Lifetime Achievement Award

At this year’s Crown Leadership Awards reception, held at NPMA PestWorld in Baltimore, PCT and Syngenta will present the fourth “Lifetime Achievement Award” winner as selected by previous Leadership Award recipients.

Norman Goldenberg won the award in 2014; Norm Cooper was honored in 2015; and Tom Fortson won in 2016. A brief profile of each of the past winners is featured here. Stay tuned to the December issue of PCT to learn more about our 2017 honoree.

Norman Goldenberg

In 2014, veteran PMP Norman Goldenberg was named the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award winner. Goldenberg graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in entomology. He worked for Orkin and held various management roles in the pest control industry before purchasing his own company in the late 1980s, Alert Lear Pest Control. Goldenberg joined Terminix in 1990, representing the industry’s interests at the local, state, and national levels as vice president of government affairs. He is a past president of the National Pest Management Association (NPMA), the Florida Pest Management Association (FPMA), Project EverGreen and the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET). In 2004, Goldenberg received the National Pest Management Association’s highest honor — the prestigious Pinnacle Award.

Norm Cooper

A past president of the National Pest Management Association, Norm Cooper was one of the industry’s most passionate advocates before passing away in 2016. A native New Yorker, Cooper launched Abby Exterminating Services in 1954, a company he owned until January 1971 when he sold it to ESCO (Exterminating Services Co.). He stayed on board at ESCO, eventually becoming president of the exterminating services division. He retired from ESCO in 1996 and launched a highly successful consulting business, Norman Cooper & Associates. Cooper served as NPMA president in 1991-1992 and during his tenure created the association’s “Guardians of the Environment” branding, an initiative many credit with improving the industry’s image nationally and throughout the world. At last year’s NPMA PestWorld convention in Seattle, Cooper was presented the Pinnacle Award, the association’s most coveted accolade, which honors an individual who has contributed not only to the success of the association but to the industry as a whole over a lifetime or career.

Tom Fortson

A graduate of the University of South Carolina, Tom Fortson is a longtime leader and beloved presence in the professional pest management industry. Chairman emeritus of the Professional Pest Management Alliance, Fortson has spent more than 50 years in the industry, currently serving as vice chairman of Terminix Service, Columbia, S.C. Last year, Fortson received the National Pest Management Association’s highest honor, the Pinnacle Award. During his distinguished career, Fortson has served on the South Carolina Pesticide Advisory Committee, the South Carolina Regulatory Review Committee, and the Clemson University Advisory Board. He also has served as past president of the South Carolina Pest Control Association and the North Carolina Pest Management Association, as well as on the NPMA board of directors. Additionally, Fortson is a nationally ranked master’s swimmer and is a veteran of the United States Navy.