Orlando Pest Control News

HERON RELOCATES LARGEST SALES AND SERVICE CENTER PLUS CORPORATE OFFICE TO APOPKA

 
In March of 2010 the office that covers all of Seminole and the northern portion of Orange County relocated permanently to Apopka.  The enormous project was overseen by Apopka native Brenda Jones, who also just happens to be a six-year Heron veteran corporate staff member. “Our biggest challenge,” Brenda announced, “was performing all aspects of the relocation while keeping the chaos completely transparent to our customers. We insisted on zero service disruption.”
 
Of course, Heron has been doing business in Apopka since the first day the doors were opened. There is an enormous customer base in this expanding area, and we have been fortunate enough to enjoy a very healthy working relationship with its residents - both residential and commercial. Heron also has a well-established little league sponsorship history with two youth teams from Apopka over the years. When you take into account the great many Heron team members that live in Apopka, all these reasons combine to make us feel right at home here.
 
But even more exciting than all that for this new relationship is Heron’s policy of Corporate stewardship in each community we reside in. That means we have sought out local Apopka vendors as part of our support staff. Vendors like printers and auto repair facilities. We are now patrons of two large Apopka service stations to meet our fleet fuel needs. We are pumping many thousands of dollars into the community in taxes and occupancy fees, and as if that weren’t enough, our continued growth in Apopka means jobs, jobs, jobs!!
 
Every full time Heron position comes with top-shelf medical, dental, disability and life insurance benefits. When you add a company vehicle (in most cases) and a very generous salary, you can see why we enjoy such high employee retention rates. 
 
We thank you for making us feel so welcome. We thank you for your support, and your very generous referrals. Please feel free to stop in and say  hello if you are near the S. Orange Blossom Trail area and you are a customer. We would be thrilled to show you around.

Heron Service Director is the Jeopardy Champ at Pest Management Workshop 4 years in a row.

Each year the University of Florida/IFAS Extension Education Center offers continuing education credits for licensed pest control operators.   Each year Celeste White and Tom MacCubbin, Extension Agent Emeritus, have a contest at the end of the class. The best of the best are challenged Jeopardy-style, and it is not pretty!  Tom MacCubbin can really turn up the heat. All contestants battle it out for prizes and bragging rights.

Winning, well, that’s an elusive prize set aside for only those with “the right stuff.” So it should come as no surprise to anyone that Steve Okros, Heron Chief Operating Officer has taken the gold, four years running! It’s true – no one else has been able to overcome Steve’s encyclopedic knowledge of our industry, although many have gone down trying.

Why should that matter to you? Steve oversees all the training at Heron Pest Control. He manages the company service manual, he orchestrates the build-out of the trucks, the size of the tips on the sprayers, the dimensions of the hoses, the ratio of nitrogen to potassium in our fertilizer, the frequency we swap from microencapsolates to desiccants in our pest control program, and so, so much more. You would not believe what Steve performs behind the scene s on your behalf!

You want Steve, four-time All-State Pest Control Champ, on your side. You want Steve losing sleep over our shrub care program. You want Steve examining your termite treatment with a clip board, a measuring stick, and a flashlight. You want Steve watching quietly while his Managers check in your technicians at 6PM on Friday from the back of the room. You want Steve holding his “customer care” meetings every month.
Go Steve!
Follow this link and scan down to page 4 to see Steve in action!

HERON OPENS NEW FACILITY IN LEESBURG TO BETTER SERVE ITS LAKE AND MARION COUNTY CUSTOMERS

Today the doors swung open for the first time at the new Heron sales and service facility in Leesburg, and all the months of careful preparation came down to that one glorious moment. Heron President and CEO Rodney Lackey was there to take part in the excitement. “We have been working on this move for a long time now.” Rod explains. “It’s a real treat to finally have it up and running.”

“Lake and Marion Counties have been among the fastest growing segments of our customer base, and we have been anxious to get settled into this community for some time now, in order to better access them. The recession caused us to remain more cautious than we otherwise would have, but it has all come together just wonderfully now.”

Rodney continues. “That makes things fundamentally easier for the Heron team members who reside in Lake County, and it also gives us an opportunity to give back to a community that has been very good to us over the years.”

Heron has a proven service model that works so well, it continues to make possible these types of expansion. It’s a stubborn process that revolves tightly around customer care at each point along the company hierarchy. Team members who answer the phones have the same authority as a Branch Manager, for example, if an issue arises concerning customer care. “They are rewarded and supported for going the extra mile,” explains Rodney, “rather than being punished for exceeding their authority, and in the process, losing a customer. Ego-driven models will always fail. Service-driven models work for a reason. Our six-sigma approach to creating value is at the core of our service mission.”

Tomorrow the sun will rise over another work day in Leesburg. We just couldn’t ask for anything more!

Question: I just moved into my new home here in Orlando, and I have a lot of small bugs with pinchers coming into my home.  I am not used to this.  Do they bite?  How do you stop them?

Steve Says:

The scary little bugs are called earwigs.  With all the rains we have recently had, many insects, especially earwigs are being driven into your home from areas adjacent to your home being over saturated with water.  They like to hide under anything they can find like door mats, shoes, mulch, newspapers etc.  Although their bite has never been proved serious, it is entirely uncomfortable.

You need an exterior application of insecticides and baits to keep the population down and stop them from coming inside your home.  The ones that are inside need to be treated.  The only good thing I can say about these bugs are they are seasonal.  Once the heavy rains slow down, so will the pressure to push them inside your home.  Either way, you need to have your home treated by a pest control specialist.

Heron acquires Bee Green Services

Heron Pest Control has acquired the assets and customer base of local competitor, Bee Green Services. Bee Green provides lawn care and shrub care services in the counties where Heron already has an impactful presence, and the caliber and scope of their program is compatible with ours.

“We are very pleased and excited to welcome James Whittaker as the newest member of the Heron family,” announced Joe Patti, Heron Chairman. “His definition of customer care combined with his experience and technical expertise make this a great marriage.”

“The relationship James had with his customers” Joe continued, “is sacred to us. No changes, by company policy, can occur to pricing, scope of work, or frequency – unless they represent an improvement to the consumer. It is in this fashion that we demonstrate to these newest Heron customers our commitment to remain perfectly faithful to them.”

Rodney Lackey, Heron President, is quick to add that the company’s robust growth over the years has been completely organic until this point. “and that type of expansion” he continues, “cannot be sustained without the consistent delivery of a service to every customer that has real and indisputable value. There is no other way.”

Heron renews commitment to Volusia county youth baseball organization
Heron Pest Control is a proud supporter of youth organized sports, for all the obvious reasons. In past years we have pledged our support for several teams across many counties competing in both youth baseball and football.

In 2008 The West Volusia Americans (Ozone Division) were undefeated, and went on to become Division and State championships.

In 2009  they won the Dixie State Tournament Championship to qualify for the Dixie Baseball World Series, which begins July 31 in Enterprise, Alabama. It is the second straight State championship for the 13-year-old team, which went 4-1 with wins over Tampa, Okeechobee, West Seminole and Spring Hill. Frankie Martello won two games, while Troy Turner and Josh Lackey won one game apiece.

“You look at all the statistics” Says Joe Patti, Heron Chairman, “and you see that a kid participating in these things during formative years goes a long way in preventing problems down the line, when the stakes start getting really high. We’re really happy to be involved in things like this.”

You can follow the link provided to read about the team, and perhaps lend your support to their effort as well.

http://www.leaguelineup.com/welcome.asp?url=wvyb

PCT MAGAZINE (MAY 2009) RANKS HERON 89TH LARGEST PEST CONTROL FIRM IN THE U.S.

Each year PCT Magazine examines all the Pest Control operations across the country, and compiles their “Top 100” list for publication. Heron first appeared on the list last year, in the number 100 slot. “Our consistent rise in the rankings” says Rodney Lackey, Heron President and CEO, “is continued validation that even in this economic climate, our model of superior customer service and stubborn insistence on creating substantive value during every contact point with our customers, is a winning philosophy.”

“Plus, there’s more there than meets the eye.” He continues. “For example, last year among our 99 other peers, we were the fastest growing in the country. This year, by a margin of just 1%, we took the number 2 slot nationally. That level of performance cannot be sustained by accident.”

“Further, our move of 11 slots up the ladder was significant. Only one other Pest Control firm in the rankings had a more substantial move than ours – and we’re watching the details closely in our home State of Florida as well, where in just 6 years we have become the 12th largest firm in the State.”

Heron Pest Control employs over 70 full-time men and women in Central Florida, and continues to add more positions on a regular basis to keep pace with its expansion. Your confidence in us continues to create opportunity for employment (and family healthcare coverage) during a time when State-wide unemployment rates and lack of affordable access to health care benefits are devastating to so many families.

QUESTION: I have recently bought a new home in Orlando and the back porch screen enclosure has a spider in every corner.  I believe they are black widows becuase they have the distinctive orange hour glass shape on the belly, but they are not black but brownish.  They also have eggs that have spikes on them.   I am concerned for my children if they are black widows.  Any suggestions?

ANSWER: These are Brown Widow spiders.  The spikes on the eggs is the indicator they are Brown Widows.  They are one of five types of widow spiders in America.  The other widow spider eggs will have a somewhat smooth, coarsely woven white to tan surface and is teardrop to spherical in shape.  The egg sac of the brown widow is beige to off-white in color and spherical in shape, but its outer surface has numerous distinctive pointed or spine-like projections like the ones you are seeing.  The venom of the brown widow has been reported as being the most lethal of the five species but on average they contain the least amount of venom per spider. Reactions to humans tend to be localized to the bite site, with systemic reactions restricted primarily to the young. 

In order to control spiders, you must treat them directly with a contact insecticide.  I would leave this to a professional.  If you do not kill the spider because of an incorrect treatment, it could send them foraging in the wrong direction…..inside your home.  An initial application will kill all your spiders and then a good preventative quarterly application will keep them away.  Until the bug man gets there, keep the kids away!!!!

Question: I have small bugs flying out of a window in my house. Are these termites?

Steve Says:

They could be!  One way to tell is by counting how many body segments the insect has.  If it has three body segments, it is probably an ant. If it has two body segments, it is likely termites eating at your home!  Either way, I recommend you have a professional come perform an inspection!

Question: I currently have a local Orlando pest control company taking care of my lawn care, shrub care and inside pest control. What is the difference between the rest of the pest control companies I see around Orlando?

Steve Says:

Most of the local pest control companies are the same in Orlando. When you get to the top five Orlando pest control companies you will start to see major differences from all the rest. First, go to the Better Business Bureau website and look at the top five Orlando pest control companies. Look at their grading score which will let you know how many complaints have gone unresolved. At Heron, we hold an “A” rating. Compared to some other pest control companies in Orlando, that says a great deal about us.

Angie’s List is another area for you to research. Angie’s List tracks thousands and thousands of contractors, coast to coast. Less than 4% of them have consumer reviews good enough to win them the Angie’s List “Excellence in Service” award. We won it for the Orlando market last year. No other pest control company in Orlando did.

Most pest control companies will not have a Service Consultant to their home within an hour or two for estimates like we do here at Heron. Heron is one of the only Orlando pest control companies that offers free termite monitoring with our pest control service. No other pest control company that I am aware of offers {crabgrass control in St. Augustine turf} like Heron does.

Most Orlando pest control companies do not have uniformed employees enduring background checks, bi-annual license checks to maintain a “safe driver” status and random workplace drug-screens. Most companies do not have fleet GPS systems in each vehicle to ensure the correct amount of time is spent on each property, delivering superior service.

Finding the differences in all the Orlando pest control companies can only be done by research. I encourage you to do just that. At Heron Lawn and Pest control, we can confidently say we are the best pest control company in Orlando.