Pest Management Professional, September 2017

2017 PMP HALL oF FAMe E ven at age 77 Chuck Steinmetz still maintains the enthusiasm that enabled him to climb the ladder of success in the pest management industry But that enthusiasm could have gone quickly down the drain back in 1962 during his first summer of work with Orkin Pest Control You see he was doing subterranean termite control while first attending and then graduating from the University of Florida It was hard often thankless work but he learned the ropes of the industry Over Steinmetzs 12 years at Orkin several tough lessons sunk in Among them was how to treat a house where as a technician you walked in the door turned right and started walking all the while spraying the baseboards When you got back to the front door on the left hand side your job was complete And the rest of the industry was also that way Steinmetz adds noting he knew his team could do more and better By differentiating ourselves and by giving our technicians a lot more training for example customers realized they couldnt do that themselves That was a way to acquire customers and more importantly to keep them Within a few years Steinmetz was offered the job of district manager for Orkin in the state of Missouri He relocated to St Louis and was soon faced with his first business challenge It was September of 1969 and starting to get colder he recalls I asked around What happens here in the winter The answer was Nothing Laying off employees before the holidays was not going to be an option he decided So we started calling the homes around the houses we had recently treated for termites We offered a free termite inspection Steinmetz explains Out of that we got the biggest termites sales in the state of Missouri Steinmetz was with Orkin for 12 years then left to help a friend who was building a company Truly Nolen son of fellow Hall of Famer Truly W Nolen who was striking out on his own Steinmetz was hired over the phone and stayed with Nolen for three years Becoming his own Boss There came a point where Steinmetz and Nolen were discussing his future Nolen told his employee that he probably was never going to be happy working for someone else PMP hall of fame 2017 name Charles Steinmetz TiTle Entomologist and Co Founder Safer Home Services comPanies Orkin Truly Nolen All America Termite and Pest Control Middleton Pest Control Safer Home Services YeaRs in PesT managemenT 55 indusTRY achieVemenTs Developing and popularizing the once a year service plan turning around two major firms when All America was sold in 1982 it was the largest privately owned pest control company in the U S with 125 locations philanthropic efforts throughout Orlando Fla Continued on Page 44 42 September 2017 Pest Management Professional mypmp net Photo Courtesy of ChuCk steinmetz A company builder for nearly four decades chuck steinmetz played a prominent role in expanding companies in the industry By Jerry Mix editor At Large steinmetz cuts the ribbon to open middleton Pest controls new headquarters