During the second week of April, the agency stated that 71/100,000 ER visits were tick-related, more than double the typical rate of 30/100,000. Keeping consumers prepared and informed has never been more important, especially in the Northeast and Midwest, which have seen the largest spikes.
The guide lays out how to use the T.I.C.K method when treating for ticks. IT includes the following:
T | Treat tick habitats
Effective treatment requires a combination of three things: correct equipment, precise applications and situational treatment timing
I | Isolate and exclude
Seal entry points, Implement routine inspections and make seasonal adjustments
C | Control environmental factors
Environmental management is key to long-term tick suppression. Educate clients on these habitat modifications: vegetation management, moisture reduction, land use planning, outdoor sanitation and wildlife exclusion.
K | Keep tabs on activity
Long-term success depends on continual monitoring and documentation, such as: treatment logs, host monitoring, environmental tracking and effectiveness evaluation
For Dr. Mohammed El Damir, BCE’s full tick management and planning breakdown:
Waco, Texas-based FRAXN released its inaugural Pest Control Financial Performance Benchmark, a structured financial report derived from aggregated bookkeeping and accounting data from a cohort of pest control operators across multiple revenue tiers and regions.
The benchmark is built on operator financial data generated through standardized monthly closes and a consistent accounting structure, enabling direct comparisons across the dataset.
Strong revenue growth, limited margin improvement
The benchmark shows that pest control operators continued to grow revenue at a meaningful pace during the measured period. Median revenue growth was 15.4 percent, with the middle 50 percent of operators growing between 5.7 percent and 28.9 percent.
However, expense growth kept pace with or exceeded revenue growth for a significant portion of operators, limiting margin improvement. EBITDA margins remained relatively flat across company sizes. Operators under $1M reported median EBITDA margins of approximately 17.0 percent, while both $1-3M and $3M+ operators averaged approximately 15.4 percent.
The data suggest that scale alone does not reliably improve profitability. Margin performance is primarily driven by how effectively operators manage cost structure as they grow.
“The data shows a clear pattern. Growth alone is no longer enough,” said Patrick Baldwin, co-founder and CEO of FRAXN, in a press release. “Operators are expanding revenue, but without a disciplined cost structure, that growth is not consistently converting into profit. “
Cost structure as the primary driver of performance
The benchmark identifies several structural contributors to margin pressure across the industry, including rising labor costs, expanding overhead, growth in fleet and vehicle expenses and increased sales and marketing investment. These pressures have contributed to a widening performance gap between operators who are scaling efficiently and those growing revenue without improving profitability.
“What separates the more disciplined operators is not how fast they grow, but how they manage cost structure while scaling,” Baldwin added. “Financial structure, not revenue alone, determines whether growth translates into profitability.”
Report scope and methodology
The Pest Control Financial Performance Benchmark covers company-level financial structure. It does not include route-level profitability, technician utilization or job-level margin analysis. The report is built on financial data derived from operator bookkeeping records and FRAXN-managed accounting systems, standardized into a consistent framework across the dataset.
Availability
The full Pest Control Financial Performance Benchmark is available at: fraxn.report
Happy Earth Day! Earth Day started in 1970 when Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson announced the idea for a “national teach-in on the environment” after seeing the damage caused by a massive oil spill that occurred in Santa Barbara, Calif. The day is observed worldwide with rallies and festivals that spread the word about the importance of caring for the planet.
Enhesa, a global compliance and sustainability software company, conducted a study analyzing each state’s performance across five key sustainability metrics: Eco-Friendly Vehicles, Emissions, Recycling, Energy and Waste. Each metric was scored out of a possible 100 points and averaged to produce an overall sustainability score. This score was used to create a final ranking, revealing the most environmentally conscious states.
Top 10 most environmentally friendly states
Rank
State
Overall Sustainability Score (Out of 100)
1
California
68.27
2
Vermont
63.88
3
Maine
63.64
4
Oregon
59.50
5
New Hampshire
57.35
6
Nevada
56.89
7
Massachusetts
56.45
8
New York
56.43
9
Rhode Island
55.55
10
Maryland
53.68
California scored the highest across Enhesa’s eco-friendliness scale. The state scored highest within the ‘Eco-Friendly Vehicles’ metric, securing the second-highest spot nationwide. This is largely because the state has the highest percentage of hybrid or electric vehicles in the country at 7.7%.
Vermont secured the second spot with an overall score of 63.88. The state’s highest scoring area was within the ‘Energy’ metric, where it claimed the top spot nationwide, with the country’s lowest energy consumption per capita.
Maine claimed the third spot, with a score of 63.64. The state excelled in the ‘Recycling’ metric, achieving the highest score nationwide by recycling an 74% of its packaging material.
Least eco-friendly states
Rank
State
Overall Sustainability Score (Out of 100)
1
North Dakota
24.47
2
Alaska
27.88
3
Louisiana
29.51
4
West Virginia
29.54
5
Mississippi
32.97
6
Kentucky
33.44
7
Wyoming
33.70
8
Arkansas
34.15
9
Alabama
35.45
10
South Carolina
38.55
Leading the ranking as the least environmentally conscious state is North Dakota, with a score of 24.47 out of a possible 100. Despite scoring strongly for Eco-Friendly Vehicles, North Dakota ranked last for Emissions, with their CO2 emissions per capita increasing by 205% since 1970, by far the largest increase in the country. Additionally, North Dakota’s performance in the Recycling and Waste metrics placed the state 34th and 43rd.
Securing the second spot was Alaska, earning a score of 27.88. The state ranked last in the ‘Energy’ and ‘Recycling’ metrics. Alaska only recycles 16% of its material packaging, marking the lowest rate in the country.
Ranking as the third least sustainable state, Louisianaachieved an overall sustainability score of just 29.51. The state performed poorly across critical metrics such as ‘Emissions,’ ‘Recycling,’ and ‘Energy,’ ranking in the bottom ten nationwide in each category.
More Earth Day content
If your firm is observing Earth Day in some way, we want to know — comment below or send a note to pmpeditor@northcoastmedia.net. And if you’ve recently been or are scheduled to appear on your local news program, please do the same. What follows are just a few of your colleagues putting their best feet forward in front of a receptive audience.
Bird-X, a leading provider of professional bird control solutions, introduces its Battery-Powered Hog Ring Tool, purpose-built for commercial bird netting installation crews. Featuring a 20-volt cordless platform, a 100-ring magazine and a lightweight, 7-pound design, the tool is engineered to help professional bird netting installers work faster, reach farther and operate with greater freedom.
Designed for demanding installations
Bird netting installation is a labor-intensive process that traditionally relies on pneumatic tools requiring air compressors, long hoses, and a constant power source — equipment that is cumbersome on rooftops, in confined spaces, and at height. Bird-X’s new Battery-Powered Hog Ring Tool changes the equation entirely. Leveraging the industry-trusted 20-volt cordless platform, the tool fires 0.75-inch stainless steel or galvanized rings with instant, zero-delay deployment, allowing crews to set rings quickly and continuously without pausing to manage equipment logistics.
With a 100-ring magazine capacity and more than 1,000 rings per battery charge, the tool minimizes reloads and downtime throughout even the largest installations. Two 20-volt battery packs and a charger are included in every kit, along with a belt attachment system, handle, lubricant and operator manual — everything a professional crew needs to hit the ground running.
“This tool is a genuine game-changer for professional installation crews,” says Fonda Moyers, head of products for Bird-X. “When you eliminate the compressor and the hoses, you eliminate a massive source of cost and complexity from every job. Crews can move faster, cover more ground and finish projects in a fraction of the time — which means fewer days renting expensive lifts, less labor overhead and dramatically better margins on every installation. This tool is built specifically to help our customers reduce job costs by getting the work done faster with less labor time. No more hoses. No more compressors. Just results.”
About Bird-X
Bird-X started as a small idea in 1964, starting with a Bird Lite (today known as the Bird Strobe Light) that was being sold to deter birds from commercial areas.
In the beginning, Bird-X was a single-employee business that was entirely operated by Richard Seid. The company spent the first 28 years selling innovative bird control products via trade publications. Readers responded to the ads in these publications and Bird-X sold bird control products directly to the end user.
In 1992, Seid’s son Joe oined the family business as the company’s 10th employee and strategically expanded sales channels. This was the start of a major growth period for the company. Throughout years of a dedicated online presence, combined with a knowledgeable team of bird control sales specialists, Bird-X has become a time-tested leader in the bird control industry.
Now, Bird-X supplies a growing product line of more than 400 humane bird control solutions used in more than 60 countries around the world. The company employs a seasoned staff — 20 percent of whom have been a part of the company for more than 25 years and have directly contributed to the tremendous growth and success.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is taking steps to stop pest control companies from using non-compete agreements, which restrict where and when an employee can work after employment with the company ends, typically to preserve customer contact lists or protect proprietary information.
The agency issued a press release on April 15, stating it ordered Rollins Inc. to stop enforcement of non-compete agreements, and said it sent warning letters to 13 other pest control companies advising them to make sure their employment agreements lack “unfair or anticompetitive non-compete provisions.” At press time, the FTC did not respond to Pest Management Professional‘s request for the names of the other companies it contacted.
Rollins is required to send letters, via mail or email, to employees who signed non-compete agreements to inform them the company “would no longer enforce the non-compete provisions,” the FTC’s press release stated.
When reached for comment by Pest Management Professional, Rollins Inc. responded with this statement: “The order issued by the FTC is consistent with our current practices. Last year, we eliminated the use and enforcement of non-compete agreements for nearly all employees, and we are committed to continuing this practice in the future. We want to maintain our teammates’ ability to seek employment elsewhere if they choose to leave Rollins, while also protecting our company’s proprietary information and confidential customer data. Our primary goal, and that of our brands, continues to be to empower our employees to deliver the best solutions to help our customers manage pest-related issues.”
The ban would have taken effect nationwide and allowed any worker who signed a non-compete agreement to work for a competitor or start a competing business immediately after their employment ended. Exceptions applied to senior-level executives as well as the seller and the buyer of a business.
The proposed rule to ban non-compete agreements the FTC issued on Jan. 19, 2023, received more than 26,000 comments during the 90-day public comment period, and the FTC said nearly all voiced support for the proposed ban. After carefully reviewing each comment, the FTC said it based changes to the proposed rule on the input it received. On April 23, 2024, it issued its final rule and on May 7, 2024, published the rule in the Federal Register. The ban was supposed to go into effect on Sept. 4, 2024, 120 days after it was published in the Federal Register.
Alternatives to non-compete agreements include confidentiality, non-disclosure and non-solicitation agreements that meet local, state and federal laws. Pest control companies should review their exiting employee agreements to ensure they remain in compliance.
The FTC’s press release stated it is on a mission to “protect American workers.” It also said it has “prioritized investigating and prosecuting deceptive, unfair, and anticompetitive labor-market practices” and created a Joint Labor Task Force to focus on these efforts.
Today’s pest management professionals (PMPs) need solutions that are efficient, scalable and built for long-term use. Skyhawk Trapmate delivers with a full suite of reusable electronic remote monitoring (ERM) devices designed to modernize pest control operations.
Every Trapmate device is battery-powered with replaceable batteries, eliminating the need for hardwiring or external power. This allows for flexible deployment in virtually any environment, while ensuring devices can be reused across accounts — reducing costs and maximizing return on investment.\
A complete monitoring ecosystem
Trapmate offers a comprehensive platform that supports:
Rodent and wildlife monitoring across virtually any trap type
Environmental sensors for temperature, humidity, water, entry and power
A cellular-connected hub and software platform for real-time alerts and reporting
All devices communicate wirelessly, enabling remote visibility without relying on Wi-Fi or on-site infrastructure.
Built for the real world
Designed for durability and repeat use, Trapmate devices can be easily deployed, repositioned and redeployed as needs change. The battery-powered system ensures reliable performance across food facilities, warehouses, commercial properties and wildlife applications — especially in areas where power access is limited.
Smarter, more efficient operations
With continuous monitoring and real-time alerts, Trapmate shifts pest control from routine checks to exception-based servicing. Technicians can focus only where activity is confirmed — reducing unnecessary visits, improving documentation and optimizing service efficiency.
About Skyhawk
Based in Derry, N.H., Skyhawk Trapmate is a division of Skyhawk, a U.S.-based company specializing in remote monitoring technology for pest and wildlife professionals. Trapmate’s wireless, battery-powered sensors provide real-time trap activity and data to enhance technician efficiency, reduce service visits, and increase client retention.
Batista promoted to Southeast Florida area manager
Truly Nolen Pest Control recently announced the promotion of David Batista to area manager for Southeast Florida, covering Monroe County through Indian River County.
Batista joined Truly Nolen in 2015 and was most recently the company’s area manager covering Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties. Prior to joining the company, he spent 10 years working as a service manager and branch manager for another company in the pest control industry. In addition, he has an A.S. degree in cardiovascular science from Ward Stone College and a degree in management and supervision from Miami-Dade College.
Some of Batista’s new responsibilities will include district authority overseeing the company’s service offices in Port St. Lucie, Greenacres, Pompano Beach and Davie in addition to continuing to oversee service offices in Key Largo, South Miami, Central Miami and North Miami.
“I am most excited about coaching and supporting our team members to help elevate their operational knowledge so that they can be more strategic, proactive and successful,” said Batista. “My favorite thing about working for Truly Nolen is the opportunity to make a positive impact every day – not only for our external customers, but also for our internal team members. Supporting both groups is incredibly rewarding.”
“David’s passion for success, operational excellence, previous success in Miami and the Keys and enthusiasm for developing teams made him the ideal leader to oversee both areas within our South Florida market”, said Lee Blair, Florida regional manager, in a news release. “We are excited about his expanded leadership role and we are glad he is a member of our team.”
Abel promoted to Cape Coral service office manager
Abel joined Truly Nolen as a swing technician in 2019. Before joining the company, he was a Crew Supervisor at the Charlotte Sun newspaper for nearly 10 years, where he worked nights in the packaging department. His team took the newspapers off the printing press, ran them through the inserting machine and bundled them for the paper carriers.
Some of Abel’s new responsibilities will include helping the new service office gain visibility within the local Cape Coral community as well as instilling the company’s core values throughout his team. He also said an architectural drafting course he completed at a technical college has come in handy during inspections.
“I look forward to supporting my team any way I can and watching how everyone succeeds in their own ways,” said Abel, in a news release. “My favorite thing about working for Truly Nolen is that our company is a family-owned company that appreciates its team members; however, I also like how we are a serious, smart and strong company but also likes to have fun.”
“Greg’s demonstrated ability as a technician combined with his previous managerial and supervisory experience made him the perfect person for his new position,” said Dave Scott, Senior District Manager, Southwest Florida. “I am proud he is a member of our team and I look forward to his continued success.”
