If your VPMA Certified WDI Inspector status expires this year you must complete the VPMA WDI Inspector Recertification Online program, or attend an in-person VPMA Certified WDI Inspector Workshop by June 30th of the year your certification expires. If your certification has already expired, you can renew it by completing the Online program or by taking an in-person VPMA Certified WDI Inspector Workshop but you must pass the exam (online or in person). If you have a number of employees that need to take the online course, you can purchase pre-paid vouchers by clicking here and selecting “purchase courses / exams.” Further instruction is provided below.
To access the online VPMA Certified WDI Inspector Recertification Workshop follow these steps:
1. Each person taking the online WDI Recertification course needs to create an NPMA user account in order to access the Online Learning Center. If you already have an NPMA user account, click here to login.
This program prepares pest professionals to perform consistent, thorough inspections that their customers can truly rely on.
The 2019 VPMA State Technical Meeting was a resounding success! The exhibit hall was full of vendors who provide products, services or support to Virginia Pest Management Professionals. The agenda for the Business Sessions, the Admin Sessions and the Technical Sessions all received great reviews. Attendance was right on target with the previous year.
Some speakers have provided their presentations in an electronic format, more will be added to this compiled folder as they are received. Click here to view the presentations received so far.
Below you will find a recap of the 14th Annual STM that we just wrapped up...
2019 VPMA State Technical Meeting
Everyone involved in the pest management industry in Virginia should attend the VPMA State Technical Meeting - there is a learning track for everyone, plus the networking and access to the packed Exhibit Hall give everyone a chance to learn first hand about the latest trends, products and services in our industry. A Full-Registration includes both days of training, Pest Fest dinner banquet, lunch both days and access to the exhibit hall. Daily Packages for the Business Day, the Technical Day and the Admin track are also available. Read below for agenda details for each training track. We are continuing the pre-conference social event called PMP Games on the Greens - so if you are coming in to Richmond on the evening of September 24th, join us!
Pricing for Profits: Financial Statements and Operations - Dan Gordon, PCO Bookkeepers
Operating both efficiently and profitably are crucial components to overall financial health. In this session, you will learn about these sometimes confusing areas of business. The discussion will be based on: Financial Statements –Measuring the Health of Our Firm, The PMP Pricing Model, and Effective Routing.
Attracting & Retaining Top Talent – Are You Ready to Scale? - Marinn Bengel, Forshaw Distribution, Inc.
Recognizing that attracting and keeping employees is the top challenge for pest control companies, Marinn comes to the STM to help you learn to attract talent all year, laser focus your interviews and decisions and quantify that your hiring process meets your cultural needs and financial goals. Her presentation will be a power hour to explore new methods for recruiting, streamline interview process, determine if talent is right for the job, set early expectation of job requirements, and create best practices for hiring.
Active Survival – The ABCs to an Active Shooter Incident - Chris Kopp, Lockdown International
Active Survival. Not exactly words one wants to think about in the context of going to work each day or sending a child off to school to what is supposed to be a safe place. Sadly however, these shooting and stabbing attacks have become the reality of our daily lives. But there are things you can do to be proactive and prepared for the unthinkable.
Lockdown International’s Active Survival: ABC’S Active Threat Response Plan training is a 2-hour course designed to provide and empower individuals with option-based survival skills to stay alive until law enforcement arrives, and ultimately survive any violent incident. We work with your organization’s Emergency Operation/Action Plan. These are skills that translate to a workplace, school, place of worship, healthcare, shopping mall or any other location in which an active threat can be a danger. This is a high energy presentation with interactions and demonstrations. We do not use hands-on training or surprise scenarios.
Cyber Security: Hacking the Hacker - Shawn Francis, TAG Business of Bed Bugs
This presentation will help you to uncover your biggest security threats to keep you from becoming the next statistic. We will cover the external and internal threats your company faces, as well as the 5 most common mistakes that pest management companies make with their cyber security.
The Accounting Game – it’s about Bookkeeping and Compliance - Dan Gordon, PCO Bookkeepers
Understanding the accounting process including bookkeeping and management of accounts payable and accounts receivable are paramount to the success of your company. This presentation, will focus on procedures – daily, weekly, monthly and year-end, to help administrators and bookkeepers build a solid bookkeeping foundation for success.
Inspire Trust – Empower Team – Receive & Give Coaching – Marinn Bengel, Forshaw Distribution
The administrative staff at a pest management firm can play a pivotal role in the development and empowerment of the Team. This session will help you to motivate and develop yourself and become an inspiring and trusted team member. You will learn methods for receiving and giving coaching, deter mine ways to use feedback to improve your performance and create best practices for interaction with your supervisor and team.
Routing and Scheduling Efficiencies to Build Production - Marie Horner, Arrow Exterminators
If you feel the pressure of trying to provide the best customer service to both your external and internal customers, this session will be a game changer for you. In this session, Marie Horner will share over 20 years of experience in the industry to help you discover how to reduce the time you spend scheduling customer stops through efficient routing. At the end of the session, you will have a better understanding of the differences between routing and scheduling, understand tools that you can use to route more efficiently that will increase satisfaction as well as increasing productivity in the field and best of all, your efficiency.
Active Survival – The ABCs to an Active Shooter Incident - Chris Kopp, Lockdown International
The admin track will join the Business Management Day group for this session. See description above.
General Entomology and Common PMP Terminology - David Moore, Dodson Pest Control
This session will provide an introduction of basic entomology and common terminology that PMPs uses every day to provide administrative professionals a better understanding and improve communication between the different business segments. We will first review the common pests that we run across and their basic biology. Then we will go over the common equipment and phrases that we use in the field to provide clarity with speaking with field personnel.
A Deep Dive Into WDO Inspections: Understanding the Updates to the NPMA 33 – Dr. Jim Fredericks, NPMA
Wood destroying insect inspections are an integral part of nearly every pest management business’ daily operations. Recently NPMA revised the NPMA 33 and WDO forms to enhance the clarity of the report, protect the inspector and ensure that pertinent information was accurately reported to clients. In this session, learn inspection tips for termites, wood destroying beetles and wood decay fungus, what’s new in the report, and the pest biology underpinning the inspection process.
Fire Ants, They Are on the Move - Tina Macintyre, VDACS CAPS
Fire Ants present a human health threat and are a regulated pest in Virginia. They are also spreading! Tina will discuss their biology, impact, where they are presently found, the current and future fire ant quarantine in Virginia and treatment options.
New Technologies and Approaches for Managing Bed Bugs – Jeff White, Bed Bug Central
In the past two years several new technologies have been introduced to the market that may change the face of managing bed bugs. Some new options include: fungal pathogens, dual-action pesticides, highly effective dusts and proactive monitors. This session will discuss many of the new technologies on the market and how the pest control industry can utilize them to create highly effective control programs as well as proactive detection and management plans.
Wildlife to Bed Bugs: A Dive into the Pest World – Morgan Wilson, VT Bed Bug and Urban Pest Information Center
Morgan Wilson, a research technician under Dini Miller, will be introducing herself to the pest management community. What started off as a passion for wildlife conservation quickly kicked off a career in wildlife and pest management. Morgan found a niche in a world where her nosiness for wildlife and insect activity blended well with human engagement. She has experience working with a variety of animals from rodents and birds to roaches and ants. Now her path has led her to cockroach and bed bug research under Dr. Dini Miller at Virginia Tech, sparking a great interest in effective Bed bug management practices.
Pesticide Laws & Regulation - Much More Than Just Requirements...- Liza Fleeson-Trossbach, VDACS-OPS
Pesticides are one of the most highly regulated substances in the world. There are both federal and state laws and regulations with which all pesticide manufacturers, businesses and applicators must abide by to be able to manufacture, distribute, sell or offer for sale, use or offer to use pesticides. Given the nature of pesticides and the inherent risk associated with their use, these are not just requirements, but safeguards for human health and the environment. Specifically, YOUR human health and YOUR environment, and, by default, all those around you. In this session, we will review the laws & regulations that are in place to ensure that the benefits of the use of a pesticide outweighs the risk of the use of a pesticide and that you are able to continue to fulfill your role in the control of pests of public health and economic significance.
Occasional Invaders: Get Control – Dr. Dan Suiter, Univ. of Georgia, Department of Entomology
In much of the U.S., and for a majority of large and small pest management companies, routine, residential pest control is their “bread and butter”. Most small startup companies begin in this manner. During spring warmup and in the latter fall season there are numerous arthropod pests, some more common than others, that become troublesome pests for your company. In this presentation we will discuss common occasional invading pests found around homes and provide information on simple approaches to their control.
Mosquitoes and Ticks: Control Basics and Personal Protection – Dr. Sally Paulson, VT, Department of Entomology
Last year the CDC reported a rapid rise in vector-borne illnesses in the US – tripling in numbers between 2004 and 2016. Your job as a protector of public health has never been more important. The media is full of accounts of Zika and West Nile Virus, with emergence of additional pathogens almost monthly. This session will get back to basics in control of these public health pests to enable you to protect your customers’ health – and your own.
Spill Management – Rick Bell, Arrow Exterminators
Spill management details the skills necessary to manage a successful clean-up and public relations campaign all in one. Completing one without fully executing the other is a failure for the consumer, the environment and the pest management industry. In the advent of a chemical spill – we truly are in this together.
Social Events at the State Technical Meeting
September 24, 6:00 - 8:30 pm
PMP Games on the Greens - Anyone planning to arrive the night before the State Technical Meeting is invited to kick-off the conference with dinner and lawn games at the “PMP Games on the Greens” pre-conference event being held at Independence Golf Club. Registration fee of $40/person includes one drink, appetizer, dinner and dessert!
September 24, 8:30 - 10:30 pm
Gold Sponsor Hospitality Suite - This is a casual social gathering of all conference participants in a suite at the DoubleTree - hosted by the Gold Education Sponsors. Suite number will be shared in confirmation emails.
September 25, 7:45 am
Past Presidents' Breakfast - This invitation-only breakfast is a special opportunity for all the past presidents of VPMA to come together.
September 25, 6:00 - 9:00 pm
Pest Fest - This lively evening is the social high point of the STM! The evening begins with cocktails, followed by a short business meeting and dinner! Pest Fest is included in the Business Day and Full Packages, and can be added as an individual ticket.
September 25, 9:00 - 10:30 pm
Gold Sponsor Hospitality Suite - This is a casual social gathering of all conference participants - hosted by the Gold Education Sponsors.
Accomodations
DoubleTree by Hilton, 1021 Koger Center Blvd., Richmond, VA 23235
Make your reservations at the DoubleTree by Hilton by calling 804-379-3800 or online through this link: http://www.hilton.com/en/dt/groups/personalized/R/RICKSDT-VPA-20190921/index.jhtml. Rates within the Virginia Pest Management Association room block are as low as $104/night, plus fees and tax! Deadline to get the discounted rooms is Sept.2nd, but rooms go fast - so don't delay!
Master Technician Program Overview
This program provides technicians with in-depth, hands-on training using state-of-the art microscopes. The series of six workshops investigate seven major pest groups - Ants, Bed bugs, Termites, Occasional Invaders, Cockroaches, Rodents and Flies.
At the completion of each workshop, participants will receive a certificate designating them as a VPMA Master Ant, Bed bug, Termite, Occasional Invader, Cockroach, Fly or Rodent Technician, respectively. Once a technician has mastered four of the pest groups, special recognition will be made at the final workshop designating them as a Master Technician.
For current offerings please see the Events tab on the home page of our website.
For current offerings please see the Events tab on the home page of our website.
Being ACE certified can give you and your company the edge it needs to compete successfully with other pest control providers. Many public and private institutions require independent certification for their pest control contractors, and increasingly the general public is seeking expert providers for every service.
Read more: VPMA Jeffrey M. Johnson Memorial ACE Prep Course and Exam
VPMA Virginia Tech Scholarship
VPMA offers renewable scholarship awards in the spring and fall semesters to undergraduate and graduate students at Virginia Tech whose studies are focused in the field of structural pest management. This scholarship is intended to recognize those superior students whose research and extension activities have benefited (or will benefit) the pest management industry. The objective of the scholarship is to encourage these students to prepare for careers in urban pest management.
Eligibility:
Click here to learn about the application process, provisions and to obtain an application for the Spring 2020 VPMA Virginia Tech Scholarship.
VPMA Statewide Scholarship
The VPMA offers renewable scholarship awards in the spring and fall semesters to undergraduate and graduate students whose studies are focused in the field of structural pest management. This scholarship is intended to recognize those superior students whose research and extension activities have benefited (or will benefit) the pest management industry. The objective of the scholarship is to encourage these students to prepare for careers in urban pest management.
Eligibility:
Application Process:
Click here to learn about the application process, provisions and to obtain an application for the Spring 2020 VPMA Statewide Scholarship.
VPMA Election Results
VPMA held elections for the VPMA Board of Directors this Fall. A slate of officers and three open director seats were voted on during this election.
Click here to see the new 2019-2020 VPMA Board!
