I was asked sometime ago to write an article for the Homebuilders association of Dalton’s website and only recently found the time to sit down at the computer and peck one out!

I had been thinking for a long time what I should write. Over the years I have written many articles on pest control for different publications, this is my first for a web site. Since pest control is so interconnected with the building and construction industry, I decided to write about why pests invade new homes. While writing that article I kept thinking about a conversation I had with a few Builders at a recent Board of Directors meeting, the topic was about experiences these people have had with companies in the pest control industry and their representatives. Most of their experiences were not on a professional level.

So I did my usual song and dance to defend the industry that I have spent nearly my entire life working in. You know the routine, every profession has a few bad apples, they had a bad day, avoid camping because bigfoot is mating with the campers (oops, wrong article). I saw the article as an opportunity to tell the consumer what they should know and expect from pest management professionals.

For many years, the pest control industry has been a relatively low-tech industry. It seemed like anyone with a compressed air sprayer and a pick-up truck became a "bug man." An individual needed just two years experience working for another company and that would quality them to take the state license exam. Often these individuals ran a route for a company and when they started their business, they simply took those customers as theirs. Having little knowledge and even less business experience they would struggle along building a business and at times, developing both bad business practices and treatment methods, contributing to the "bug man" or "spray jockey" mentality.

In the middle 1980’s two crises developed that would forever change the pest control industry. The first was the ever-increasing resistance on the part of roaches, fleas, ticks and other common pests to chemicals that were industry standards for many years and could easily be "nuked" with these products. The second crisis came when the chlorinated hydrocarbons, Chlordane, Heptachlor and Aldrin, were removed from the market. These chemicals were used to control subterranean termites for over forty years. Once they were applied to a structure, there would be no more termites, period. This made for lazy "bug men and women."

As a result of these two events, the pest control industry was forced to re-invent itself. Everyone had to go back to school, as new technologies emerged, innovative treatment strategies were adopted by progressive companies who now regard their employees as "pest management professionals." Education and business management are at the forefront for these companies leaving others behind who have not adapted to the new paradigm. Controlling pests is not an exact science, rather it is an art form that relies on the knowledge, skills, tools, and the implementation of various strategies that are available to pest management professionals (PMP). PMPs today must keep up with the ever changing rules and regulations, continuing education credits for every category of pest control service they provide, the latest in technological advancements.