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PPMA OFFICERS
Keith Hamilton
President
J.C. Ehrlich
State College, PA
John Besic
President Elect
Besic Pest Control
Transfer, PA
Marty Overlilne
Vice President
Aardvark Pest Management
Phildelphia, PA
Paul Kutney
Immediate Past President
Larksville, PA
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Central Division
Gary Lesher
Governor
Perry Pest Control
Landisburg, PA
Keith Hamilton
J.C. Ehrlich
State College, PA
Keith Jones
Archer Pest Control
Camp Hill, PA
Greg Ten Hoeve
Terminix
Mechanicsburg, PA
Eastern Division
Marty Overline
Governor
Aardvark Pest Mgmnt
Philadelphia, PA
Mike Snyder
Township Pest Control
Warrington, PA
Jim Nase
Moyer Indoor/Outdoor
Souderton, PA
Northeast Division
Jeff King
Governor
The Pest Rangers
Hanover Twp., PA
Paul Kutney
Larksville, PA
Diane Lown
Ajax Environmental Solutions
Dalton, PA
Western Division
Adam Witt
Governor
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
Adam Witt
Witt Pest Management
Pittsburgh, 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
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Dear Friends:
It appears that winter has finally arrived! With what some are calling the snow storm of the year on its way for the eastern part of the state, there should be no doubt that winter has finally arrived. We encourage you to take the slower winter season to double check your pesticide applicator credits for everyone in your company. Make plans now to ensure that everyone is able to maximize on the spring meetings!
The AWDII Course is scheduled for February 24-26, 2016 at the Marriott Courtyard in Langhorne, PA. Check the website for information and a registration form. Spots are limited so register today!
Don't forget to submit your Salino Scholarship applications to the PPMA office by March 15! Information on the scholarship is available here.
After hours of searching, we have found the last known list of the Honorary and Emeritus members of the association. Click here to see what legends in the industry were recognized with this honor!
Special shout out to President-Elect John Besic who was on Farm Broadcast Radio while at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Blue Ribbon Reception. Thanks for doing a great job promoting our industry to a listener-ship of over 2 million!
Speedy recovery wishes to President Keith Hamilton who had surgery right after the New Year. We wish you the best!
As always, we are here to support you. Feel free to call the office if we can be of assistance.
Team Versant
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NPMA Working with Overtime Coalition on the Hill
Last week NPMA Public Policy staff met with the Partnership to Protect Workplace Opportunity (PPWO) to discuss coordinating lobbying efforts on the Hill. PPWO is actively pushing offices to sign onto a dear colleague letter spearheaded by Representative Hardy (R-NV) and Representative Knight (R-CA). The letter is written to Department of Labor Secretary Perez. The holidays are over and now that 2016 is in full swingwe areworking closely with PPWO on the overtime issue in an effort to avoid devastating effects if this rule is implemented as drafted. NPMA will be sending a grassroots alert soon to request your assistance, please be on the look-out and participate by sending notes to your Congressional representatives. For a quick refresher on the overtime issues, NPMA has serious concerns, specifically because the Department's proposed rule does not achieve the intended objective of protecting the American workforce through overtime protection mechanisms. Instead the Department's unprecedented 113% raise of the minimum salary threshold for overtime pay fails to take into account the effects this abrupt threshold increase would have on the economy and employee flexibility. The proposed rule inadequately addresses important factors such as regional cost-of-living differences and the need to account for non-discretionary bonuses. The pest management industry is additionally concerned by the Department's attempt to subvert federal authority and legislative intent by annually indexing the minimum salary threshold and potentially altering the long used duties test for white collar exemptions from overtime pay.
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Upcoming Meetings
Join the Central Division for their spring meeting on February 23, 2016 at the Park Inn in Mechanicsburg. Click here for details.
AWDII is scheduled for February 24-26, 2016. More details and registration information can be found here.
The Eastern Division will be hosting it's Spring Seminar on March 10th at the Crowne Plaza in Trevose. Details and registration information will be coming soon! Vendors interested in sponsoring an exhibit can click here for a registration form.
The Eastern Division continues to hold its monthly meetings with varying topics of discussion on the second Thursday of every month at the Crowne Plaze in Trevose. For more information on monthly topics and speakers, contact Sue at (215) 331-1121.
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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 cwright@versantstrategies.net. 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.
While a budget landed on the desk of Governor Wolf over the holidays, he used his ability to line-item veto major portions of the spending plan. This leaves many legislators asking, "What's next?" With school districts and human services receiving funding, it is expected that progress will be slow until legislators finish budget hearings for the next fiscal year. We will keep you posted on any progress.
HCO 2677 sponsored by Rep. Caltagirone (D) deems non-compete language in employement agreements to be against public policy.
This co-sponsorship memo is still being circulated and no action is expected in the near future.
SB 737 sponsored by Rep. Scott Hutchinson
Amends Title 34 (Game), in hunting and furtaking, further providing for unlawful devices adding that semiautomatic rifle may be used to hunt coyotes and woodchucks in accordance with regulations of the commission except during regular firearm season for deer, regular firearm season for bear, and spring and fall season for turkey.
Since last month, this bill is scheduled for review and potentially voted on.
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Articles of Interest
| 01-19-2016 | Beekeepers weigh hope, doubt about honey bee decline
HARRISBURG - You may have heard honey bees are dying across the country. It's a big problem: Through pollination, bees help sustain more than a hundred different crops. There's hope they'll rebound in Pennsylvania, but the warm winter raises concern. It's a good sign when a honey extraction demonstration at the Farm Show... - Carlisle Sentinel |
| 01-18-2016 | Science probes environmental autism link
Q: What is the latest thinking on the environmental causes (if any) of autism? I hear so much conflicting information I don't know what to believe. - BILL STRIBLING, AUSTIN, TEXAS A: In the 1980s, about one in 2,000 American kids was diagnosed with autism. Today the number is around one in 68, according to estimates from... - Wilkes-Barre Citizens' Voice |
| 01-18-2016 | Obama's Goal to Wipe Out Malaria May Be a Dream Too Far
WASHINGTON - Two days before delivering his last State of the Union address, President Obama called one of his top advisers into the Oval Office and said he had decided to add a major pledge to the speech that his team had neither discussed nor vetted: to rid the world of malaria.... - New York Times |
| 01-07-2016 | EPA says pesticide harms bees
WASHINGTON - A major pesticide harms honeybees when used on cotton and citrus but not on other big crops like corn, berries and tobacco, the Environmental Protection Agency found... - AP
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