Courtesy of Bryan Cooksey
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — In January 2021, after decades serving at the helm of the family business, Bryan Cooksey hung up his hat as McCall Service’s president and CEO.
Having some time away from running day-to-day operations, Cooksey caught up with PCT to share how he’s spending his semi-retired days traveling, hiking several national parks and spending time with his family and grandchildren. In addition, he’s still keeping an active presence in the pest control industry as a brand ambassador for McCall Service’s Northwest Exterminating, LLC., a subsidiary of Rollins.
Four generations of Cooksey’s worked at McCall Service, which has roots in Florida going back to the 1840s. The family farmed Jefferson County until the 1980s, when J. Bryan Cooksey Jr. (Bryan’s father) attended the University of Florida and went to work for McCall. He bought full control of the company in 1999. In addition to pest control, the firm also does lawn care and petroleum distribution.
Bryan shared ownership of the firm with his brothers: John, the firm’s former COO, and David, CFO. The brothers took over the firm from their father in 2003. In the 2000s, the firm acquired a number of other pest control firms, including companies in New Port Richey, Gainseville, Fla., and Savannah, Ga.
In January 2021, the family sold the business, and McCall Service was added to the Rollins family of brands. His son, Josh Cooksey, still plays an active role as general manager. Bryan now spends some of his time as the company’s brand ambassador in the northwest region, being on the forefront of networking and fostering introductions to people in the pest control industry and helping with special projects.
“The company grew really well, and we were involved as a Copesan partner in the 1990s as a shareholder and service partner for Florida and Georgia,” Cooksey said. “[My family] stays active on the association and government affairs side of the industry.”
Cooksey’s doing 90 percent travel and family time, and 10 percent work, but he’s always a phone call away if needed, he said.
“I have more time for family, travel and we bought a place up in the mountains in North Carolina to have a place to host retreats,” he said. “We are in the process of building a family gathering place, and also in the non-profit world when missionaries come in from being out in the field, they have a place to stay.”
Cooksey feels it’s now time to give back to an industry that has done so much for his family, wanting to continue making the pest control industry a better place.
“I invested a bit of money in Inzecto [the mosquito trap] and we’re also looking into the software space,” he said. “I have no doubt that the pest control industry is an area we will stay involved in for many generations.”
Cooksey works full-time to keep up with his five children who have either gotten married or had children in the last year.
“We have five children, and three of them got married, and this year we had four grandchildren born, so we have had a lot of grandparent time too,” Cooksey said. “We got to go to India to visit our oldest daughter and our granddaughter who was born this year.”
Cooksey and his wife, Teresa, have added traveling to national parks on their to-do lists. The two have visited 27 parks in California, like Yosemite National Park, the Grand Canyons and a lot of glaciers.
He also continues to play an active role in Boy Scouts of America fundraising and community support.
“My dad was really active in Boy Scouts at the executive level, and it was a family tradition to continue,” he said. “When I got out of the army, I started helping as a youth leader in various positions in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts.”