As July comes to a close I’m excited to report that we’ve just completed another successful summer conference series. Two weeks ago, myself and the NPMA team traveled down to Palm Beach, FL for our annual Academy meeting. This event, the brainchild of the Leadership Development Group (LDG), brought together 200 emerging leaders in our industry for a week of topics focused on how to work on your business (not just in it)! The program culminated with the Academy Olympics, which provided a fun forum for attendees to network and build long lasting relationships with their peers to share in ideas and successes over the next 365 days and beyond.
Following the Academy, I had the opportunity to travel down to North Carolina to attend the Mid-Atlantic Summer Conference. This meeting brings together pest professionals from across the Carolinas, Virginia and Georgia. Ahead of the official start, I joined the South Carolina Pest Control Association for their Board of Directors meeting and then sat in on the North Carolina General Membership Meeting as they inducted their new executive Committee and Board for the 2018-2019 membership year. I also had the opportunity to spend time with NPMA Past President Billy Tesh, NCPMA Past President Steve Taylor and several other industry colleagues throughout the conference and during the exhibit hall time.
This week I’ll be traveling with NPMA President Dennis Jenkins, as we join leaders of the Canadian Pest Management Association for two days of meetings in Toronto, to discuss the future of our industry and how to best position our associations for success and growth.
Finally, as we begin to make final arrangements for PestWorld Orlando, taking place October 23-26, I’d like to thank all of our members for your tremendous work in protecting public health and property this summer. From keeping homes safe from termites to controlling mosquitoes in backyards, I can confidently say the services we provide both during the busy season and throughout the whole year are instrumental in allowing our customers to have peace of mind when enjoying family vacations, summer camps and outdoor BBQs. I wish you a productive next couple of months and look forward to seeing everyone soon in Orlando.
Dominique Stumpf, CMP, CAE
NPMA Chief Executive Officer