We just completed our first PCOC Termite Academy last week at the University of California, Berkeley and wanted to thank all of those who attended and sponsored this important event. By all accounts, it was a terrific opportunity for our membership and we received very positive feedback which will allow us to build on this as we develop next year's academy. We now look towards Legislative Days on April 13th - 15th and hope to see you all there, because in a lot of ways it’s the single most important meeting we host every year. Remember, your elected officials work for you so your active engagement is critical!   

Click here for Legislative Day information

Chris Reardon
PCOC Executive Vice President
chris@pcoc.org
(916) 372-4363

Pyrethroids and Water Quality Workshop

If you are a structural pest management professional in the Santa Clarita/Valencia area, don't miss out on this hands-on half-day workshop highlighting pyrethroid use and water quality protection.  

Earn 4.5 Structural Pest Control Board Units (1.5 Rules & Regs, 0.5 IPM, 0.5 Tech Br 2, 2.0 General), potential DPR credit, and get entered into a raffle for two Birchmeier Flox 10 Backpack Sprayers!

See Full Agenda Here

When:

Wednesday, March 11, 2020
7:00 am - 12:30 pm

Where:

The Centre,
20880 Centre Pointe Pkwy
Santa Clarita, CA 91350

Cost: 

$15/person

Space is limited - register today!
REGISTER NOW

Workshop Hosts: PWG2PMP, The City of Santa Clarita, UC Integrated Pest Management, UC Cooperative Extension, PCOC and the Department of Pesticide Regulation

_____________________________________________________

Structural Pest Control Board Calendar of Events 

The Structural Pest Control Board is currently in the process of updating its examinations for all licensing types and branches. If you are interested in participating in this process, please find below a listing of the upcoming examination development workshop dates. Should you find a particular workshop, or workshops, that you are interested in attending, you may either fill out the Workshop Interest Form and email it to us at pestboard@dca.ca.gov, fax it to us at (916) 263-2469, mail it to us at 2005 Evergreen Street, Suite 1500, Sacramento, CA 95815, or you can call Dave Skelton in the Administration Unit at (916) 561-8700. Once again, thank you very much for your help, we couldn't do this without you! 

OPES is working on the Occupational Analysis (OA) for the Applicators examination. We are looking for some Applicators (possibly 2-3 of your RA’s) who would be willing to do a telephone interview with OPES. The telephone interview will last roughly about an hour and can be scheduled at their convenience during state working hours. They will be asked questions about what an Applicator does on the job daily. If you can spare a couple RA’s for this process it would be greatly appreciated! All SPCB will need is their name, license number, email, and a telephone number.

For more information, please visit the SPCB website here. 

April Board of Directors Meeting & Legislative Day

April 13-15, 2020
Hyatt Regency Hotel - Sacramento 

Monday, April 13:

PCOC Golf Tournament - Bing Maloney Golf Course, 12:00 pm Shotgun start
PCOC Scholarship Foundation's Fundraiser, Dart Tournament and Karaoke Contest, 8:00pm

Tuesday, April 14:

PWIPM Breakfast, 7:00 am to 8:00 am
Committee Meetings, 8:00 am to 12:00 pm
Board of Directors Meeting, 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm
PCOC Legislative Reception (ALL Legislators invited), 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm - Location TBD

Wednesday, April 15:

Legislative Day Program Begins - Action Breakfast, 7:30 am to 8:30 am
Appointments, 9:00 am to 11:45 am
Legislative Luncheon with Guest Speaker Senator Henry Stern, 12:15 pm
Legislative Day Concludes, 2:00 pm

Click here for Registration Information

Our room block is good through 3/23/2020 for the room rate of $235/night, while rooms are still available. If you would like to make your room reservation, click here.
 

PCOC's Leadership Academy
Costa Mesa Marriott Hotel - Costa Mesa, CA
April 27-28, 2020

Monday, April 27, 2020, 8 am to 5 pm

(Un)containable Leadership with Garland Vance

Do you ever feel stuck, like an invisible lid is holding you and your business back from your potential? 

Your leadership is the most influential factor in how far your business will go and how engaged your team is. As your leadership abilities, your business will grow, too. 

So, how can you take the lid off your leadership? Dr. Garland Vance has been studying leadership for over 20 years. In his workshop: (un)Containable Leadership, you’ll discover the 7 Characteristics to Take the Lid Off Your Leadership: 

•  Character

•  Competency

•  Capacity 

•  Clarity

•  Community

•  Culture

•  Consistency 

Whether you’re a brand new leader or seasoned, you will implement practical tools for increasing your leadership skills and taking your business to the next level. 

Check out his Facebook page HERE

Tuesday, April 28, 2020, 8 am to 4 pm

District Level Leadership including:

Mock District Breakfast

Public Speaking

Transition Meeting

Robert's Rules

Directors Meeting

Fundraising and more!

With your Executive Commitee leading the way including PCOC President, Mike McKenzie;  PCOC Secretary, Dave Watkins; PCOC President Elect, Tom Graston; PCOC Treasurer, Dean Wiley; PCOC 2nd Vice President, Greg Augustine; PCOC 3rd Vice President, Mary Hernandez; and Leadership Chair, Sue Fries.

If you are interested in attending, contact your district chair, to register as a district representative.

PCOC's Expo
Monterey Marriott Hotel & Convention Center - Monterey, CA
June 23-26, 2020
Make your reservations! Click here to make them NOW!

Click here to register to attend

Click here to sponsor and/or exhibit - Booths are going fast!

 Looking Forward...

PCOC's 1st Quarter Board of Directors Meeting
Allegretto Vineyard Resort — Pasa Robles, CA
September 17-19, 2020

It is almost that time again for the annual PCOC Legislative Days! This is one of the most important events of the year for our state association. It is one of the best times for us to make our voices heard to our elected officials. They do appreciate us taking the time out of our schedules to visit them in the Capital, letting them know what issues are impacting us. This gives them the ability to better represent us in Sacramento. This year, like in past years, we have issues that we need to discuss with our legislators.  Rodenticides are at the top of the list. We need to be in constant communication on this issue as it will be something we will be dealing with again this year. At this point, we are not exactly sure what the bill or restrictions could look like as the final deadline for bill submission is still a couple of weeks away. But there may be other issues that we may end up needing to lobby on as well; but time will tell. Please put this date on your calendar and plan on attending! If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to Sarah or Karen at PCOC.

Click here for more info

Darren Van Steenwyk
Director of Learning and Technical Services
Clark Pest Control
PCOC Legislative Committee Chair
Office: (209) 368-7152 ext. 235
darrenv@clarkpest.com

A new PCOC Minute is here

In this PCOC Minute, we discuss 2020 Legislative Days!

Don't forget to sign up for Legislative Days HERE

Make sure to check out the Pest Control Operators of California YouTube channel for this new PCOC minute and for past and future PCOC Minutes.

How Does WC Coordinate with Social Security and FMLA?

Social Security 
When a worker becomes eligible for both workers’ compensation and Social Security disability insurance benefits, one or both of the programs will limit benefits to avoid making excessive payments relative to the worker’s past earnings. According to the Social Security amendments of 1965, Social Security disability benefits must be reduced (or “offset”) so that the combined totals of workers’ compensation and Social Security disability benefits do not exceed 80 percent of the workers’ prior earnings.

Reverse Offset Laws 
Fifteen states, however, established reverse offset laws prior to the 1965 legislation to specify that they would reduce workers’ compensation payments if the worker receives Social Security disability benefits. Legislation in 1981 eliminated the option for other states to adopt reverse offset laws, but exempted the existing 15 states that already had such laws in place:

Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin.

FMLA
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) is a federal law that provides workers time off to attend to serious health conditions that make them unable to perform their jobs. The time off can also be used to allow employees to attend serious medical needs of immediate family members. Although employees on FMLA leave receive no pay during their time off, they have the security of knowing they cannot be fired while they are on leave.

In situations where both the FMLA and workers’ compensation laws apply, employers must provide leave under whichever law provides the greater rights and benefits to employees. If an injured worker is eligible for workers compensation, an employer cannot require the worker to take time off under FMLA.

When FMLA and Workers’ Comp Both Apply
In addition, workers’ compensation leave cannot be counted against a worker’s FMLA leave entitlement. FMLA leave and workers’ compensation leave can run concurrently if the reason for the employee’s absence is due to a qualifying serious illness or injury and the employer properly notifies the employee in writing that the leave will be counted as FMLA leave.  

For more information, please contact the Insurance professionals of EPIC’s PCOC Insurance Program. Call us at: 877.860.7378, or, email us at propest@epicbrokers.com. Also, check out our website by clicking here.

Paul Lindsay
Senior Vice President
EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants

March

SAN BERNARDINO/RIVERSIDE DISTRICT
March 4:  Social Hour @ 5:30 p.m. and Dinner @ 6:00 p.m.
CHAIR:  Ryan Pena – Craig & Sons Termite & Pest Control
ryanp@craigandsons.com ~ (909) 335-1486
Mexicali Bar & Grill, 1690 Spruce St, Riverside

VINTAGE COASTAL DISTRICT
March 5: Social Hour @ 6:00 p.m. and Meeting/Dinner @ 7:00 p.m.
CHAIR:  Billy Gaither – Van Hooser Enterprises
beetleman@comcast.net ~ (707) 410-8117
Ghiringhelli Tratoria Bar & Grill, 1535 South Novato Blvd, Novato

SHASTA DISTRICT - March 10 @ 12:00 p.m.
CHAIR:  Mike Bullert - Big Time Pest Control
mbullert@bigtimepestcontrol.com ~ (530) 242-8830
Vittles Restaurant, 2385 North Street, Anderson

MID CAL DISTRICT
March 10: Class @ 4:00 p.m. and Meeting/Dinner @ 5:00 p.m.
CHAIR:  Brad Delk – Delk Pest Control
bdelk@delkpestcontrol.com ~ (209) 465-5656
Stockton Country Club, 3800 Country Club Drive, Stockton

CENTRAL VALLEY DISTRICT - March 12 @ 4:00 p.m.
CHAIR:  John Painter– Dustin Pest Control
John@dustinpestcontrol.com ~ (559) 275-2253
Location varies – contact Chair for location

SAN DIEGO DISTRICT - March 11 @ 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

BAY AREA DISTRICT
March 11: Social Hour @ 5:30 p.m. and Dinner @ 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 - March 12 @ 6:00 p.m.
CHAIR:  Heidi Aguilar-Alvarez – Your Way Fumigation
heidi@ywfumigation.com ~ (951) 232-2388
Dave & Busters, Irvine Spectrum

SOUTHERN VALLEY DISTRICT - March 12 @ 6:30 p.m.
CHAIR:  David Oxley - Oxley Pest Control
david@oxleypest.com ~ (661) 392-1600
Chalet Basque Restaurant, 200 Oak St, Bakersfield

SAN GABRIEL VALLEY DISTRICT - March 17 @ 6:30 p.m.
CHAIR:  Gilbert Alvidrez - Downtown Pest Control
downtownpestcontrol@gmail.com ~ (909) 802-0052
El Sombrero, 3550 Santa Anita Ave., El Monte

BIG VALLEY DISTRICT - March 18 @ 6:00 p.m.
CHAIR:  Travis Mickel – Clark Pest Control
tmickel@clarkpest.com ~ (916) 674-2900
Cattlemen's, 2000 Taylor Road, Roseville

MONTEREY DISTRICT - March 18 @ 6:00 p.m.
CHAIR:  Michael Reid – Cardiff Pest Control
cardiff@cruzio.com ~ (831) 475-4214
El Palomar, 1336 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz

SANTA CLARA VALLEY DISTRICT - March 18 @ 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 - March 18 @  7:00 p.m.
CHAIR:  Rudy Ayala – Spearhead Pest Control
rudy@spearheadpestcontrol.com ~ (805) 746-4547
Courtyard by Marriott Hotel, 600 East Esplanade Dr., Oxnard

CENTRAL COAST DISTRICT - March 19 @ 6:30 p.m.
CHAIR: Dave Watkins – O'Connor's Pest Control
dwatkins@oconnorpest.com ~ (805) 482-2782 x205
F. McLintocks, 750 Mattie Rd., Pismo Beach

April

LOS ANGELES/SB HARBOR DISTRICT - April 16 @ 6:30 p.m.
CHAIR:  Greg Bausch – American City Pest & Termite Inc.
greg@americancitypest.com ~ (310) 542-8622
Marie Callendar’s, 15466 S. Western Ave, Gardena

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

If the New Year isn’t enough to spark interest in setting lofty goals for the months ahead, a change in the decade surely will. As we welcome 2020 and all of the potential opportunities that lie before us, it’s important to understand what the objectives for your business are and how you plan to achieve them.

When it comes to staying relevant online (where potential customers are looking for your service), there are a few key Web Marketing tactics that every business should follow in 2020. To help you reach greater success this year — and this decade, be sure to implement these 4 tactics:

SEO

We used to say that running a Search Engine Optimization campaign for your pest control business was a great way to get a step ahead of your competition. After hearing that more than 55% of small businesses invested in SEO in 2018 (which is only expected to increase in 2020), it’s clear this is the new standard for getting noticed online.

The main goal of an SEO campaign is to build relevance for your company online in the area you serve. This style of marketing gets your pest control Website on page one of Google, which gets your phone ringing and your operation moving. A good SEO campaign will help your company keep up with the competition; but a great SEO campaign — which should combine onsite optimization with offsite tactics — will give your company a major upper hand.

A Review Generation Strategy

When your potential customers are in need of a treatment or consultation, they tend to begin their search on Google. Once they find your company and its competitors, they’ll need to choose one provider. Sometimes, the deciding factor that tips the scales is online reviews. Next time you search for your company online, take a look at your Google star rating. Is it close to 5? Do you have more than 10 reviews? In 2020, you want to be able to answer ‘yes’ to both questions.

If you don’t currently have a strategy in place to drum up positive reviews, this is the year to get it going. A good place to start is by putting links to the most popular review platforms (Google, Facebook, etc.) on your website. You can take it a step further by having review generation be a part of your client’s experience, whether that’s your technicians reaching out after an appointment or a link to your Google listing from your company’s external emails.

Mobile Load Speed

Google doesn’t always make it clear what they’re looking for when they rank websites in search results, but they did make one thing clear back in 2018: page one websites need to load quickly on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. A search engine’s main goal is to give users the best experience possible when responding to a query; providing a website that takes forever to load, meaning, 5 seconds or more, is not delivering on that goal. Considering the fact that 75% of searches are done on mobile devices, you can’t afford to ignore this trend. In 2020, it’s essential that your site be optimized for the mobile experience.

Focus on Customer Experience

It’s often said that it costs 5 times more to attract a new customer than it does to keep a current one. With this in mind, make sure that your company is doing what it can to keep your customers happy and coming back for more. One strategy we always recommend is posting educational content about your service to your website. An FAQs page, a blog, or detailed services pages are all opportunities to give potential customers the information they’re looking for while also establishing your company as a reputable business. Customers will begin to look at your company as a resource, which ends up paying for itself.

When you build trust between your customers and your business, customers start to talk. Whether it’s with their friends or in online reviews, happy customers become “influencers” that bring additional prospects to you at no extra cost. While high Google rankings or online ads can do a good job at getting your name out there, nothing compares to good-old-fashioned word-of-mouth advertising. To put this into numbers, Forbes reports that increasing customer retention rates by 5% increases profits by 25% to 95%. Whether you’re offering client discounts, referral perks, or educational content, do your best to make your customer feel taken care of.

There are times where a “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” mentality applies to a situation, but marketing your pest control business is not one of them. In a changing marketplace where more people are taking to the Web to find services that they need, you owe it to your company’s success to keep your Web Marketing strategies current and up-to-date with the latest best practices.

 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.