I just got back from our Board of Directors meeting in Palm Springs and wanted to thank all those who attended. The usual beautiful weather was interrupted by some heavy rain that caused all sorts of problems in Southern California and made our golf tournament wet but playable. The timing of this meeting is always ideal because it allows us to reflect on the past year, while also talking about the challenges that confront us in the approaching year. We fully expect 2019 to be another busy time in the legislative and regulatory arena and with all the uncertainties of a new Governor and new administration, you can be sure we will keep you informed on the changes as they take place in the coming months. We have a lot going on as the next year begins, so I hope you’ll check our website to see the dates for Pest Ed in January and Legislative Days later in the spring. I really want to wish all of you a very happy and memorable holiday season and look forward to seeing you in 2019!

Chris Reardon
PCOC Executive Vice President

PCOC's Winter Pest Ed

January 8, 2019 - Montebello, California
Quiet Cannon Conference & Event Center
Montebello Attendee Registration Form

January 10, 2019 - Sacramento, California
Sacramento Scottish Rite Masonic Center
Sacramento Attendee Registration Form

PCOC's Legislative Day Golf Tournament – April 8, 2019
Teal Bend Golf Course, Sacramento, California
Information and Registraiton form to follow

Professional Women in Pest Management (PWPM) 5k Walk - April 8, 2019
Hyatt Sacramento and surrounding area, Sacramento, California
Information to follow

April Board of Directors Meeting – April 9, 2019
Hyatt Sacramento, Sacramento, California
Information to follow

PCOC's Legislative Day - April 9-10, 2019
Hyatt Sacramento, Sacramento, California
Information and Registration form to follow

This month was eventful at the Capitol. We have a new governor as well as many new elected officials that are tasked to protect our great state. Gavin Newsom as the governor-elect is already beginning to prepare the transition team. This would include some of the key appointments in positions that will have direct impacts on our industry. PCOC, through its PAC, wisely invested money in key individuals this latest election cycle. There were several key legislative races throughout the state that PCOC targeted and they were able to pull out the victory. After this election, our industry is in a place where we hopefully will have a seat at the table.

On a regulatory note, please pay attention to the new fipronil label (Termidor/Taurus) for ant and general pest control applications during the months of November, December, January, and February. Below-ground termite control is not impacted by these restrictions. Also, pyrethroids cannot be applied during precipitation according to the Surface Water Protection Regulations. This applies to all formulations including liquid dilutables or granules. Please refer to the labels and regulations for more details.

Darren Van Steenwyk, M.S., BCE
Structural Pest Control Board, President
LEED Green Associate & Technical Director, Clark Pest Control
darrenv@clarkpest.com

_________________________________________________________________________________

As many of you know, there has been great interest in Structural Pest Control Board (SPCB) exams. The Structural Pest Control Board has some UPCOMING EXAMINATION DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS. These workshops help the SPCB develop their licensing questions. We know this is a busy time of year for us all, but our input is important, so we hope you can participate or send someone you work with! 
Here is a list of upcoming workshops organized by license type: 

 
Visit California Structural Pest Control Board website for more information

Josh Joyce previously Western Division Territory Manager for Liphatech, has accepted the role of Business Development Manager with Douglas Products, based in the San Diego, CA area where he will work with our fumigators and distribution partners on the Vikane business. Josh has more than 18 years of experience in the pest control industry in multiple states across the western United States. Prior to working for Liphatech, Josh spent 16 years with Terminix in a variety of positions including branch manager, region manager, and operations officer with Antimite. Josh holds a bachelor’s degree in biology. He resides in Escondido, CA with his wife and 4 children.

Asthma and Allergies: How Companies Can Breathe Easier 

From dust mites, mold spores, cockroaches and animal dander, to cotton fibers, acid anhydrides, formaldehyde and latex, the modern workplace is a veritable minefield of substances that trigger asthma, allergies and associated workers’ comp claims.

According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA), more than 200 substances found in the workplace can cause asthma. An estimated 11 million workers are exposed to these gases, vapors and organic and inorganic dusts every year, causing 15 million lost work days, according to a 2002 study by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Millions more workers are exposed to substances that can cause allergic reactions and other respiratory problems. But using proper diagnoses and management, the vast majority of these expensive problems can be avoided or eliminated.

Asthma Impact

In 2006, the AAFA estimated that asthma cost business $18 billion annually. According to the CDC study, asthma triggered:

• 12.7 million doctor visits,
• 1.2 million hospital outpatient visits,
• 1.9 million emergency department visits,
• 484,000 hospitalizations, and
• 4,261 deaths.

Asthma was identified as the fourth leading cause of work absenteeism or presenteeism (coming to work despite being ill) and caused some $3 billion in lost productivity. Prescription drugs were the largest single direct medical expenditure at over $5 billion. Medical costs reached an average of almost $5,000 per patient and represented 2.5 times as much as for workers without a history of asthma. For asthmatic employees with disability claims, the figures were much worse. They cost employers three times as much as other disability claimants —$14,827 vs. $5,280, according to a 2002 article in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Asthma and allergies can hit any business, and any occupation within that business. But according to the CDC, some of the worst cases occur in general merchandise stores, food stores, the furniture and lumber industries, banking, schools, trucking, warehousing and metal industries. Some of these sectors have no obvious exposures to dangerous substances — asthma can easily be caused by something as innocuous as poor indoor environmental quality. That helps explain why computer operators and financial record processors had the highest prevalence of asthma in the CDC study.

Asthma Prevention

There’s no single strategy to prevent asthma. But a good place to start is in getting the proper diagnosis. Consult a medical professional who specializes in asthma to determine whether the asthma symptoms are an irritant reaction or the much more serious allergic reaction. Armed with that information, an industrial hygienist can help you identify the source of the irritant. An industrial hygienist can also help redesign your workspace or manufacturing processes to eliminate some of the irritants.

Often the simplest prevention steps yield the greatest results:

• Get workers to keep their work areas uncluttered and, if appropriate, have them dust and use HEPA-type tabletop air purifiers. Alternatively, if dust is a pervasive problem, hire a cleaning crew to regularly maintain your premises. Ensure they use nontoxic, non-irritating cleaners.
• Give workers dust masks or even better, fully enclosed respirators.
• Check that the air exchange system in your building is functioning properly.
• If the source of the asthmatic reaction has been identified move affected workers to different parts of the building, especially in severe cases where staying in contact with the substance can be life-threatening.

In some cases it may pay to use asthma disease management vendors who define, evaluate and measure health care quality, and who will educate workers on dealing with asthma. In work-related asthma cases, your workers’ compensation carrier might recommend one. But if your company contracts directly, make sure the vendor is accredited with an agency such as the NCQA (National Committee for Quality Assurance), URAC (Utilization Review Accreditation Commission) or the JCAHO (Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations). 

If you have questions about your efforts to reduce workers comp drug dependency, please contact the PCOC Insurance Program professionals of EPIC at (877) 860-7378 or, email us @ ProPest@epicbrokers.com.  Also, check out our website: www.pcocinsurance.com.

Paul Lindsay
Senior Vice President 
EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants

Companies Coming Together!

My wife, Sherrie, who works at a local high school, called me earlier this month to ask me about bed bugs. A young lady who was in their special needs program was coming to school with bite marks and they even found a bug on her which I was able to verify was a bed bug. After further communications with the school, we discovered that this young lady was being raised by a single mother who was also burdened with a disability and was on a limited income. A quick phone call to the Clark Pest Control office in Rancho Cordova office resulted in Jim Phillpott, their sales manager, going out to inspect the property. What Jim came across during this inspection pulled on the strings of his heart. This mother was drowning in stress, illness, financial burden, and not least of all, a heavy infestation of bedbugs. Jim discovered that the mother was sleeping on a cot and the daughter was sleeping on a makeshift bed on the floor beside her.  

Jim went back to his office and shared the results of his inspection with Bill Fernandez, his branch manager. Between the two of them, a decision was made to provide a full heat treatment at no charge. Later we were to learn that this small family had only $29 to their name until the end of the month and was already resigned to the fact that there will be no Christmas. Here is where PCOC and the relationships we have all formed with each other comes in to play. I picked up the phone and called Jim Steed, from Neighborly Pest Management, and Vince Scoville, from The Pest Control Center, and both jumped at the opportunity to help.

Early the next day, I received an email from his administrative assistant, Joanna Hebert, with a set of questions about the family inquiring how they could provide help. I called Joanna and this amazing woman was organized and ready to make everything happen, truly an amazing spirit. Next thing I know, I am on an email group with their office staff contributing and sharing to help this family. 

One of the questions that Joanna asked that sticks in my mind was "What is on the daughter’s wish list?” The mother responded that she had no wish list because they knew they wouldn’t have the money for gifts. Thanks to Clark Pest Control (Rancho Cordova and Vacaville); The Pest Control Center; Neighborly Pest Management and GeoTech Supplies for coming together to make this holiday memorable for this small family. I don’t know exactly what the end results will be because we’re still in the process of putting it together, but I can tell you that we have new beds; gifts; groceries; clothes and Joanna tells me that if she has to, she will go and chop down a tree herself and provide decorations.  How can you top that? 

Tom Graston
PCOC's Treasurer
Branch Manager (Branch 5)
Clark Pest Control
Office: (707) 446-9748 ext. 820
tgraston@clarkpest.com

January

SAN BERNARDINO/RIVERSIDE DISTRICT
January 2 – Social  @ 5:30 p.m., meeting @ 6:00 p.m.
CHAIR: John Burnard – Compass Pest Management
jpburnard1@msn.com • (951) 688-8066
La Casa Ortega: 1690 Spruce St., Riverside

VINTAGE COASTAL DISTRICT – January 3 @ 7:00 p.m.
CHAIR: Tyler Merritt – Hitmen Termite and Pest Control
tmerritt@hitmenpest.com • (707) 526-6055
Location TBD

SHASTA DISTRICT– January 8 @ 12:00 p.m.
CHAIR: Shawn McFarland– Trinity Termite & Pest Control
trinitytermite@yahoo.com • (530) 222-6990
Vittles Restaurant: 2385 North Street, Anderson

MID CAL DISTRICT
January 8 – meeting @ 4:00 p.m., dinner  @ 5:00 p.m.
CHAIR: Brad Delk – Delk Pest Control
bdelk@delkpestcontrol.com • (209) 465-5656
Stockton Country Club: 3800 West Country Club Blvd., Stockton

SAN DIEGO DISTRICT– January 8 @ 5:30 p.m.
CHAIR: David Hinrichs– Lloyd Pest Control
david.hinrichs@lloydpest.com • (619) 668-1953
Country Inn & Suites: 5975 Lusk Blvd., San Diego

SOUTHERN VALLEY DISTRICT– January 8 @ 6:30 p.m.
CHAIR: Patrick Clark– Clark Pest Control
pclarkzapbugs@aol.com • (661) 635-3535
Chalet Basque Restaurant: 200 Oak St., Bakersfield

BAY AREA DISTRICT
January 9 – Social @ 5:30 p.m., meeting @ 6:00 p.m.
CHAIR: Allen Kanady – Omega Termite & Pest Control
allenrobert@omegapest.com • (510) 544-5913
El Portal Restaurant: 2028 Lewelling Rd., San Leandro

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT– January 10 @ 6:00 p.m.
CHAIR: Heidi Aguilar-Alvarez– Your Way Fumigation
heidi@ywfumigation.com • (951) 232-2388
Dave & Busters: 661 Spectrum Center Dr., Irvine

MONTEREY DISTRICT– January 15 @ 6:00 p.m.
CHAIR: Michael Reid– Cardiff Pest Control
cardiff@cruzio.com • (831) 475-4214
El Palomar: 1336 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz

SAN GABRIEL DISTRICT
January 15 – Social @ 5:30 p.m., meeting @ 6:30 p.m.
CHAIR: Gilbert Alvidrez – Downtown Pest Control
downtownpestcontrol@gmail.com • (909) 802-0052
El Sombrero: 3550 Santa Anita Ave., El Monte

SANTA CLARA VALLEY DISTRICT – January 16 @ 6:30 p.m.
CHAIR: Janet Thrasher – Thrasher Termite & Pest Control
jthrasher@thrashertermite.com • (408) 354-9944
Drying Shed: 402 Toyon Ave, San Jose

VENTURA DISTRICT – January 16 @ 7:00pm
CHAIR: Rudy Ayala – Spearhead Pest Control 
rudy@spearheadpestcontrol.com • (805) 746-4547
Marriott Hotel: 600 East Esplanade Dr., Oxnard

BIG VALLEY DISTRICT – January 16 @ TBD
CHAIR: Sean Bradley– Neighborly Pest Management 
sean@neighborlypest.com • (916) 782-3767
Location TBD

CENTRAL COAST DISTRICT – January 17 @ 6:30 p.m.
CHAIR: Dave Watkins – O’Connor Pest Control
Dwatkins@oconnorpest.com • (805) 482-2782
F. McLintocks: 750 Mattie Rd., Pismo Beach

LOS ANGELES/ SB HARBOR DISTRICT
January 18– Social @ 5:30 p.m., meeting @ 6:00 p.m.
CHAIR: Greg Bausch – American City Pest & Termite Inc.
greg@americancitypest.com • (310) 542-8622
Marie Callendar's: 15466 S. Western Ave., Gardena

DIABLO VALLEY DISTRICT – January 22 @ 6:30 p.m.
CHAIR: Gordie Zilke – Valley View Termite Control
valleyviewtc@gmail.com • (925) 787-2118
Zio Fraedo's: 611 Gregory Lane, Pleasant Hill

SAN FERNANDO VALLEY DISTRICT
January 23– Social @ 5:00 p.m., meeting @ 6:00 p.m.
CHAIR: Tarry Howard – Hydrex
tarry_h@hotmail.com • (818) 437-6584
Los Toros Restaurant: 21743 Devonshire St., Chatsworth

NPMA update: so, what is PPMA?

The Professional Pest Management Alliance (PPMA) is an investor-driven organization that has been successfully marketing the value of professional pest control to consumers for nearly 20 years, resulting in positive exposure for our industry and the growth of our residential and commercial markets.

We ARE making an impact in the attitudes, opinions, and buying decisions of residential and commercial customers. We have increased awareness of the value of professional pest control services and protected our reputation through ongoing national and local media outreach, innovative advertising campaigns, social media engagement, public service announcements and more. It’s work that is only possible because of the generous contributions of hundreds of investor companies who understand that their participation is making a huge impact on the industry.

Our mandate is to:

• Grow the market by encouraging consumers to call a professional
• Counteract activist efforts on both national and local levels by being prepared to instantly respond on behalf of the industry
• Increase awareness of the role professional pest control plays in preserving the public’s quality of life – in terms of health, property, safety and time management

*NEW* NPMA Login for Joint Membership

LOGIN: Email or Personal ID

PASSWORD: npma

Frequently Asked-For Websites

Department of Fish & Game
https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/

Department of Food & Agriculture
www.cdfa.ca.gov

California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR)
www.cdpr.ca.gov

DPR on Facebook
www.facebook.com/capesticideregulation

DPR on YouTube (see "playlists" for videos pertaining to new surface water regulations)
www.youtube.com/user/californiapesticides

DPR on Twitter
twitter.com/ca_pesticides

DPR LinkedIn
www.linkedin.com/company/california-department-of-pesticide-regulation

Healthy Schools Act
http://apps.cdpr.ca.gov/schoolipm/

Structural Pest Control Board
www.pestboard.ca.gov

Find Your Legislator
www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html

NPMA's QualityPro Accrediation Application
www.npmaqualitypro.org/apply

Alain Parcan, Market Hardware, Inc.
September 2018

Your online reputation plays a big part in whether or not a potential customer decides to hire you. Your reputation is largely based on the unfiltered opinions of your customers, who now have access to a larger audience than ever before. While dealing with unhappy customers has always been a challenge for business owners, in today's age, negative reviews are for everyone to see, which makes handling the situation properly even more important. This begs the question: What’s the best way to deal with a negative review?

Step One: Take a Step Back & Relax.
This is both the most important step in dealing with a negative review and the one most business owners get painfully wrong. If someone leaves a negative review about your business, chances are it isn’t personal. However, many business owners take negative reviews personally, and understandably so — They’re proud of the service they deliver, so when someone makes a public comment about that service being lackluster, those business owners feel threatened, hurt and upset.

In these cases, it’s important to take a step back and try to remove emotion from the equation. Reacting emotionally tends to lead to an over-the-top response, which usually just adds fuel to the fire.

Instead, take some time to relax and think about where the customer may have felt slighted (whether they are right or wrong).

Step Two: Respond Reasonably
    Once you’ve taken some time to consider all angles of the situation, it’s time to respond. You never want to air out an entire conversation in a public forum, so start with a simple, generic response. Rebecca Hussey, Market Hardware’s Director of Account Management, suggests the following responses:

• Thank you for voicing your concerns, [NAME] – we are looking into your account, and will be in touch to work towards a resolution.
• I’m sorry to hear that you weren’t happy with your service, [NAME] – could we contact you directly to try to resolve the error?
• Responding with a version of these can help buy you some time and help move the conversation into a more private setting. Communicating with an upset customer in a more personal manner, such as over the phone or in person can help eliminate any misunderstandings, and help speed up solutions.

It will also show the disgruntled customer you are aware of the situation and are working to sort it out. Perhaps more importantly, anyone else that sees the negative review will know that you care enough to address a customer’s concerns about your business.

Step Three: The Non-Confrontational Confrontation
Now that you’ve thought rationally about how you want to deal with the review and indicated to the disgruntled customer that you’re looking into the situation, it’s time to follow up directly. Rule #1: Be as polite as possible (this is why Step One cannot be skipped). Demonstrate to the customer that you genuinely care and value their feedback. A positive attitude will help get a positive result. In many cases, the customer just wants to have their voice heard, and being receptive to what they have to say might be all it takes for them to remove the review. Which brings us to the next step…

Step Four: Removing the Review (optional!)
For starters, remember that most review sites won’t let you take down a negative review, and probably won’t even bother to investigate a potentially false negative review. It would take up too much of their time and resources to sift through every negative review to find out which ones have legitimate claims in them.

So, based on how well you completed Steps One through Three, you’ll have to make an on-the-fly decision about this step. If you feel like you’ve had a positive conversation with your formerly disgruntled reviewer, and you’ve addressed their issues appropriately, it may be time to ask them to edit or remove their negative review. Just proceed with caution. You don’t want to undo any goodwill you may have re-established.

If you do not feel comfortable asking the customer to remove the review, ask them to reply to their initial review with an update on the situation. You don’t want it to look as though no action was taken after the initial response. If people see you’ve taken the time to remedy a negative experience, this can go a long way in boosting your reputation.

Step Five: Be Proactive - Get Positive Reviews
Whatever the outcome is from the first several steps, the number one strategy when it comes to combatting negative reviews is to consistently encourage your happy customers to leave positive reviews. One blemish won’t have much of a negative effect when surrounded by several glowing reviews, and the fact that reviews boost your search rankings makes this an added bonus.

Typically, only a small portion of your customers will take the time to leave reviews online. This group tends to have the strongest feelings towards your business, whether positive or negative. Try to get in the habit of encouraging your customers to leave you reviews online or even consider sending out an email blast with a link to different review sites (Google being a priority). Chances are you have many happy customers who would be happy to take a minute or two to leave a review.

Your online reputation is vital to your business’ success. It affects your online marketing strategy, so don’t take it lightly. Monitor the popular review sites regularly, and make sure you follow these directions closely if you do happen to run into a negative review along the way.

Alain Parcan, Director of Marketing for Market Hardware, Inc., contributed this article. Alain brings nearly 10 years of experience in educating businesses so they can market themselves more effectively. Market Hardware helps small businesses compete on the Web and offers special discounts for PCOC members. You can reach Alain’s team at 888-381-6925.