Pest Management Professional, April 2014

family matters An American Success Story By Jerry Mix Editor at Large J an 8 1961 is a date Lonnie Alonso and his family wont soon forget That was the day that he and his family boarded two flights in Havana and flew to freedom in the United States Fidel Castro Cubas prime minister 1959 1976 and president 1976 2008 and his band of communists were becoming more entrenched in the country and the Alonso family believed they had to leave We left everything behind says Alonso president of Columbus Pest Control in Ohio That included his fathers business National Fumigating Co Still there are no regrets Id never go back as long as the communists are in charge he says We dont support anything that supports Castro and his dictatorship Once the Alonsos arrived in the U S its patriarch Orlando took a job as a termite technician at Columbus Pest Control Owner Joe Mooney died in 1969 and two years later his widow sold the company to Orlando Alonso Mrs Mooney financed the companys acquisition and Orlando Alonso made payments A short time later Orlando Alonso endured a series of heart attacks and two strokes which left him bedridden for years Thats how Lonnie Alonso at age 21 found himself running the company Later he became president Pictured left to right are Lonnie Orlando seated Andrew and Brian Alonso an embodiment of The American Dream We built the companys succession plans on life insurance and my fathers death Lonnie Alonso says There was never any consideration about him having a stroke and being bedridden for nearly nine years Orlando Alonso died in 2002 Lonnie Alonso has been running a successful pest control company for several years but hes working on his own succession plan He and his wife have two sons Brian 30 and Andrew 27 Were working on their training and bringing them along Lonnie Alonso says Were also working on a plan for when we go out to greener pastures The Alonsos have a plan stating that if anything happens to one of their sons the other son will acquire the company through a life insurance buyout Thats part of the bigger picture the transition from me to them Lonnie Alonso says My health will push me one way or the other But when the boys show me theyre ready I dont want to be in the way Still at 58 Lonnie Alonso is in good health and more than willing to work Part of Lonnie Alonsos simple philosophy for success is that he always believes theres a customer for every business and a business for every customer Regardless of the size of the company we all have a role in the industry and we have a nice niche here in central Ohio he says Customers come to us for various reasons If we treat our customers well and achieve the results they want theyll refer us to other customers We stay the course Im pleased where our business is PMP Mix served as editor and publisher of PMP for 20 plus years You can reach Mix a member of the PMP Hall of Fame Class of 2005 at jnmix@ aol com 96 April 2014 Pest Management Professional www mypmp net