Pest Stop marks 40 years in business

Pest Stop will celebrate 40 years in business this month with a free community cookout from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. May 29 at its office at 201 W. Main Street in Camden.

Owner Brent Hedge said the company officially began June 1, 1986, but May 29 was chosen as the closest available date for the anniversary event. The celebration will include hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, drinks and cookies.

“Anybody that wants to swing by and get lunch will get a free lunch on us,” said Sam Hedge, Brent’s son. “They don’t have to be a customer. They can just be a member of the community or somebody that happens to drive by. It’s an opportunity for us to give back to the community and give back to some customers.”

For Brent, the milestone is a reminder of an unexpected career that began shortly after he graduated from college in 1985 with a biology degree.

“I had contemplated going to medical school, but I didn’t have good enough grades, so I didn’t get in,” Brent said.

After returning home, Brent went back to work with his father in the construction business. His uncle, Harold Carver, owned Carroll County Termite and Pest Control in Huntingdon and suggested Brent take the state test to become licensed in pest control. Because the industry is regulated by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, Brent’s biology degree allowed him to sit for the exam.

“He said, ‘You’ve got your biology degree. You ought to sit for the state test. You could at least spray the houses that y’all build,’” Brent recalled.

Brent passed the test. Back then, before the internet, the Department of Agriculture mailed lists of newly licensed applicators to pest control companies across the state. A small Camden company called Southern Sanitation was going out of business and contacted Brent to see if he wanted to buy it.

“I bought them, and that’s how I started,” Brent said. “Didn’t know anything about pest control. Hadn’t thought about going into pest control, but I ended up buying them.”

Southern Sanitation had about 750 customers. Brent retained 610 of them.

From there, Pest Stop began to grow. In 1987, Brent bought a small company in Paris called State Termite and Pest Control. In 1991, he bought a one-man operation in Waverly called Protex. In 1996, after his uncle became ill, Brent bought Carroll County Termite and Pest Control.

Today, Pest Stop serves about 6,000 customers across 26 counties in West and Middle Tennessee. About 90 percent of its business comes from Benton, Humphreys, Carroll and Henry counties, with Benton and Humphreys remaining the company’s strongest markets.

The company now has 16 employees, including 10 technicians. Several have been with the business for decades. Scott Fowler, Kerry Melton and Steve Rayburn have each been with Pest Stop for more than 25 years, with Melton approaching 30 years.

Sam said that kind of retention says a lot about the way his father has operated the company.

Current employees include Austin Gottsacker, Blake Moyers, Chase Horton, Drake Jennette, Kerry Melton, Matt Berry, Scott Fowler, Steve Rayburn, Cade Wyatt, Bradley Crawford, Tara Stone, Laura Lamb, Max Wright, Angie Hedge, Sam Hedge and Brent Hedge.

“Take care of your people and they’ll take care of your customers for you,” Sam said.

The business has changed dramatically over the past four decades. When Brent started, the company kept customer records on cards in a box. Many rural addresses were not street addresses at all, but route and box numbers.

“You had to have directions to every house,” Brent said. “It wasn’t Natchez Trace Road. It was Route 3 Box 260. It was Route 4 Box 720.”

Today, technicians use an app on their phones. The company’s new software helps schedule stops, map customers and improve route efficiency. Sam said the change has allowed technicians to complete more stops in the same amount of time while reducing travel.

Before the software upgrade, technicians averaged about nine stops per day. Sam said that number is now closer to 10 or 10½.

Brent said the improved routing has already made a noticeable difference. In one example, Pest Stop served three river houses in Big Sandy owned by the same family, but because the services were out of sequence, the houses were never treated at the same time.

“Now we send one tech, and you’re there for two hours,” Brent said.

The type of work has also changed. Brent said termite work once made up about half the company’s business. Today, termites account for about one-third, with general pest control making up the rest.

Ants are now the most common call, followed by spiders. Bed bugs, which Brent said he did not see for the first 25 years of his career, have also become part of the business.

The chemicals and treatment methods have changed as well.

“Everything is much more environmentally friendly now than it was 40 years ago,” Brent said.

Sam said Pest Stop avoids restricted-use products, even though some are available and effective.

“We want our customers to be safe and we want our employees to be safe,” Sam said. “Nobody comes in contact with it more than we do.”

The company also does crawlspace work, including moisture barriers, encapsulation, sump pumps and dehumidifiers. Brent and Sam said they are always looking at new products, equipment and methods, but they are careful not to drift too far from what they do best.

“Our concern is that if you diversify, you can also lose sight of your bread and butter,” Sam said. “Ultimately, what we’re really good at is termite and pest control.”

Sam did not always plan to return to the family business. He graduated from the University of Memphis with degrees in finance and management, worked in pension benefits and retirement plan management, and later worked in finance at AutoZone’s corporate headquarters.

“I always tell people that growing up, everybody said, ‘You’re going to move back and come to work for your dad,’” Sam said. “And I would always tell people, ‘Well, that’s my plan B.’ I got about halfway through college and realized I never had a plan A.”

Eventually, Sam and his wife, Bayli, decided West Tennessee was where they wanted to build their life. Bayli, a dentist, works with Twin Lakes Dental, and the couple recently welcomed their first child, Jane Marie Hedge.

“When we got to thinking about where we wanted to live and raise kids and have a family, it just made sense for us to be here,” Sam said.

For Brent and Sam, the 40-year anniversary is not just about the company’s survival. It is about the customers who have trusted them for decades.

“We’re in the pest control business, but we’re really in the people business,” Brent said. “We kill a few bugs, but we’re in the people business.”

Sam said that trust is the only way a service business lasts for 40 years.

“It’s not so much that your customers believe you are never going to make a mistake,” Sam said. “It’s that they believe that you are going to do right by them if you do make a mistake.”

That is the spirit behind the May 29 cookout. Pest Stop wants customers, friends and community members to stop by, eat lunch and help the company mark four decades in business.

“We’ve got a lot of good customers, and we’ve got a lot to be thankful for,” Sam said. “We’ve come a long way, and it’s because of good customers.”