Pest Management Professional, September 2013

What are the three best opportunities for the industry 1 Market growth Our market acceptance and size is improving thanks to PPMA 2 Professional reputation Our professionalism has improved a lot thanks in large part to NPMAs QualityPro program 3 Technical tools Our risks from toxins are almost nonexistent Our industry has traveled a long way since I used ground beef and arsenic for rodent control and sprayed diazinon mixed with kerosene for cockroach control PMP Jerry Mix was editor publisher of PMP until his retirement in 2004 Contact Mix a member of the PMP Hall of Fame Class of 2005 at jnmix@ aol com AT A GLANCE Robert L Kunst Title President Years in pest management 39 years Industry mentors Taft Pierce senior vice president of Orkin who ran the Southeast region He provided me many opportunities Id never have had otherwise He liked me and always was confident of my work and decisions He also would call and speak to me every week to give me insightful ideas and suggestions Paul Adams was a true gentleman and open with advice about business most particularly the benefits of the NPMA He suggested I run for president of the Louisiana Pest Management Association He helped nominate me for a board of directors position at NPMA then pushed and motivated me to run for an officer position including president In those days to become president you had to run a minimum of four times to get through the positions of secretary treasurer vice president project development council and president elect Norman Cooper is probably the most intelligent pest control businessman Ive met He s also a true friend who has worked with me on my most difficult business and personal problems Top three industry achievements to date President of NPMA 1995 96 Pest Control Hall of Famer inducted 2010 Louisiana Structural Pest Control Commissioner Ive been appointed three times Every four years the PMPs of Louisiana vote for whom they want and that choice is sent to the agriculture commissioner who makes a recommendation to the governor In the last election I received 74 of the vote Ive never received less than 57 You were president of the then National Pest Control Association NPCA from 1995 96 What happened that year A lot Harvey Gold was fired in August 1995 and our search committee found Rob Lederer and hired him at the 1995 convention in Orlando Fla We rewrote the constitution and by laws to open the membership for more involvement and revitalize the A dapper Kunst association I set up a special committee to dressed to push for joint state membership We had impress on his five joint states when my term began By 21st birthday meeting every month and traveling to all state meetings we ended the year with 31 joint states The entire executive board now committee met more times and traveled to more places than ever happened before that year We increased from 1646 to 3740 members that year Besides the regional meetings we set up we established the Leadership Development Summer Institute in the summer of 1996 and founded the Communications Committee which eventually became the Professional Pest Management Alliance PPMA Financially we were broke We developed a plan for staff to implement that consisted of a large series of educational meetings to bring in money members and change and to diversify our income stream Before we only had three meetings a year and we were 68 percent dues dependent That had to change Lastly we developed the energy that created the climate to allow us to have the largest and most financially successful annual convention to date We increased attendance by more than 60 percent and made the most profit up until then What are the three most important obstacles facing the industry 1 Gadgets for gadgets sake The acquisitions occurring create a syndrome in which the rich get richer The size of many companies allows them to purchase more capital intensive devices that make it easier for them to stand out from the smaller PMPs This prevents the less capitalized companies from getting and keeping customers The issue is Does this technology help the customer or does it just look good The industry has never formally run controlled tests to determine what equipment makes a difference in termite inspections or commercial inspections I mean how much better is your eye plus a moisture meter than your eye If no industrywide studies have been conducted how does the industry know whats best to use 2 More political involvement is needed The political landscape is difficult and we expect it to become more so Yet attendance at the NPMAs National Legislative Day remains consistent annually We need involvement from more PMPs 3 Electronic labeling wont benefit the industry and its upon us www mypmp net Pest Management Professional September 2013 147