***Updated on 1/28 after President Donald Trump announced a deal had been reached to temporarily end the partial government shutdown***
CHICAGO – To help federal employees and their families keep their residences pest-free during the ongoing government shutdown a Chicago area PCO offered free services. Bryan Nichols, owner of Advanced Maintenance and Pest Solutions, offered federal employees a one-time service for up to $175 until the shutdown ended.
Nichols, a U.S. Navy veteran, has a kinship with members of the U.S. Coast Guard (who are not getting paid during the shutdown) and he had them particularly in mind when he made this gesture.
“Pest problems hit people at odd times, and a lot of time it kicks them when they are down. I wanted to be there to lend them a helping hand,” he said. “As an American that served in the military we need to fight for our rights. It’s not right that our government is stepping on our own people, and I feel like we should stand up for our people.”
Nichols enlisted in the Navy right out of high school. He served from 1996 to 2000 as a quartermaster, a petty officer that specializes in navigation. After leaving the Navy he attended a technical college in Wisconsin where a classmate introduced him to pest control.
“One of my classmates asked me to help him do some bird work in the city,” he recalled. “In the process we did a mouse job, an ant job and a squirrel job that weekend. All of it was cool to me. People were happy to see you and respected what you did. I thought this would be a great way to make a living."
Nichols worked on and off in pest control and as a handyman during the early 2000s before launching Advanced Maintenance and Pest Solutions in 2009. The company has grown to include five technicians and two office workers.
In addition to providing quality services, Nichols says Advanced Maintenance and Pest Solutions’ growth has been spurred through networking he has done through relationships he's established as a member of the Greater Chicago Pest Management Alliance. “I’ve gotten to know people who are better at servicing certain types of customers, or accounts, or pests than me so I will send them that business. In turn, they will send certain work to me that they know I specialize in doing."
Nichols says he has partnerships with about 20 firms in the Chicago area.
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