News & Notes

PCT Bookstore: Your Guide to Bed Bugs

This handy digest-size publication, written by one of the country’s leading bed bug experts, Dr. Michael Potter, is perfect for educating stakeholders and enlisting their support before battling bed bugs in their structures.

This PCT “Your Guide to Bed Bugs” hand-out can be used as a marketing tool to distribute to customers and prospective clients. Quantity discounts are available; pricing starts at 50 cents per 12-page, digest-size insert. Visit www.pctonline.com/store to learn more.

Topics include:

• Bed Bug Characteristics
• Bites/Health Concerns
• How Infestations Occur
• Tips for Controlling Infestations
• Tips for Preventing Infestations
• Specific Tips for At-Risk Groups

 

Rentokil Launches New Bed Bug Offering

Earlier this year Rentokil launched a new bed bug offering that the company says provides rapid response and resolution to bed bug issues in hours, rather than days.

Rentokil says the PROTECT+ System uses a proprietary mix of targeted service protocols, precise applications and specialized, environmentally responsible products to eliminate bed bugs and provide ongoing protection. The service, which is backed by a warranty, also offers a four-hour post-treatment turnaround time, getting employees and customers back to business quickly, the company adds.

“Bed bugs cause disturbances across various industries, such as education, healthcare and hospitality,” said John Myers, Rentokil president and CEO. “We developed the PROTECT+ System to be a smarter, faster way to protect people as well as preserve a business’ reputation. We want to get businesses back up and running as quickly as possible, reducing disruption and revenue loss as well as providing peace of mind that the bed bug issue is resolved.”

Once the Rentokil response team is alerted to a potential outbreak, the company’s bed bug specialists will tackle the issue by physically removing any visible bed bugs, making residual control applications to harborages and activity zones, and ensuring ongoing protection for any remaining pests in hiding. The combination of products, which are environmentally responsible, Rentokil says, offers the ability to combat bed bug resistance, which will reduce the chance of future bed bug problems. It also will ensure bed bugs carry the product to their harborage, transferring it to their bed bug populations and extending future protection.

“A female bed bug can lay between 200 and 500 eggs in her lifetime,” said Myers. “Having a comprehensive bed bug plan will help eliminate the present bed bugs as well as protect for the future. Rentokil offers the industry’s best warranty to provide added protection to keep businesses running smoothly.”

Rentokil offers three tiers of service for different types of properties. Protect+ Essential, Extended, and Premium packages offer varying levels of service, with each option including same-day or 24-hour treatment response, treatment to all units with activity, and a warranty ranging from 30 days to unlimited inspections and retreatments. PMPs can view more about the program at www.rentokil.com/us.

Spotta Offers New Products, Staff

To support Spotta Smart Pest Systems’ growth into new territories and pests, the company has doubled its headcount and secured partnerships to further extend its commercial reach. Having secured $1.18 million in seed funding in July 2020, Spotta says its ambition to “revolutionize” the pest control market — providing monitoring technology to help prevent infestations — has evolved.

The company says the Bed Pod monitoring system, after a year of success in the UK hospitality sector, was offered to PMPs in the UK, Europe and North America. In December 2020, a partnership with BadBug was announced, extending Spotta’s representation in France, Germany and Scandinavia.

Additionally, the Spotta team expanded in the start of 2021. Two new engineering recruits —Hanting Qin (R&D engineer) and Jordan Docker (firmware engineer) — along with Ekansh Mittal (commercial lead) and Helen Snook (office manager) joined the team. Neil D’Souza-Mathew, Spotta’s CTO and co-founder, says, “The addition of new team members gives us a great footing to continue our business growth, from developing the technology and hardware to discovering further applications for our monitoring solutions.” For more information, visit spotta.co.

Chicago Tops Orkin’s 2021 Bed Bug Cities List
Chicago has a new gold medal as the #1 city on Orkin’s Top 50 Bed Bug Cities List, with Baltimore and Washington, D.C. trailing in second and third place. Despite less travel in 2020, bed bugs were still biting in Chicago, a popular hub for tourism. In fact, the Windy City usually welcomes more than 48 million visitors annually and boasts a transit system of buses and railways that carries 1.7 million passengers on any weekday, an Orkin press release said.

Denver and Charleston both broke into the top 20, and six new cities joined the top 50 list for the first time this year.

The list is based on treatment data from the metro areas where Orkin performed the most bed bug treatments from Dec. 1, 2019-Nov. 30, 2020. The ranking includes both residential and commercial treatments. To see all 50 cities, visit www.pctonline.com.

1. Chicago (+2)
2. Baltimore
3. Washington, D.C. (-2)
4. Detroit (+3)
5. Columbus, Ohio
6. Cleveland, Ohio (+5)
7. Indianapolis (+2)
8. Cincinnati
9. Los Angeles (-5)
10. Grand Rapids, Mich. (+8)
11. Charlotte, N.C. (+9)
12. New York City (-6)
13. Atlanta (-3)
14. Philadelphia (-2)
15. Champaign, Ill. (+1)
16. Dallas (+1)
17. Raleigh, N.C. (-3)
18. Charleston, W.Va. (+8)
19. Pittsburgh
20. Denver (+7)