Critter Control Expands into Five North American Markets

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – Critter Control announced the opening of five new markets, taking its market penetration to 110 offices in North America. In the month of April, Critter Control completed agreements for new office locations in Ottawa and Vancouver Canada, as well as Springfield, Mass., Nashua, N.H., and Central New Jersey .

Privately held Critter Control got its start in 1983 in Westland, Mich., when its founder Kevin Clark, a chimney sweep at the time, discovered a growing need for animal control-removal services and wildlife damage repairs. Clark recalls of those early days, "All of a sudden, instead of cleaning soot out of chimneys, I was pulling animals out of them. I started calling pest control companies offering the service, and they asked if I could get animals out of attics as well.”

The rest is the stuff of legend.  The company since has become the nation’s leading wildlife control firm and a leading architect in developing integrated
and ecologically sound management practices to resolve conflicts between man and animal.
  
During the late 1980’s Clark expanded his Critter Control business,  strengthening his base of operations in Michigan before offering  franchises in several surrounding states. "For all intents and purposes, the franchises I initially opened should have failed," according to Clark. "That first year I put them in poor markets, but we learned from our mistakes and eventually created a business model that worked." 

Since 1987 Clark has grown his innovative concept methodically market-by-market. When asked what future expansion holds for the company, Clark said, “we still have several key markets to develop in North America which we’ll accomplish over the next 24-36 months, then we’ll look at accelerating our international expansion.”