix Residential business over the last two years,” Varty said. “We drove higher NPS scores, improved safety and customer retention and remain confident that we have significant potential to further improve our operational excellence by continuing our culture transformation and driving an improved customer experience.”

Chris Stelzig Named ESA’s Next Executive Director

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Christopher J. Stelzig, CAE, has been selected to be the next executive director of the Entomological Society of America (ESA). Stelzig, currently ESA director of strategic initiatives, will begin the new role Dec. 1.

The ESA Governing Board in October elected to promote Stelzig, adding to his tenure with ESA that began in 2000. He will replace outgoing executive director C. David Gammel, who announced in October that he will resign from his position on Nov. 30.

“Chris Stelzig has been an all-star on the ESA staff for many years now, and the Society owes a great deal of its growth and success over the past decade to his leadership and work ethic,” says Robert K. D. Peterson, Ph.D., ESA president and professor of entomology at Montana State University. “ESA and the entomological community are fortunate to have someone as experienced as Chris ready to step into this role, and my colleagues and I on the ESA Governing Board are excited to continue working with him as we take the Society to new heights.”

Stelzig has played a leading role in the development and growth of several key initiatives at ESA in recent years. Under his direction, the Society has launched a burgeoning government relations program that has increased the influence of ESA and entomologists on Capitol Hill and within the scientific community, including the formation this year of the Vector-Borne Disease Network, a coalition of more than 20 like-minded organizations working to reduce the impact of vector-borne diseases.

Stelzig also has guided the efforts of ESA’s Grand Challenges Agenda for Entomology, including a summit on Zika virus and mosquitoes in Brazil in 2016, a global leadership summit later that year in Orlando, and a third on invasive arthropod species in Vancouver in 2018. In 2004, Stelzig oversaw the launch of ESA’s Associate Certified Entomologist program, which has steadily grown under his watch to now more than 1,200 certified pest management professionals.

“I am very honored to be selected to continue to serve ESA in this expanded role,” Stelzig says. “Under the Governing Board and David Gammel’s leadership, the Society has done great things, and I’m committed to helping our leadership to ensure that these successes continue. Our strategic principles of social responsibility, global impact and increasing influence are critical to our long-term success.”

Stelzig was first hired at the Entomological Society of America as a marketing and public affairs manager in 2000, and he became director of membership and marketing in 2002. Between 2008 and 2012 he managed ESA’s member services and data operations in an independent contractor role before returning to an ESA staff position as director of strategic initiatives in April 2012.

Nisus Corporation Purchases Assets of Lord’s Additives

KNOXVILLE, Tenn.— Nisus Corporation announced recently that the firm has completed the acquisition of the assets of Lord’s Additives from owners Sandra and Steve Bales. The purchase includes all EPA and Canadian Pest Management Regulatory Agency registrations, product names and intellectual property. The Lord’s Additives name will remain with the existing company; however, Lord’s will no longer be in the zinc borate business. According to Kevin L. Kirkland, president and CEO of Nisus Corporation, “Zinc borate was a natural next step for Nisus Corporation as it is a great product for our Wood Preservation Division and our Agricultural Division that will sell liquid micronutrients.”

Nisus says the purchase of the Lord’s Additives assets will jump-start the company’s zinc borate business by giving Nisus immediate access to EPA and PRMA registration and an existing customer base. Nisus is currently the largest purchaser of Disodium Octoborate Tetrahydrate (DOT) in both the pest control industry and the wood preservation industry.

Zinc borate is currently used as a preservative in oriented strand board (OSB), siding and other composite products. It is also used as a fire retardant.

“Working with Steve and Sandra Bales on this purchase has been a real pleasure,” says Kirkland. “They have built a wonderful business and we look forward to building on that success.”

Nisus says its mission is to offer quality, sustainable pest and wood preservative products to industry professionals while providing the lowest possible impact to the environment.

Faith Oi to Address NCPMA Pest Control Technician’s School

RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Pest Management Association (NCPMA) recently announced that Faith Oi of the University of Florida will serve as a speaker for the 2020 Pest Control Technician’s (PCT) School. In addition, the association announced that its hands-on training program will now be offered on-site at the PCT School.

Oi is an associate extension scientist in urban entomology at the University of Florida and will discuss termites at the PCT School. Her presentation is titled “Termite Control: More than Applying a Termiticide.”

The PCT School will feature nationally recognized speakers leading educational sessions for pest management professionals as well as hands-on training sessions for pest management technicians. The association has announced changes to its hands-on learning session launched in 2019. The PCT School will again feature the NCSU Hands-On Spray School and Live Learning Course, which will now be offered on-site at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel and Convention Center in Durham.

The PCT School will be held Jan. 26-30, 2020, at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel and Convention Center in Durham, N.C.

PCOC Announces Fumigation Website Contest Winners

LIBERTY, Mo. — Pest Control Operators of California (PCOC) announced the winners of its first website contest, sponsored by PCOC and Douglas Products. The contest recognized participating PCOC member companies for educating consumers about using structural fumigation to eliminate drywood termites from their homes.

Taking first place was Best Rate Termite Company, Spring Valley, Calif. Proven Termite Solutions, based in San Jose, Calif., received second place, and Thrasher Termite and Pest Control, based in Los Gatos, Calif., was awarded third. Major League Pest, based in Vista, Calif., received an honorable mention.

To enter the contest, companies submitted screen shots of their website pages promoting structural fumigation. A panel of communication professionals judged entries based on how easy it was to navigate through information, the visual and video content, and the depth and quality of the information provided.

Awards included $2,500 toward a paid Google Ads campaign for first place and $1,500 toward a paid Google Ads campaign for second place. In addition, first, second and third place winners received two co-branded Vikane literature pieces from Douglas Products. All four winners were awarded co-branded fumigation facts business cards.

“A company’s website may be the deciding factor whether or not the consumer contacts the company,” said Hannah Strasser, marketing manager for Douglas Products. “The PCOC website contest recognizes California companies that are doing an outstanding job of presenting information about their professional structural fumigation services.”

MGK Acquires Piedmont Animal Health Flynexx Brand

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — MGK, a provider of insect control solutions, recently announced that it has executed a purchase agreement to acquire the Flynexx brand assets from North Carolina-based Piedmont Animal Health.

The acquisition includes the Flynexx Granules fly control product and an EPA registration for the insect growth regulator (IGR) cyromazine.

“Flynexx is a great addition to the more than 15 products MGK currently offers in the animal health sector, which includes popular brands such as NyGuard IGR, Decimari, ULD BP 100, Onslaught FastCap and EverGreen Pro 60-6,” according to Lance Platt, animal health sales and marketing manager for MGK.

“Having an additional IGR with a unique mode of action further strengthens MGK’s ability to provide livestock producers and applicators with more rotational choices within MGK’s suite of innovative insect control solutions,” Platt said.

“The acquisition of the Flynexx business allows the immediate expansion of MGK’s animal health portfolio while also securing access to another IGR, which can be utilized for broader product development purposes,” added Don Sundquist, MGK’s director of business development.

Expect High Pest Pressure This Winter, NPMA Reports

FAIRFAX, Va. — The National Pest Management Association (NPMA) released its bi-annual Bug Barometer, a seasonal projection of the pest pressure and activity Americans can expect to see in their respective regions of the country based on weather patterns and long-term forecasts, as well as pest biological behaviors. According to the group’s team of entomologists, pest pressure will be heightened this fall and winter as extreme fluctuations in temperature and precipitation across the U.S. are expected throughout the season.

“With most of the country still drying out from a hot, soggy summer, extreme late-season winter conditions predicted will have rodents and cockroaches fleeing indoors in record numbers,” said Jim Fredericks, NPMA’s chief entomologist. “Although most of the country won’t be battered by Old Man Winter until after the holiday season, pests like mosquitoes, ticks, termites and cockroaches that enjoyed this summer’s exceedingly wet conditions will have a few extra months to remain active before conditions turn blustery thanks to the mild, wet fall.”

Based on its analysis, the NPMA’s Fall/Winter Bug Barometer is forecasting a spike in major pest populations across the entire U.S. this season.

Search, click, buy. Repeat.

The sheer simplicity and vast access to products and services offered by behemoth Amazon is neatly wrapped in a user-friendly package that makes doing business easy. You just search, click, buy — and the more you repeat, the more attractive that “buy” becomes in the Amazon Marketplace. As professionals in the pest management industry know well, recurring revenue and repeatable services have great value.

The question is, how marketable is pest control as an Amazon Home Service, anyway? And, as a $10-billion top-20 distributor in the world — with its B2B services growing 20 percent every month — is the online retail megastore a new competitor, a potential supplier, an opportunity or a threat?

Or, is Amazon all of these things?

Ian Heller is president of Modern Distribution Management (MDM.com), a market research and media company that studies Amazon to provide intelligence to wholesale distribution executives. “Amazon is one of the largest distributors in the world, and they are clearly focused on the business-to-business market, and we’ll see what role services end up playing in that,” he says, relating that for now, most of Amazon’s B2B movement is in the products sector. “But, Amazon is focusing on every type of business,” he points out.

Take the metal industry — seems an unassuming target for Amazon. “You wouldn’t think the metal industry would be susceptible to Amazon, but look — there are hundreds and thousands of SKUs today for metal on Amazon Business,” says Alex Moazed, co-author of Modern Monopolies and founder/CEO of Applico, a New York City-based platform innovation company that helps brands stand up against (or leverage) players like Amazon.

If you’re a distributor looking for commoditized products or services, “Why not explore Amazon?” Moazed says.

Is pest control a service that could be commoditized under the Amazon Home Services white label? What about PMPs obtaining products on Amazon? The agriculture and specialty chemical industry is highly regulated, and Amazon already has been burned by an infraction. But, Amazon has a way of making what seems impossible a reality.

“Amazon is always testing,” says Jason Roussos, founder/CEO, Directional Cue in Austin, Texas. His firm, an Adlucent company, integrates online sales channels with marketplace like Amazon.

CONSUMER THEN B2B. Heller spends lots of time analyzing Amazon job descriptions. One he found interesting: “We believe the best shopping experience in B2B is no shopping at all.” Heller says, “In other words, shopping is not recreational — it’s business. So, if you can take the shopping out, then you increase efficiency and that’s what businesses want.”

However, Amazon traditionally goes after the consumer first, testing the waters in this market and then rolling what works over to B2B. If it works for Joe Homeowner, why not move on to Bob Business? “Amazon tends to trailblaze on the consumer side, then B2B follows,” Moazed affirms. Case in point: The marketplace platform known for home products and, now, groceries represents a business opportunity for Amazon — and potentially, its business users.

“Marketplace business models rely on regular, repeat interaction, and they are horizontally generalized so the marketplace offers whatever you need,” Moazed says.

Today’s Amazon Business landing page advertises that it’s, “Everything you love about Amazon, for your business.” It’s free to open an account (of course). And, if you want Business Prime, you’ll pay an annual fee of $179. (Sound familiar, Amazon Prime consumers?) The compelling offer: Find What You Need. That means anything from “hundreds of millions of products” to “business-only products” and “purchasing system integration.”

Amazon is even becoming a launchpad for new businesses to sell products without costly, complicated marketing to get a new product out into the world. Moazed shares that the company Anker, an electronics business started by a former Google engineer a few years ago, created an Amazon Product Page to sell its lines of speakers and charging devices. “They launched the product by using Amazon, and within three years, they’re doing more than $1 billion in sales,” he says.

“If Amazon has circumvented traditional distribution channels, which is literally what they are doing, and I am a chemical product manufacturer, I now have greater access to the end-customer,” Moazed suggests. “I can create new products and more easily compete with larger players that have traditionally dominated the industry.”

While Amazon has stepped into the highly regulated pharmaceutical industry — proving that there’s no market the Goliath won’t touch — there’s been little impact on the professional pest management industry thus far.

“There are a lot of companies, not just Amazon, that think they can replace relationships with technology, and when you are dealing with pharmaceuticals or agro-chemicals, you can get into a lot of trouble doing that and face regulatory repercussions and lawsuits for selling stuff that you shouldn’t be selling to people who shouldn’t be using it,” says Lon Records, CEO of California-based Agri-Turf Distributing.

National Pest Management Association’s (NPMA) Dr. Jim Fredericks acknowledges that online sales of pesticides triggers problems, including Restricted Use Pesticides (RUPs) to products registered for sale in multi-packs being opened and sold individually. (It compromises labeling and packaging.) NPMA advocates that all pesticides sold on the internet be held to the same legal standards for selling and distributing and that all labeling, packaging and branding meet FIFRA regulations.

Robert Percy, director of operations, Gardex Chemicals Ltd., Ontario, Canada, says, “Amazon isn’t a threat to our business here, but there are numerous issues that affect the sales of pesticides in Canada that haven’t been fully addressed.” First, you need a vendor license to sell them, and a licensed dispenser on site at all times. (This is required by each Province, Percy explains, so you’d need 10 licenses to sell in Canada.) “Throw in requirements such as, ‘no pesticide can be shipped with food or feed,’ making it impossible for Amazon to deliver via UPS or post.”

But, it does happen. “We still see illegal shipments in Canada and numerous (products) coming across the border from DIYs or Amazon,” Percy says. “It’s illegal, but the government doesn’t have the resources to control it. Though, most PMPs will not try it because a few were caught illegally importing unregistered product and fined $5,000.”

Amazon is still blazing a trail.

Search for “rodenticide bait” on Amazon. Pages and pages of results turn up. Now, search “cockroach gel bait.” Again, pages of results. Chemicals used for treating pest problems are readily available for purchase on Amazon.

Not particular to selling chemicals, but in general, Moazed says Amazon is not holding back on its entry into distribution channels, and it is gaining traction in some markets. “Nothing is going to stop it,” he says.

AT YOUR SERVICE. In 2015, Amazon launched Amazon Home Services, targeting the B2C market and creating a platform for Amazon Business “sellers” to reach customers who are searching Amazon for things they need, such as housecleaning.

“Amazon Home Services is really targeting the consumer at home,” Moazed says. “Amazon wants to control the home — they want to control not just the products you buy for your home, but the services.”

This is evident from Amazon’s acquisition of Ring, the “smart knock.” “Now, the Amazon guy delivering your packages can get into your home to make sure those packages don’t get stolen. And, if you think about service providers coming into the home, and Amazon controlling that and being that gatekeeper, it’s a natural evolution.”

Amazon is in partnership with Lennar to provide home services; Lennar is one of the largest apartment and home construction developers in the country. Also, Amazon bought Whole Foods so it can be in the grocery market. When Amazon Home Services first launched, it partnered with Handy. Moazed notes, Handy is no longer a partner in that capacity, and instead has partnered with Walmart and others that also recognize the value of this Marketplace/Home Services world.

Service providers who participate in Amazon Home Services set up an account, and the process is pretty simple, Roussos says. Though, he says the platform right now, “is still pretty clunky. They don’t have a wide selection of businesses, and they don’t have a lot of people using it at this point.”

Knowing the Amazon machine, this slow start will accelerate.

“The biggest area we are seeing Amazon get market share is in the cleaning space,” Roussos says. “But, other areas like pest control are growing.”

Again, the key to being an attractive Home Services seller is repeat services. And, while pest control is a typically a quarterly offering, it’s not a weekly gig like buying groceries or getting your house cleaned. “You really want that weekly interaction,” Moazed says. “At a baseline, you want monthly interaction.”

As a service provider with Amazon Home Services, you give up your brand. Your name on this platform becomes Amazon Home Services. And, you’ll give up a slice of the profit, too. But, a positive could be getting new accounts, Roussos says. “Statistically, Amazon owns about 60 percent of all new product search online, so the reality is, consumers are on Amazon. The eyeballs are there. So, from a new customer acquisition perspective, you’ll have access to new customers more rapidly because that is where the average customer is shopping.”

But, is the Amazon consumer an ideal potential client for a pest control company wanting to build a long-term relationship with customers?

Records doesn’t think Amazon is a contender for reputable pest control businesses, or that its B2B distribution will interrupt the industry’s traditional pipeline. “Technology, to a certain extent, can help you — but you can’t rely on a website to make sales calls for you,” he says.

Roussos sees little risk to offering services through Amazon Home Services. “You can learn from it and find out, ‘Is there volume here? Is Amazon really moving into my space, or is this something to not be concerned about?’ Any business needs to be aware of Amazon, and the closer you are to Amazon, the more you learn.”

PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP. A human relationship is one thing Amazon can’t provide (for now). Many PMPs and distribution experts like Heller agree that, “Right now, personal relationships matter a lot, and salespeople are still important.”

relationships.”

Aside from product and service knowledge — expertise — salespeople and owner/operators will need to keep up with technology. Amazon is setting the bar, and consumers will expect the same conveniences no matter where they shop for products or services. One expert’s advice: “At a minimum, play defensive.”

Millennials are becoming a larger part of the workforce than any other generation. “They are less interested in building a personal relationship with a salesperson and more interested in building a relationship online, and ordering products and services online,” Heller points out.

Salespeople, and business owners, in any organization should evaluate how they provide value. “They can’t just go in and bring the donuts,” Heller remarks.

Aside from product and service knowledge — expertise — salespeople and owner/operators will need to keep up with technology. Amazon is setting the bar, and consumers will expect the same conveniences no matter where they shop for products or services.

Roussos’s advice: “At a minimum, play defensive.”

Be aware of the evolving distribution market and how consumers shop. “Business services are still a small percentage of what Amazon is doing, but they are prioritizing it,” Roussos says.

Heller references Alexa for Business, which provides voice-ordering capabilities. “You can say, ‘Alexa, get me toner for the printer,’ and it will figure out what you need and order it for you,” he says. “The ability to order without shopping is important to [Amazon].”

In a presentation Heller gave on the subject, he said, “Amazon envisions Alexa as the all-knowing product expert that is connected to the store that sells everything.”

Heller adds, “That’s very ambitious.”

Ambitious is Amazon.

PMPs are level-headed. They are often cautious about technology and seem innately skeptical about whether Amazon is a player in the pest control industry. As Records says, “The biggest competitor you have is yourself. The second biggest competitor you have is your own organization. And the third, distant competitor is the people or companies that do the same thing you do.”

The author is a frequent contributor to PCT.

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Photos by Bill Sloan, Sloan Photography

Twenty-five up-and-coming pest control companies from throughout the United States were honored in September at the PCT Rising Star Awards event, sponsored by Univar Solutions and VM Products.

The two-day program, held at the Westin Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, featured a number of high-profile speakers, as well as the opportunity for attendees to participate in roundtable discussions and social events designed to encourage idea-sharing and industry best practices.

Doug Wyly, business development manager, Univar Solutions, kicked off the event by congratulating those in attendance for being selected to receive an inaugural Rising Star Award. He also highlighted Univar’s state-of-the-art inventory management system, which he said is designed to add ease, speed and simplicity to product procurement and tracking.

Keynote speaker Meredith Oliver, co-founder and chief strategist of Meredith Communications, Raleigh, N.C., described how PMPs can make customers their “super fans” in her well-received session on “FANtastic Marketing.”

“I believe every one of your businesses is as unique as a fingerprint,” she said. “Each of you has a unique business culture that has to be reflected in your marketing strategy. It is not one-size-fits-all.”

She then proceeded to provide valuable insights about how pest control companies can take their customer relationships to a new level, offering five common traits of fanatical sports fans, and why those traits are relevant for pest control businesses of all sizes.

“Sports fans say things like, ‘We won the game. We need to fire the coach.’” But fans aren’t actually playing the game or managing the team. Nonetheless, they’re so passionate about the brand, they feel like they’re part of the team. “They’re super fans,” according to Oliver.

PMPs should aspire to the same level of support. “Do your current customers feel the ‘we?’” she asked. “That’s what we’re going for” because when your customers become super fans, “they do the selling and marketing for you. It’s the best possible marketing there is … word of mouth.”

Oliver added that the key to marketing success is “amplifying” your company’s word-of-mouth advertising by leveraging an array of digital marketing vehicles including Facebook, Twitter and your company’s website, assuring the latter is easy to navigate and features key elements designed to drive leads and reflect your company’s corporate culture.

Prior to heading over to the Hard Eight BBQ for dinner, attendees also heard presentations from Kelly Brownlee, marketing director of VM Products, and Nathan Harris, digital marketing specialist for Univar Solutions, who discussed “Harnessing the Power of Social Media: Organic Social Posting and Facebook Ads.”

Day two of the event featured a “Voice of the Customer” roundtable discussion where attendees had an opportunity to share their thoughts and observations on a wide array of topics ranging from employee recruitment and retention to successful growth strategies and internet marketing.

Ethan Vickery, founder and president of VM Products, also provided an update on the company’s rodent monitoring systems, a dynamic market with long-term implications for the rodent control field. Vickery said VM Products has been manufacturing high-quality, innovative products for the professional pest management industry since 2003.

Companies honored at the inaugural Rising Star event included 855bugs.com, Waco, Texas; A-1 Pest Control, Lenoir, N.C.; Accel Pest & Termite Control, Virginia Beach, Va.; Admiral Pest Control, Bellflower, Calif.; Cascade Pest Control, Bothell, Wash.; Chem-Wise Ecological Pest Management, Aurora, Ill.; ChemTec Pest Control, Saddlebrook, N.J.; City Wide Exterminating, Locust, N.C.; Delcon Pest Control, Las Vegas, Nev.; East Cooper Termite & Pest Solutions, Mt. Pleasant, S.C.; Fox Pest Control, Oxford, Conn.; Harbor Pest Control, San Diego, Calif.; Hargrove Pest Solutions, Martinez, Ga.; Natural State Pest Control, Lowell, Ark.; Pest & Termite Consultants, Raleigh, N.C.; Pest Czar, Towson, Md.; Pest Force, Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas; Quality Pest Services, Anaheim, Calif; Rambo Total Pest Control, Puyallup, Wash.; Safer Home Services, Clearwater, Fla.; Steve’s Pest Control, Holts Summit, Mo.; Thomas Pest Services, Schenectady, N.Y.; Town & Country Pest Solutions, Rochester, N.Y.; Urban Desert Pest Control, Phoenix, Ariz.; and Triangle Pest Control, Raleigh, N.C.

What started out as a bed bug scare quickly evolved into one of the wildest projects that a Boston-area pest control company had ever managed. Turns out tons of 55-year-old wartime cracker rations hidden below a nearby city hall in a long-forgotten bunker caused an immeasurable number of drugstore beetles to invade the administrative office.

BREAKING NEWS.

In July of 2017, Galvin Murphy Jr., vice president of marketing and sales at Yankee Pest Control in Malden, Mass., received a call from a special assistant to the mayor of a nearby city requesting help with “bed bugs” found in the city hall. He had no idea that he was about to get involved in “one of the coolest things I’ve ever done; a wild story,” he says.

Before Murphy received the call that day, a problem had started to emerge in the city’s administrative office. The staff believed the office had been infested with bed bugs, and very quickly. Bugs were flying around city hall and had focused on a hallway near the mayor’s entrance. Internal staff followed the trail, finding the bulk of the insects coming out of a hatch underneath a security desk near the entrance. When the hatch was opened, not only was the source of the pest problem revealed, but also an underground bunker was discovered for the first time in decades.

THE WEIRD FACTOR.

Murphy arrived onsite to find “millions” of — you already know it — not bed bugs but drugstore beetles. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” he says. Upon entering the bunker, a previously hidden room, city hall staff and contractors found “boxes and boxes of civil defense rations.” Lo and behold, the source of the drugstore beetles had been identified: aluminum cans of crackers from 1963 that had been stored during a time when the U.S. government was preparing to feed citizens in case of a nuclear war.

From the 1960s (when the rations had been originally stored) to the present day, somehow the bunker had been forgotten. The current administrative office staff had no idea that the bunker even existed, explains Murphy. And, some of the aluminum cans were degrading and rotting due to apparent periodic flooding that had occurred over the years, allowing pests to proliferate.

PEST CONTROL PLAN.

For a short-term solution over the next three to four days, as a complete pest removal plan was developed, Murphy and his team “knocked down” the beetles with a pesticide application to allow staff to continue entering the building. He then proposed to the city that his team would hand carry the boxes, each weighing nearly 30 pounds and with an approximate total of 15 tons, out of the bunker for placement in dumpsters.

“Ultimately once we get rid of the product we’ll be getting rid of the bugs,” Murphy recalls explaining to the administration. He planned for his team, consisting of roughly 20 people, to work overnight to complete the monumental task. The project was approved and the work began.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE.

As the Yankee Pest Control team began removing the boxes, recalls Murphy, “We revealed four other bunkers that were blocked by walls of other boxes” totaling thousands of additional square footage in the underground space. Murphy obtained further approvals, the team carried the boxes up and out of the bunker to the dumpsters, and the work continued for an additional two nights. “Once the product was removed, we were able to go in with a gallon of insecticide to knock down the beetles,” he says. The drugstore beetles were then removed by the barrelfull. Murphy says, “We were shoveling them up off the ground, there were so many.”

Over the course of three nights, the team removed nearly 30 tons of debris and 13 barrels of drugstore beetles, filling 13 dumpsters, says Murphy. “Most people have a stored product pest problem with one box that is expired,” he explains. “It was pretty intense,” Murphy remembers, as this was one of the worst pest problems he says he’s ever encountered.

THE WOW FACTOR.

“Most people don’t have a fascination with stored product pests, but it was amazing!” Murphy said. He explains that most drugstore beetle situations in his area are a rarity and occur at places like food production companies. “But, in urban pest control, it’s an alignment of the stars,” he said.

No one knows exactly what transpired in that bunker, but with years of periodic water damage and cans of crackers degrading in an undisturbed area, it was a perfect storm that allowed the infestation to flourish. “There were just so many variables” at play for this unique situation to develop, explains Murphy. “I’ve never seen anything like that in my career. The magnitude and the rarity of the job” is what he remembers most.

The author is an Ohio-based freelancer.