The exterminator in 2010
The idea of a pest control company winning an award for sustainable business practices sounds odd, at least initially. Isn”™t termination the whole idea? But it”™s what the customers want and safe pest management that are earning applause, says the man who won the award.
“I don”™t consider myself to be a pesticide peddler,” said Craig Thomas of Craig Thomas Pest Control, whose company last month was lauded for its sustainable practices by the Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce. “Yes we are still stereotyped, but it”™s not about spraying. Spraying is probably one of the least things we do.”
Thomas”™ company won the award with a diversified approach to a broad range of pesky critters ranging from insects to pernicious mammals, all of which provide the common threat of unhealthy droppings and property destruction whatever their species and size.
Likewise pests share common needs, so that eliminating sources of food, water and shelter ultimately does as much as any spray to eliminate pests. And in all cases, he said, integrated pesticide management is what works.
The Duthess Regional Chamber of Commerce cited this broad approach in conferring the company with its sustainability award, noting that in recent year, despite the lingering recession, Craig Thomas Pest Control has experienced an upsurge in business, responding to a down economy by offering auxiliary services including T.A.P. Insulation, gutter cleaning, and home improvement services, invested in new equipment such as vehicles and trailers, and by hiring sales inspectors, home improvement staff, technicians and a general manager.
The company is now ready for an even broader array of pest-related problems.
For example, Thomas said, if the pest problem is squirrels inside the eaves, his company”™s nuisance wildlife arm will trap and remove the squirrels so the company”™s repair arm can replace insulation ruined by the animals and replace it with high-efficiency insulation and the damage that allowed the squirrels into the building.
The company uses top-tier HEPA filter vacuums.
Thomas has a college degree in Applied Sciences in Natural Resource Conservation and worked for the state Department of Environmental Conservation enforcing pesticide regulations for more than a decade before starting his company in 1996. He is a past president of the New York State Pest Management Association.
His broad-spectrum approach has paid off in a company with 40 employees that Thomas said will do about $5 million in business this year, serving customers throughout the Hudson Valley. He said the region has environmentally savvy residents and building owners who require a safe as well as an effective approach to pest control.
“There is a smarter consumer out there, with the Internet people are better educated,” said Thomas. “Pesticide is a household term now and people are asking the tough questions. So in my business you need to elevate your profession to meet their concerns.”