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March 2015

 

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 PPMA OFFICERS

  

Ed Van Istendal

President

Ensystex

Coatesville, PA

 

Paul Kutney 

President Elect

Orkin

Ashley, PA

 

David M. Hyres

Past President

David M. Hyres Pest Control

Douglassville, PA 

 

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

 

Central Division

Gary Lesher

Governor

Perry Pest Control

Landisburg, PA

 

Chris Anfinsen

Terminix

Mechanicsburg, PA

 

Keith Hamilton

J.C. Ehrlich

Pleasant Gap, PA

 

Keith Jones

Archer Pest Control

Camp Hill, PA

 

Eastern Division

 

Jim Daly

Governor

Daly Termite & Pest Mgmnt

Ardmore, PA

 

 

Ed Van Istendal

1st Vice Governor

Coatesville, PA

 

Mike Snyder

Township Pest Control

Warrington, PA

 

Jim Nase

Moyer Indoor/Outdoor

Souderton,

  

 

Northeast Division

Paul Kutney

                          Governor

Ashley, PA

 

Diane Lown

Ajax Environmental Solutions

Dalton, PA

 

Jeff King

The Pest Rangers

Hanover Twp., PA

 

Western Division

John Morrison

Governor

D-Bug, Inc.

Latrobe, PA

 

Adam Witt

Witt Pest Management

Pittsburgh, PA

 

Eric Herrington

Terminix

Bridgeville, PA

 

John Besic

Besic Pest Control

Transfer, PA

 

Technical Advisor

 

Chad Gore

Rentokil North America

Carnegie, PA

 

AWDII Chairman

 

Ed Van Istendal

Coatesville, PA

 

Legislative Chairman

 

Keith Hamilton

J.C. Ehrlich

 State College, PA

 

Bed Bug Taskforce Chairman

 

Marty Overline

Aardvark Pest Management

Philadelphia, PA

 

Salino Scholarship Chair 

Dana Lown

Ajax Environmental Solutions

Dalton, PA

 

Industry Liaison

 

Brian Smith

Univar

Sharon Hill, PA

 

Executive Director

Versant Strategies

Harrisburg, PA

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Friends:

   

March came in like a lion, as they say, or more like a Siberian Tiger that relishes the snow! With daylight savings now upon us we can begin to look forward to the advent of Spring and an uptick in business.  Bravo to all of you who made it to seminars and on house and business calls through the treacherous driving conditions in January and February!

 

If you are looking for pesticide credits, there is still time to register for the Eastern Division's spring seminar on March 12 (hurry!) and/or the Northeast Division's Spring Conference on April 10th.  Details are listed below.

 

PPMA President Ed Van Istendal also reported on another successful PPMA-sponsored AWDI training course held at the end of February.  Thanks to all who attended!

 

PPMA's Board of Directors will be meeting in Harrisburg on March 24 with members of the PA Department of Agriculture and the Pennsylvania Game Commission.  Watch for a report on those meetings in next month's edition of The Inspector!

 

Just a reminder that all applications and required paperwork for the Salino Scholarship awards are due in the PPMA office by March 16 (since 15th is a Sunday). If you have any questions, please contact the PPMA office at 1-800-842-9090 or send an email to [email protected].

 

Have a great month!

 

Team Versant

 

AWDI News
   

16 PMPs and Home Inspectors took part in the AWDII Training Course held Feb 25 - 27 in Lancaster, PA. The comments from attendees were generously complimentary, and it was obvious that there was a two-way learning experience occurring. Course instructors Dave Steiger, Ed Van Istendal & John Diesel each noted the change in demographics of the attendees in that the majority of the class were home inspectors who have passed PDA category 12, have established a BU number for use on their NPMA-33 forms, and are spreading the word about our course to other home inspectors.

 

The PPMA Education Committee is working to update the list of all attendees who have passed all aspects of the course and post-course requirements for inclusion on the master list that will be posted on the PPMA Website.

 

For anyone who has taken the course and not completed the requirements, re-testing is available during regular course dates. Post-course requirements are still being accepted, although the PPMA Board of Directors will be determining an end-date to accepting this information from anyone who took the course prior to a certain date. Anyone wishing to take advantage of obtaining the new, 2009 edition of the AWDII Course Manual should use this form to place an order.

 

Ed Van Istendal

PPMA President

Education Committee Chairman

 
Upcoming Meetings        

 

PPMA's Eastern Division is holding its Spring Seminar on March 12 at the Crowne Plaza in Trevose, PA.  Running concurretly with the pest management agenda will also be a technician training seminr.  Early vendor registration is also welcomed and encouraged! 
  
NPMA's legislative day is scheduled for March 15-17 at the Capital Hilton in Washington, DC. Register to attend through NPMA at
http://npmapestworld.org/events/legislative.cfm
  
Mark your calendar and register now for the PPMA Northeast Division's Spring Conference on April 10th.  Come for the meeting and stay for the ballgame afterwards at PNC Field in Moosic, PA. 
  
And, mark your calendars now for PPMA's 2015 Annual Conference on November 9 & 10 at the Eden Resort in Lancaster.
  
Salino Scholarship Application Time Is Running Out! Send in Your Applications & Paperwork Now.
  
 If you are an active member of the PPMA or are an employee of an active member company, your high school student can begin applying for a scholarship.  Applications are due by March 16 (15th is a Sunday).  Read more on Joseph Salino in whose name the scholarship was established and get a copy of the application form here.  Send all information to PPMA at 116 Pine Street, 5th Fl., Harrisburg, PA  1711
  
NPMA Selects PPMA Member to Chair Newly Formed Veterans Group
  

PPMA is proud to announce NPMA's recent appointment of Marty Overline, Sr. from Aardvark Pest Management as the chairman of the newly formed PestVets Committee. Marty, who also chairs PPMA's bedbug committee, will work in conjunction with NPMA staff liaison Janay Rickwalder to actively promote the recruitment of veterans.  The committee will also support those recruitment efforts through various education and training opportunities and provide mentoring and support for veterans currently employed in the industry.

An organizational meeting of the Veterans Group will be held during NPMA's legislative event on Monday, March 16 from 7 - 8:30 a.m. in Washington, DC. "The meeting is open to anybody in the industry and is designed as a brainstorming meeting to imagine how the effort will be organized, identifying several achievable objectives and an action plan to get there," said NPMA CEO Bob Rosenberg. "Additionally, the Legislative Day keynote speaker, General Stanley McChrystal, has agreed to spend some time with our veterans group."

To sign up for the organizational meeting and to meet with General McChrystal, please visit, http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/1952096/Veterans-in-Pest-Management.
 
Legislative Update

 

The information below represents legislative activity (including bill introductions) that has occurred since the last newsletter.  For a full listing of legislation that Versant is tracking for PPMA, please contact us at (717) 635-2320 or [email protected].  Activity marked HCO or SCO indicates a co-sponsorship memo which precedes the actual introduction of legislation and is designed to secure the support of other legislators prior to introduction as a bill.

  

Last week Governor Tom Wolf delivered his first budget address for the Commonwealth's FY 2015/16 proposed budget. Read Governor Wolf's speech here.  The next several weeks are devoted to budget hearings in the Pennsylvania Senate and House of Representatives.  Departments and agencies who depend on state funding for their operations will appear before the Appropriations Committees of both legislative bodies to submit their funding requests (and justifications) for the FY 2015/16 funding year.

 

Legislation introduced since last month's newsletter:

 

HCO 1229 sponsored by Rep. Robert Matzie

Designates the week ofJune 15 through June 21, 2015 as "Pollinator" Week in Pennsylvania.

2-16-15  Filed 

 

HCO 1389 sponsored by Rep. Robert Godshall

Designates the month of April 2015 as "Pennsylvania 8-1-1 Safe Digging Month."

Filed 2-11-15

  

SCO 716 sponsored by Sen. Richard Alloway

Provides for labels & labeling of fertilizer & for disposition of funds & for use of fertilizer on turf.

Filed 2-11-15 

 

 

 

REMINDER from NPMA

Increase Your Business Opportunities; Update your Find a Pro Listing Today

 

Take advantage of the significant marketing opportunity provided to you as an NPMA member and update your Find a Pro listing for NPMA's consumer site, www.pestworld.org, today. Visit www.npmapestworld.org

  1. On the membership dropdown, choose Update Find-a-Pro Listing
  2. Click UPDATE YOUR LISTING TODAY
  3. Login using your NPMA member ID and password
  4. Click Edit next to the location you would like to update
  5. Follow the on screen instructions

Articles of Interest 

   

 

03-05-2015

Delivering Unwelcome Species to the Mediterranean
 
The Mediterranean Sea is among the world's great environmental jewels. The sea is highly saline, almost entirely enclosed by land and contains immense biodiversity. Scientists have long worried that its health is imperiled. Swelling coastal populations and ship traffic have brought... - New York Times

03-04-2015

Invasive Asian carp evidence in Pennsylvania river and more: Outdoor Insider
 
Asian Carp in Pennsylvania Pools on Ohio River The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has confirmed that environmental DNA from the invasive Asian silver carp and bighead carp has been found in six water samples collected from the Ohio River last year. Sampling was... - Harrisburg Patriot-News

03-04-2015

Gov. Wolf's state budget: Modest increase for agriculture
 
Gov. Tom Wolf proposed a 2-percent increase ($2.5 million) for the Department of Agriculture. The money includes $1.5 million to control the spread of the spotted lanternfly, an invasive pest discovered in Berks County last year. Wolf's $130 million budget allocation cut funding for the Keystone... - Reading Eagle

03-01-2015

Coyotes proliferate despite year-round hunting
 
There was no controversy here, deep in rural Clearfield County. Mosquito Creek Sportsmen's Association recently held its 24th annual coyote hunt. Almost 4,000 hunters registered to compete for nearly $40,000 in prize money. It's the oldest and biggest of the 20 or so such contests held across... - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

03-01-2015

Perry Column: Global warming harms plants, wildlife
 
Slowly but surely, Lyme disease has reached near epidemic proportions in Pennsylvania. Twenty years ago, most of us never heard of Lyme disease. Now, most of us know someone who has had it and many of us have had it as well. Ticks not only are more abundant in Pennsylvania, but they also have... - Carlisle Sentinel

02-24-2015

A Pesticide Banned, or Not, Underscores Trans-Atlantic Trade Sensitivities
 
LONDON - Syngenta, a Swiss chemicals company, produces one of America's most popular herbicides. It is called atrazine, and 73.7 million pounds of the chemical compound were applied in the United States in 2013. It was used on more than half of all corn crops, two-thirds of... - New York Times

02-23-2015

Cockroach problem in Commons resolved, Penn Dining says
 
Following the buzz about a cockroach problem in 1920 Commons, the dining hall remains as crowded as ever. Many students learned of the issue two weeks ago when Under the Button published "The Inconvenient (Health-Threatening) Truth Behind Your Meals," which detailed several Philadelphia Food Safety Inspection... - Daily Pennsylvanian

02-19-2015

Key species feel heat
 
Slowly but surely, Lyme disease has reached near epidemic proportions in Pennsylvania. Twenty years ago, most of us never heard of Lyme disease. Now, most of us know someone who has had it and many of us have had it as well. Ticks not only are more abundant in Pennsylvania, but they also have migrated into... - Scranton Times

02-18-2015

Obese dragonflies, chronic wasting disease ban and more: Outdoor Insider
 
Obesity in Dragonflies Possibly Linked to Condition in Humans Insects are affected by obesity and diabetes, just like humans and their pets, according to a Penn State researcher, who notes that intestinal infections by protozoans found in insects may contribute to the metabolic... - Harrisburg Patriot-News

02-10-2015

The monarch massacre: Nearly a billion butterflies have vanished
 
Threatened animals like elephants, porpoises and lions grab all the headlines, but what's happening to monarch butterflies is nothing short of a massacre. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service summed it up in just one grim statistic on Monday: Since 1990, about 970 million have vanished.... - Washington Post