Pest Management Professional, October 2013

PMP What about Bob 1997 Since B The extensive legislative and regulatory work of the NPMAs EVP has helped steer the industry through challenging times John Walsh Contributor ob Rosenberg wanted to be a college professor When he was 30 years old he was still a full time student with multiple degrees one undergraduate and two graduate He hated writing so he never finished his doctoral program But academias loss was pest managements gain and has been for the past quarter century For his extensive legislative and regulatory work in defense of the industry the National Pest Management Associations NPMAs executive vice president and CEO is among six industry veterans being inducted into the Pest Management Professional PMP Hall of Fame this fall at NPMAs PestWorld 2013 Im honored Rosenberg says This means a lot to me I hope some of the legislative and regulatory contributions Ive made have helped move the industry forward Weve made significant strides representing the industry and take pride in what weve done Hopefully its contributed to the industrys success Rosenberg is responsible for public policy event management fundraising grassroots efforts professional relationships and administration He has helped the association create opportunities and establish relationships including with the U S Environmental Protection Agency EPA through which it can provide information that will help protect pest management professionals PMPs from overreaching regulations that could adversely impact their ability to protect public health and property Examples include the recent green pest management progression and when the West Nile virus WNV first hit home in 1999 PMPs did very little mosquito control when WNV hit Rosenberg says Most municipalities werent doing mosquito control any longer That changed with our involvement An example of the associations proactive approach we developed and articulated successful business models for PMPs to offer mosquito control The bed bug craze is another example of how the industry became involved By the time bed bugs NPMAs Bob Rosenberg is being inducted into the PMP Hall of Fame for his 25 years of stellar service to the industry reemerged many PMPs had lost the knowledge and tools to deal with them All kinds of practices were going on Rosenberg says We created a bed bug task force that included PMPs lawyers state and federal officials and researchers We wrapped our arms around the issue and established best management practices which werent prescriptive We also created boundaries for what is acceptable and what isnt We held more than 20 meetings throughout the country to educate people inside and outside the industry Bed bugs didnt stop being a problem PMPs just learned how to better manage them Throughout the years Rosenberg has seen the industry evolve to become more educated and sophisticated The industry has experienced rapid change since the early 1990s including for example the loss of entire classes of chemistry chlorinated hydrocarbons carbamates and organophosphates The industry struggled with these losses but found its way forward he says adding there are many other products in the queue waiting to take chlordanes place Rosenberg predicts the industry wont see the same number of newer safer and more effective pesticides coming into the market that it has in the past Because of government scrutiny products and their uses will continue to be lost Still we pride ourselves on our relationships with the EPA and state associations Rosenberg says We stand 72 October 2013 Pest Management Professional www mypmp net