LPMA will be posting job openings, contact information, donation information and other pertinent information on this Web site. LPMA Executive Vice President Jeff Porter also recommends members check out LiPCA’s web site, http://www.lipca.com/hurricane-intro.php for general Hurricane Katrina information and that PCOs who have job openings and/or displaced Louisiana PCOs looking for work should visit the specially-created NPMA Katrina Job Bank.
Porter told PCT that LPMA has received outstanding outpouring of assistance from members, neighboring state associations, and fellow PCOs from throughout the country. He said he’s even received offers from out-of-state PCOs interested in helping out in New Orleans and that other PCOs interested in helping out in New Orleans can contact him at jporter@lpca.org or (225) 927-5722.
TEXAS. The Texas Pest Control Association has launched a multi-faceted effort to assist fellow PCOs in Louisiana.
In addition to directing its members to the National Pest Management Association’s Katrina relief efforts, TPCA has launched a clothing drive. The association is collecting clothes from its members to be shipped to a destination at a further date.
TPCA also is working with the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) to help place licensees that have evacuated to Texas. TPCA Executive President Ken Myers asked the Texas Structural Pest Control Board (TSPCB) to temporarily honor the licenses of those impacted by Katrina. Although this request was denied, TSPCB will offer extra exams so those with one year’s experience can test to become certified.
PCOs in Texas who have any extra work for these displaced Louisiana professionals can contact Ken Myers at txpca@sbcglobal.net or 512-835-2801.
GEORGIA. At the request of Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Tommy Irvin, the following motion was made by Jim Harron of the Georgia Department of Agriculture, seconded by Jeff Annis of Advanced Services of Augusta, Georgia and passed unanimously by the Georgia Structural Pest Control Commission on September 13, 2005:
To allow certified operators and registered technicians from counties and parishes in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama directly impacted by Hurricane Katrina, upon verbal verification of certification or registration to the Georgia Department of Agriculture from the Department of Agriculture in the affected state, to work immediately in the State of Georgia subject to the following:
1. The certified operator or registered employee must have lived and worked in the following counties or parishes on August 29, 2005:
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64 Louisiana parishes: Acadia, Allen, Ascension, Assumption, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Calcasieu, Cameron, Catahoula, Claiborne, Concordia, Desoto, East Baton Rouge, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Iberia, Iberville, Jackson, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, Lafourche, LaSalle, Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Orleans, Ouachita, Pointe Coupee, Plaquemines, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. James, St. John, St. Landry, St. Mary, St. Martin, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Tensas, Terrebonne, Union, Vermilion, Vernon, Washington, Webster, West Baton Rouge, West Carroll, West Feliciana and Winn;
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52 Mississippi counties: Adams, Amite, Attala, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Claiborne, Clarke, Clay, Copiah, Covington, Forrest, Franklin, George, Greene, Hancock, Harrison, Hinds, Itawamba, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Jones, Kemper, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Leake, Lee, Lincoln, Lowndes, Madison, Marion, Monroe, Neshoba, Newton, Noxubee, Oktibbeha, Pearl River, Perry, Pike, Rankin, Scott, Simpson, Smith, Stone, Walthall, Warren, Wayne, Webster, Wilkinson, and Winston;
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Six Alabama counties: Baldwin, Clarke, Choctaw,
2. The applicant will execute an appropriate application for "Temporary Georgia SPC Work Permit".
3. The certified operator or registered employee will be granted a temporary work permit without testing or fee.
4. All temporary work permits will expire at close of business on April 15, 2006.
5. The temporary work permit will not entitle a certified operator or registered employee to apply for a new company license or serve as a DCO for an existing company.
6. Any certified operator or registered employee wishing to obtain a permanent certification or registration must meet the all of the requirements as specified in the Rules of the Act including testing and payment of fees.
7. As a condition of the temporary work permit, all certified operators and registered employees are subject to the requirements of the Georgia Structural Pest Control Act. The temporary work permit is issued and may be cancelled, without notice or hearing, at the sole discretion of the Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Agriculture.
The application for a “Temporary Georgia SPC Work Permit” may be found on the Georgia Department of Agriculture's website at www.agr.ga.gov
Any PMP from the area affected by Hurricane Katrina may file this application at anytime between now and April 15, 2006.
FLORIDA. The Florida Pest Management Association has directed its members to NPMA’s job bank. FPMA sent out a bulletin and broadcast fax to its members about the NPMA job bank. FPMA Executive Vice President Karen Weber told PCT that the association also has numerous hurricane resources on its Web site www.flpma.org.
CPCO of Florida Executive Vice President Michael Beckers said the association is collecting donations that will be turned over to the Louisiana Pest Control Association.
CPCO’s Jose Tomeu, president of Alachua Pest Control, along with Gene Bell of Snow and Bell Insurance, are hosting a benefit dinner on Wednesday, Oct. 12 at 6 p.m., at the Marion County extension auditorium in Ocala.
Beckers added that CPCO soon will be posting job openings and/or information on those displaced and seeking jobs on its Web site, www.cpcoofflorida.org and that PCOs can contact Beckers at cpco@netrox.net with job information.