Victor Hammel Announces his Retirement

Hammel (left) will retire as president of J. C. Ehrlich Co., Inc and CEO of Rentokil North American Pest Control, effective Feb. 28. John Myers (right) has been tapped as Hammel’s successor.

READING, Pa. — Victor Hammel will retire as president of J.C. Ehrlich Co., Inc and CEO of Rentokil North American Pest Control, effective Feb. 28, and he has been appointed company chairman. In this new, part-time role, he will serve as an adviser to the company’s incoming president and CEO, John Myers. Additionally, Hammel will represent Rentokil in various industry and government matters and will handle various assignments for Rentokil worldwide.

During his 38-year career with Ehrlich, Hammel has served in a variety of positions, starting as a technician in the company’s Pottsville, Pa., district office. He became Ehrlich President in 1991, assuming the role formerly held by his uncle, Arthur Hammel. Under his leadership, the company grew to be the largest privately owned pest control company in North America. Ehrlich merged with Rentokil in 2006 and has since grown to provide service in 32 states as well as Toronto, Canada.

On his career, Hammel said, “It is the highest business honor I could imagine to have been a part of J.C. Ehrlich, a company populated with absolutely outstanding and devoted coworkers in a wonderful industry. And then to have the additional privilege of being CEO of Rentokil North American Pest Control for these past three years with the associates of Presto-X, Watch All, Rentokil, Du-Right and coworkers from the 16 other acquisitions we made – well that is truly the icing on the cake.”

Over the years, Hammel has been active in the industry, currently serving as vice chairman of PPMA and co-founder and president of PestSure, a captive insurance company owned and operated by PMPs. He was also named PCT’s Professional of the Year for 2008.

Myers has been appointed as Hammel’s successor. Myers began an in-depth preparation phase on Dec. 1, having spent a substantial amount of time in the field with sales and service coworkers. Myers has extensive domestic and international business experience in marketing, sales and management, having most recently served as senior vice president of sales at Cintas, an industry-leading $3 billion business services provider based in Cincinnati, Ohio. During his eight-plus years with Cintas, Myers provided leadership in several key areas, including business strategy, operations and business development. Myers began his career with American National Can Company, serving in a series of sales, operations and marketing roles and was ultimately named director of marketing for Europe.

“Rentokil is very fortunate to have someone of John Myers’ caliber assume the company’s leadership,” said Hammel. “I have had the pleasure of working with John over the last several months and am extremely confident that he has the skills, integrity and vision to lead Rentokil to its next chapter in North America. He has my complete and enthusiastic support.”

Myers is equally enthusiastic about his new relationship with Rentokil. “I have worked with numerous service providers over my career,” he said, “and I am extremely impressed with the dedication that exists throughout Rentokil’s family of brands. I am fortunate to be assuming the reigns of a company that is healthy and has a strong management team. I look forward to building on this excellent foundation with the help of our dedicated coworkers. We are fortunate to be in an industry that provides such a valuable service to its customers, especially in these difficult economic times.”