A recent interview with President and CEO Matthew Oliver.   Mr. Oliver, I noticed you had coveralls on, what exactly do you do as President of Agricultural Pest Control Services? I was actually out on a job doing a termite inspection. I still enjoy working directly with our customers whenever possible. In addition, I am interacting with our Managers and Technicians on a daily basis developing pest management solutions for our clients. A hands on approach has always worked best for me. How did you get into pest control? After completing my degree in Agricultural Biology/Pest Management from Cal Poly Pomona, I started Agricultural Pest Control Services in 1982. The business was built by literally going door to door and developing clients at industry related trade shows. Through the years I feel the success of the Company can be mainly attributed to making customer satisfaction our top priority. Has the business changed much since 1982? Yes, very much. We have grown in size to a Company that now has 3 offices and 25 service trucks on the road. We have specialized to the point of having different divisions for each type of pest. We have a BIRD, RODENT, TERMITE, GENERAL PEST AND PLANT HEALTHCARE DIVISIONS. We also take pride in staying educated and updated on new materials, technologies and service innovations as they become available in our industry. Recently we have introduced a new line of products and service called “GREEN-SOLUTIONS that is devoted to eco-friendly materials and biological control solutions. I know what Medicare is, so maybe you can explain Plant Healthcare to me? We provide treatment programs for the health and care of your landscape. These services include weed control, fertilization programs, tree spraying, insect and disease control, and application of growth regulators for seasonal fruit development suppression on Olive Trees. Can you tell me a memorable pest control story? Over the years we have had many interesting jobs. One that comes to mind immediately is the time we were called out to investigate some noises the customer was hearing in the walls of their living room. At first we suspected a rodent infestation, but we discovered an entire family of raccoons living in the wall void. Although some tricky eviction work was necessary, we were ultimately successful in the safe live trapping and removal of them all. On another occasion we were called out to a property where the homeowner had seen bees buzzing around the chimney. We investigated and sure enough there was a hive in the chimney void. We ended up removing over 100lbs of honeycomb Who does the repairs after the pests have been removed? Fortunately, we have an excellent repair crew and our carpenters are very skilled at providing all the construction repairs for both our Termite and/or General Pest Divisions. We feel it is important to be able to provide complete service solutions for our customers If I were a new customer, why would I opt for AgPest as opposed to one of the larger pest control companies? First of all we can do everything a larger company can do, then some. We have all the state of the art equipment such as truck mounted spray rigs, but more importantly we have the knowledge, expertise and flexibility to offer unique solutions to unique problems. We truly believe we are "large enough to serve but small enough to care". Can you tell me about a unique solution to a pest control problem? Some of our more unique control situations involve our BIRD DIVISION. We have successfully provided humane exclusion programs for several large clients such as SEAWORLD, PETCO PARK, LINDBERGH FIELD, and the US COAST GUARD. In each of these unique situations a management plan was developed, and the proper materials were installed to keep various species of birds out of or away from sensitive areas. How do you feel about the environment and the use of pesticides? We subscribe to an integrated pest management approach to pest control. This means that we try to minimize the use of pesticides and maximize the use of mechanical, cultural and biological methods of control whenever possible. Exclusion, sanitation, and population monitoring are examples of these methods. We are also implementing “green” pest control products and methods during 2007 which will include biological control with live predatory species. The African Clawed Frog is a recent invasive species How do you see your business changing over the next decade? I anticipate further growth, expansion, and the need to adapt our service methodology as the environment changes. There may be environmental restrictions on pesticides, climate changes, increasing population and real estate expansion; this will all affect our business and the industry as a whole. Some of today’s pests may have population explosions while some will fade out as their niche is eroded. A recent example of this would be flea control. Years ago service calls for fleas was a major part of the pest control business. Now with new techniques for controlling infestations on pets, etc. the flea control calls are almost non existent. We are already seeing invasive species becoming a problem. We were recently involved in the control of a pest species know as the African Clawed Frog which had been introduced into a large man made lake. The program was completed successfully using a biological approach without harming the environment. The key to our continued success has been and always will be providing a first class service that is economical and meets the needs of our customers while adapting to an ever changing world. We are confident we are prepared for that challenge!!