Liphatech: FirstStrike

FirstStrike is a soft bait solution for the quality-minded pest management professional (PMP), offering control of Norway rats, roof rats and house mice — including warfarin-resistant house mice — among other rodent species.

This soft bait is formulated with difethialone, a second-generation anticoagulant rodenticide invented by the experts at Liphatech. A lethal dose may be consumed in one night’s feeding, with first dead rodents appearing four to five days later. It is an excellent choice for clean-outs, lingering rodents or heavy infestations.

Like all Liphatech soft baits, FirstStrike contains a palatable bait matrix that rodents will eat. The bait maintains its integrity in hot environments and is for use in both indoor and outdoor spaces. FirstStrike is easy to place securely on bait station rods and on Liphatech’s SoftSecure (SST) feeding device. The label also allows for the removal of paper to place bait directly on feeding rods.

FirstStrike soft bait is available for purchase in either 10- or 40-gram pouches. The 10-gram pouches are offered in 16-pound cases of four 4-pound bags, two 8-pound pails or one 16-pound pail. The 40-gram pouches are available in 16-pound pails.

In addition to FirstStrike, Liphatech offers a variety of other pest control solutions, including soft baits, mini blocks, pellets, bait stations and more. All Liphatech solutions are supported by its experienced people who work with each customer to understand their unique application and provide intelligent recommendations to help them achieve control.

About Liphatech

With U.S. headquarters based in Milwaukee, Wis., Liphatech is a worldwide manufacturer of pest control products. It is considered to be the developer of three of the industry’s active ingredients: chlorophacinone, bromadiolone and difethialone. The company was founded in France in 1946 to develop anticoagulants for the treatment of heart patients. It developed chlorophacinone in the 1960s and branded it as Rozol, a family of products that includes grain and pelleted products for field and structural use, and a tracking powder for use in and around structures. In the 1970s, Liphatech developed bromadiolone, its original second-generation rodenticide active ingredient.

The innovations continued with the opening of its U.S. facility in 1987. Research there and in Europe resulted in the discovery of difethialone during the late 1980s, with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency registration as an active ingredient in 1995.

Liphatech.com

 

 

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Bed bug product insights: AMGUARD

RECENT INNOVATIONS: Bed bugs spend surprisingly little time exposed on open surfaces. Instead, they aggregate inside furniture, wall voids, electronics, luggage and clutter where conventional surface sprays often have limited reach, making vapor-active technologies uniquely valuable for bed bug management.

Nuvan Directed Spray Aerosol and Nuvan ProStrips remain important tools because they help PMPs target infestations beyond visible surfaces and direct contact exposure. Nuvan Directed Spray Aerosol delivers dichlorvos (DDVP) directly into cracks, crevices, bed frames, furniture joints and other protected harborages where bed bugs spend most of their lives. The active ingredient disperses through confined spaces, helping reach insects hidden beyond direct application.

Nuvan ProStrips extend that concept by allowing PMPs to treat enclosed spaces, infested belongings and sensitive items that are difficult or impractical to service conventionally. When used according to label directions, the strips slowly release DDVP vapor inside sealed containers, moving boxes, closets, vehicles and similar enclosed spaces that contain belongings that may harbor hidden bed bugs or eggs.

PREDICTIONS: Continued growth in multiunit housing, travel-associated introductions, and high-turnover living environments will increase pressure on PMPs to identify and eliminate hidden infestation reservoirs before bed bugs spread between units or locations. Treatment strategies addressing inaccessible harborages, transported belongings, electronics, clutter and other difficult-to-service environments likely will become increasingly important in comprehensive bed bug management programs.

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6 ways AI can transform your pest control business

The pest control industry always has rewarded those who work smart. Today, artificial intelligence (AI) tools are giving pest management professionals (PMPs) of every size — from solo owner-operators to regional companies with dozens of technicians — a genuine competitive edge. The best part? You don’t need a tech background to start.

Here’s how you can use AI to change the game across your entire operation.

1. Scheduling and routing. Time on the road is money out of your pocket. AI-powered routing tools built into platforms like FieldRoutes, PestPac or GorillaDesk, to name just three, can optimize your technicians’ daily routes automatically, cutting drive time and fitting more stops into every shift. For owners managing multiple crews, this alone can recover hours each week. (Editor’s Note: See p. 12 of this issue for more information.)
2. Customer communication. Following up after every service call is good business, but it’s easy to let it slip. AI assistants like Claude or ChatGPT can draft personalized follow-up emails, renewal reminders and seasonal promotion messages in seconds. Feed it your service details and ask for a friendly, professional note. You’ll spend two minutes instead of 20, and your customers will notice the difference.
3. Reporting and documentation. Technicians hate paperwork. Claude in particular excels here: Give it rough notes from a field visit, and it produces clean, professional service reports instantly. This improves your documentation, protects you legally and impresses customers without adding that burden to your team.
4. Training and onboarding. High turnover is a persistent industry challenge. AI tools can help you build training materials faster than ever. Use them to draft standard operating procedures (SOPs), quiz new hires on pest identification or create onboarding checklists tailored to your company’s processes. Quick-reference guides techs can pull up in the field can be done in minutes.
5. Automating file and task management. One tool worth knowing is Claude Cowork. Designed for non-developers, Cowork lets your office staff automate repetitive file and task management work such as organizing reports, processing documents and managing workflows without writing a single line of code. The AI works quietly in the background so your team can focus on your customers.
6. Estimating, proposal writing and marketing. AI can draft polished commercial proposals, scope-of-work summaries, and a full month of social media posts in an afternoon. Give Claude your voice, your service area and your seasonal focus and let it do the heavy lifting on content your competition is still writing by hand.

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What baseball can teach pest control about building winning teams

I love baseball. There are many things that resonate with me involving our boys of summer.

First, no sport follows statistics the way baseball does. Business key performance indicators (KPIs) are a natural stepping stone from baseball analytics. 

Second, baseball is a grind. They play 162 games in just 187 days. For most pest control companies, we push our team members very hard during that same period of mid-March through mid-November. The mental stress is trumped only by the physical toll our bodies take by the end of our busy season. Pest management professionals (PMPs) understand the daily grind that baseball professionals go through. 

Baseball also shows a team member a clear path up the career ladder. A player gets drafted out of high school or college and goes to rookie ball, then Arizona Fall League, onto Low-A, then High-A, maybe eventually Double-A, then finally Triple-A before the Major League parent team calls up the promising rookie. 

Once they make the majors, they can become a utility player, an everyday player, an all-star and maybe a Hall of Famer. 

Drafting a winning roster

Motivating team members by creating a clear career path for your employees is one of my favorite business topics. In Lawton, Okla., Environmental Pest Control (EPC), owned by Chad Highley, ACE, is looking to take his employees to the next level. Highley has been working diligently on motivating his employees since he bought EPC in July 2019.

Chad Highley

The 50-year-old worked as a medic, handyman, Home Depot floor manager (where he met his wife, Stacy), assisted-living facility manager, deputy sheriff and car salesman before finally landing with Terminix in 2012. 

EPC has been growing steadily under Highley’s leadership. He has raised revenue from $408,000 in 2019 to nearly $1.2 million last year. He is on pace to hit
$1.35 million this year. 

EPC’s growth can be attributed to many things, not the least of which is training. His wife homeschools their three children and also is responsible for implementing the “Tator-to-Tech” (orientation-to-technician) training program she created for EPC. Highley attributes EPC’s growth to answering the phone, doing the right thing, and most importantly, depending on God’s guidance and blessing.

Step up to the plate

Because you can’t have a clear career path at a company if you don’t know how to do your job, Highley makes sure his technicians feel confident. 

To help employees stay motivated, EPC offers several interactive programs. For example, “Feedback Fridays” give employees a chance to voice their ideas or concerns. At the weekly meeting, with an emphasis on “CEG” (community, education and growth), Highley and his team give presentations, play games with employees and do a weekly deep dive into a scheduled topic.

In addition, from Monday through Thursday, Highley puts $5 into a jar for every five-star review. Gold stars are given for the five-star reviews received during the week and stapled to a designated wall in the office. During the Friday meeting, names of everyone who earned a star are put into a random drawing for all the money in the jar.

EPC also hosts an annual winter shoot-out event and a year-end employee appreciation dinner.

Coaching champions

As EPC grows, its leadership will need to show their techs and office staff there is a clear path for advancement. 

“We have great people but I feel like Chad and I struggle with how to motivate,” Stacy told me. Chad echoed her thoughts and explained, “I believe we are good leaders but sometimes, it is hard to instill our passion into others.” 

I provided five action items they currently are implementing:

1. Create a company hierarchy chart. Company owners are at the top, and then below are boxes showing various positions within the company that are filled or
   need to be filled within the next year. This needs to be regularly revisited and tweaked as the company evolves.
2. Institute leadership classes. Most PMPs are learning on the job. I suggested holding an hour-long class each Tuesday morning with a group of employees they want to put on the management track. Leadership resources include the Society of Human Resources Management and the Harvard Business Review.
3. Set goals for employees. I always gave a $1 per hour raise for each additional license or certificate my employees earned. EPC is working on a “badges” program to reward employees who reach a certain level of expertise.
4. Don’t just hand out titles. Don’t hand out titles before they are earned. This lowers the bar and gives undeserving staff members a sense of entitlement. Make employees earn their title and coach them into their new positions.
5. Listen to feedback. This is EPC’s “Feedback Fridays” program mentioned earlier in a nutshell: If your people think they have an opportunity to make a difference within your business, they will take ownership of their department and strive to make your company great.

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Protected: How mosquito control can affect breeding areas

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PWIPM-NY holds networking event at historic location

Professional Women in Pest Management of New York (PWIPM-NY), a committee of the New York Pest Management Association (NYPMA), held its summer networking and leadership event on July 11 at the historic Susan B. Anthony Museum & House in Rochester, N.Y.

The event brought together women representing a wide range of professional roles within the pest management industry, including business owners, managers, sales professionals, technicians and other industry leaders from New York City, Upstate New York, and New Jersey.

The program featured a guided discussion centered on quotes from Susan B. Anthony and their relevance to the challenges and opportunities facing women today. Participants also toured the historic home of the pioneering women’s rights advocate before concluding the day with a roundtable discussion focused on advancing opportunities for women within the pest management profession.

“We wanted to create a space where women in our industry could freely share their challenges and successes with one another,” said Holly Sanefski, chair of the PWIPM-NY Committee. “Holding the event at Susan B. Anthony’s historic home provided a meaningful backdrop for conversations about leadership, advocacy, and the progress still being made by women in our profession.”

Susan B. Anthony was one of America’s most influential advocates for women’s rights and women’s suffrage. Her Rochester home, now preserved as a National Historic Landmark and museum, serves as a lasting reminder of her leadership and contributions to the women’s rights movement.

Professional Women in Pest Management (PWIPM) is an affiliate group of the National Pest Management Association (NPMA) and is dedicated to attracting, developing and supporting women in the structural pest management industry through networking, education, leadership development and mentorship.

About the New York Pest Management Association

The New York Pest Management Association (NYPMA) is the professional trade association representing New York’s pest management industry. Through education, advocacy and professional development, NYPMA promotes excellence, public health protection and responsible pest management practices throughout the state.

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Bed bug product insights: Allergy Technologies

Allergy Technologies

Joseph Latino, president

RECENT INNOVATIONS: Allergy Technologies’ Affordable Housing Control (ATAHC) Complete joins ATAHC Bed Bug and ATAHC Plus in our suite of comprehensive, property-wide, prevention-based pest control solutions designed specifically for affordable housing communities.

Joseph Latino

ATAHC Bed Bug focuses on preventing and controlling bed bug infestations through a proactive approach that includes property-wide remediation, resident education, ActiveGuard Mattress Liners and periodic technical monitoring. Rather than simply responding to complaints, the program emphasizes prevention and early detection/engagement, helping housing providers dramatically reduce infestations, reinfestations and costly callbacks.

ATAHC Plus addresses rodents, cockroaches and other structural public nuisance pests. The program combines advanced, information technology (IT)-based rodent monitoring, data-driven reporting and targeted pest management strategies to provide a more efficient and comprehensive approach.

ATAHC Complete brings the best of both programs together into a single offering.

PREDICTIONS: The future of managing bed bugs and other pests in affordable housing will be driven by stronger partnerships among PMPs, housing providers and residents. As communities seek more cost-effective and sustainable solutions, PMPs will increasingly rely on preventive strategies, advanced monitoring technology and actionable data rather than archaic, reactive treatments.

The most successful programs will be collaborative, building-wide, prevention-focused efforts that improve outcomes, reduce costs and create healthier living environments. Technology will continue to play an important role, but meaningful resident engagement and strong partnerships will remain the foundation of long-term success.

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