Training, support and outreach

PHOTO: NISUS CORP.

It seems nearly everywhere a pest management professional (PMP) may look, at least for industry training, a Nisus Corp. representative is in the mix. For example:

• This spring, Dr. Reid Ipser, director of technical service for the Rockford, Tenn.-based company, conducted a webinar in conjunction with Target Specialty Products titled “Granular Baits vs. Residential Insecticides: Perimeter Treatment IPM Strategies.”
• In July, Pest Control Division VP Lee Barrett was interviewed by industry podcasters The Pest Posse about some of the “lesser-known” Nisus Corp. products. (With more than 30 products in use worldwide, you could be forgiven if you aren’t as familiar with the Blue Bait Gun, for example.)
• For the Connecticut Pest Control Association’s fall seminar, Mid-South Territory Manager Harry Bryan gave a talk on powderpost beetles and their control.
• Southwest Territory Manager Marty Keane, BCE, spoke at the Annual Women in Pest Control Conference in Houston, Texas, last month. Nisus Corp. was an event sponsor, as well.
• Greg Baumann, global VP of Regulatory & Technical Services, appears in every issue of Pest Management Professional magazine as a columnist.

POISED FOR GROWTH

All this outreach could not be possible, notes Lee Barrett, VP, Pest Control for Nisus Corp., without the generosity of employees who share their technical expertise, as well as their time and efforts for the many projects in which the company is involved year-round.

“We have such a diverse portfolio of products,” says Barrett, “and some of the best, most experienced industry experts working for Nisus. It only makes sense to share what we’ve learned through research, development, troubleshooting and on-the-job treatments with others in professional pest control — to help better the industry as a whole.”

Product demand has been up for Nisus despite the pandemic — and perhaps in part, because of it, as its DSV sanitation product was put on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) List N: Products with Emerging Pathogens and Human Coronavirus Claims for Use Against SARS-CoV-2. Being on this list means the EPA determined the product is effective against SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind COVID-19.

Nisus DSV is a concentrate that is diluted for use as a broad-spectrum disinfectant, sanitizer, virucide, mildewstat, fungicide and deodorizer, labeled to kill many viruses and bacteria as well as small flies. It effectively disinfects residential and commercial sites of labeled viruses and bacteria, explains Marketing Director Melissa McCoy, and can be used for everyday cleaning as well as in critical or emergency situations.

“We even use it here in the Nisus headquarters, sanitizing common areas and door handles to keep viruses and germs away from employees,” she adds.

Because of the growth in volume, Nisus hired a new Northeast territory manager: industry veteran John Singletary, ACE, who starts this month. Adding a new manager meant taking a new look at existing sales territories. For example, Harry Bryan is now handling the new Mid-South territory.

“We reconfigured the boundaries so that each Nisus representative is able to spend as much time as possible with their individual customers,” Barrett says.

PRODUCT NEWS

PHOTO: NISUS CORP.

Jim Gorman, VP, Marketing, Nisus, says the Nisus team was very excited to introduce Foam Fresh Bio-Sanitation Foam this spring. Every 18-ounce can is delivered with a 3.3 millimeter, 17-inch-long, semi-rigid hose that allows PMPs to get past the P-trap in drains, yet is small enough to get through most drain covers — which speeds up service time. It also comes with both a full cone spray and a drain actuator, for which “you can also attach any standard-size straw you have on hand to the drain actuator,” he says.

Both actuators benefit from an up-down valve, delivering 360-degree control for application at any angle. And sure, while its seven microbial strains consume organic matter, eliminating the sources of organic odors like food debris, smoke, dead animals and more, McCoy delights in a labeled use that is of great benefit to residential technicians in particular.

“As we get into more and more real-world data in the field, PMPs are reporting that it works well for puppy pee!” McCoy says with a laugh. “It’s easy for the tech to pull out the can and literally ‘spot treat’ the rug after being greeted by a customer’s overenthusiastic pet.”

Another recent development: Niban is once again listed as an organic bait by the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI), which determines which input products are allowed for use in organic production and processing. “OMRI Listed” products are allowed for use in certified organic operations under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program.

“This is of great value to PMPs who are placing bids in sensitive accounts, giving them an edge with their product choices,” Gorman says.

There is a product the Nisus team plans to introduce before the end of the year — but McCoy plays coy: “PMPs will have to be patient to find out what it is. All I can promise is that once they try it, they’ll say it was worth the wait.”

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Nisus raises awareness

In addition to industry stewardship, Nisus Corp. is passionate about its employees and local communities, too. The company has two major causes in particular that it supports generously:

The Atlanta, Ga.-based 1980s band Aunt Betty rocks out during a recent fundraiser at Nisus Corp.’s headquarters in Rockford, Tenn. The event raised $250,000 for JDRF. PHOTO: NISUS CORP.

1. Many employees are active supporters of JDRF, a research association for type 1 diabetes, formerly known as juvenile diabetes. As reported in Pest Management Professional’s (PMP’s) February issue, Nisus Corp. President and CEO Kevin Kirkland and his wife, Carolyn, serve as co-presidents of the JDRF East TN board of directors in Knoxville, Tenn. Their youngest son, Ethan, lives with the disease. Since 2018, Nisus has been involved in several JDRF charity auctions and events — including an outdoor “’80s Rock” fundraising party at its headquarters.

2. Because September was National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, Nisus Corp.’s 17th annual Eddie Check event took place last month in partnership with Provision CARES Proton Therapy and MEDIC Blood Center. In an effort to elevate awareness, the event offers free prostate specific antigen (PSA) tests to men 40 years of age and older (or younger than 40 with a family history) in the community. This simple blood test provides an opportunity to potentially catch prostate cancer in the early stages.

Eddie Check co-founders Kevin Kirkland, left, and Jim Gorman named the program in honor of Kirkland’s late father, Eddie. PHOTO: NISUS CORP.

“It is especially important to bring awareness of prostate cancer to the community, as the disease has no symptoms until it is in the advanced stages,” says Gorman, a prostate cancer survivor. “Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in men, and the second-leading cause of cancer death after lung cancer: One man in 41 will die from prostate cancer.”

Why is it called the Eddie Check? Kirkland lost his father, Eddie, to the disease. Since its start in 2004, Eddie Check has collected 13,956 units of blood, given 12,445 free prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests and saved countless lives.

As Kirkland noted in a PMP profile in October 2014, “There wasn’t a PSA blood test in the ’70s, when Dad developed prostate cancer. If caught early, prostate cancer has nearly a 100-percent, five-year survival rate. Each year, many others come back to our Eddie Check sites and say, ‘Eddie Check saved my life. I’m a prostate cancer survivor today.’”

Learn more about this initiative at EddieCheck.com.

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from Pest Management Professional https://www.mypmp.net/2021/10/26/training-support-and-outreach/
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