Important Update
Inspector Update
Member Opinion on Gathering In-Person vs. Online   
We need your opinion ! Please take a moment to participate in this short poll on upcoming PPMA events. Feedback gathered will help to provide direction to the Board of Directors as they prepare for the summer and fall.

Please feel free to reach out to either Caleb Wright at cwright@versantstrategies.net or Bridget Cole at bcole@versantstrategies.net with any questions or concerns
Looking for credits? While the Association investigates ways to offer credits and educational opportunities to our members during life with COVID-19, you can always find credits available in an online format at paplants.pa.gov.
Welcome New Members!
  • Brickers Termite Control, Inc. - Harvey Ricci, Lansdale, PA
  • Paupack Pest Control, LLC - Brian and Bilinda Reichman, Paupack, PA

Thank you for joining us!
2020 Platinum Partners
Industry News
Contact Congress Today: Maintain Small Business Exemptions
NPMA - Congress has indicated they will focus on their next COVID-19 Relief package in July, so NPMA has created a month long campaign to spotlight COVID-19 bills our industry cares about. Each week we will be asking you to participate in a voter voice on a specific bill to raise awareness on Capitol Hill. NPMA will also be tweeting and sending a letter from Dominque Stumpf, NPMA’s CEO, to Congress outlining our concerns.
 
We have a window to make a difference and we need your help.
 
This week’s campaign focuses on a provision in the recent House-passed bill, The HEROES Act. Currently if you have 50 or fewer employees you can qualify for an exemption from providing COVID-19 specific paid leave. It's not automatic, and you do have to document that you meet all the qualifications Department of Labor lays out, but if offering an employee paid leave for COVID-19 related reasons would "jeopardize the viability of the business as a going concern" then you have a recourse through this exemption. (More information is available on NPMA’s website here .) The HEROES ACT would remove this exemption entirely, leaving no recourse for businesses under 50 employees.
 
We need you to reach out to your Senators and explain that removing this exemption would be hurtful to small businesses. If The HEROES Act or any similar legislation receives a vote in the Senate, we urge them to remove this exemption. Take action today through our VoterVoice and tell your Senator to retain this key small business exemption.
PestWorld 2020! Register Now
Join NPMA at PestWorld 2020 on October 13-16 in Nashville, Tennessee! Register today and ensure you take full advantage of the early bird discount rates. 
Hotel & Travel Information:

All general sessions, educational programs and the exhibit hall will be held at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center.
 
NPMA has held a block of hotel rooms with a discounted room rate available to PestWorld 2020 attendees at the Gaylord Opryland.
 
Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center
2800 Opryland Drive
Nashville, TN 37214
Earn Credits In World Class Educational Settings:

PestWorld 2020 offers many great opportunities for attendees, but we can’t forget to mention one of the greatest benefits – the world-class educational sessions and thought leader sessions where attendees gain first-hand knowledge from industry experts to take back to the office and improve their businesses for the future.
PPMA Year 2000 Water Contamination Awareness Program
Back in the year 2000, the Pennsylvania Pest Control Association, with support from J.C. Ehrlich and Terminix drafted an informational booklet on water contamination. Penn State Extension has recently requested the ability to use text from the publication which has been granted. We hope you find the information useful as well!

Silver Partners
Pests in the News
Heather Gooch, PMP - The Entomology 2020 Program Committee and the  Entomology Society of America (ESA)  Governing Board have announced that the Governing Board voted to move Entomology 2020 to a fully virtual format.
“We are excited to embrace the virtual format and build an exceptional meeting that will truly embody the spirit of Entomology for All — a meeting where all insect scientists can participate and share their work, regardless of location, specialty area, or ability to travel,” ESA said in its announcement. “Entomology 2020 will feature multiple live-streams running simultaneously Nov. 16-19. On-demand content will be available from Nov. 11-25.”
Anyone who submitted a research paper to the event has been automatically registered at no additional cost, with full access to all live-streamed and on-demand content. Submissions will re-open June 22, according to the ESA.
The organization has put together an online  “Frequently Asked Questions” page . It also has posted its  program schedule :
Entomology 2020 will feature an opening plenary session with two keynote speakers, symposia, workshops, organized meetings, 10-minute presentations, three-minute talks, posters, virtual posters as well as functions and meetings hosted by others attending the meeting. The opening keynote speakers are:

Dr. Chavonda Jacobs-Young , administrator of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) chief scientific in-house research agency, and currently also the acting chief scientist of USDA. Prior to joining ARS, Dr. Jacobs-Young held several scientific leadership roles to help transform USDA’s scientific coordination and create a lasting impact on the conduct, quality, integrity, and access to science for customers, stakeholders, and partners. She has also worked to elevate the visibility of collaboration and coordination of agricultural research globally. While in USDA, Dr. Jacobs-Young has also served as Director of the USDA Office of the Chief Scientist, Acting Director for the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and Senior Policy Analyst in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Dr. Ray Wheeler , a plant physiologist and senior scientist at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, where he leads the advanced life support research group. This includes controlled environment studies and vertical farming with crops for food and oxygen production, carbon dioxide removal, and wastewater processing. Over the years, Dr. Wheeler has studied plant responses to gravity, carbon dioxide, light, atmospheric pressure, and hydroponic cultivation. He has been co-investigator for several spaceflight experiments, including the first test to demonstrate potato tuber development in space, and studies using the “Veggie” plant growth chamber on the International Space Station to growth fresh vegetables for the astronauts.

Full article here.
Diane Sofranec, PMP - The second  Women in Pest Control (WIPC) conference  will take place March 4-5, 2021. The event initially was scheduled for Sept. 25, 2020, but organizers changed the date because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“With no [COVID-19] vaccine and no clear treatment, there are just too many variables to ask anyone to commit to airline tickets at this time,” said WIPC Founder Bobbie Terry and WIPC Co-Founder Lisa Myers-Botts in a post on the organization’s Facebook page. “We hope that everyone will still be able to attend; it should be early enough in the spring that you shouldn’t be too busy yet.”

The conference will be held at the North Houston Sheraton Hotel in Houston, Texas, and will feature educational presentations and exhibitors.

It is for women in the pest management industry only, whether they work in the office or out in the field. Every attendee, speaker and vendor representative who exhibits at the event will be female so that attendees can learn and network with no judgment.

For the second WIPC conference, the organizers broadened the scope of the information that will be covered. Presentations will tackle such topics as search engine optimization (SEO) for small business and human resources tips for women in a male dominated industry. In the evening of day one of the event, a reception will be held to allow attendees to spend more time together, and with the sponsors, in a relaxed environment.

Also new this year, they will host on the first day of the two-day event an  Associate Certified Entomologist (ACE)  exam for 10 attendees to help raise awareness of the professional certification among women.
“There are lots of technicians out there who do not even know this is the next level in their careers,” Myers-Botts said. “Every state has different requirements to be technicians, but this is a national program that really sets a pest management person apart as a true professional in the field.”
Registration for the second annual WIPC conference  is open now, and the WIPC website will be updated soon, the organizers said.
Bronze Partners
Membership Area
How to Download NPMA and PPMA Membership Certificates
Those looking to download a PPMA card, can login to the member portal at ppma.wildapricot.org. If members have challenges logging in, they can contact bcole@versantstrategies.net.

For an NPMA card, go to Member Center tab, scroll down and click on 'Update Your Profile', then click on 'Manage My Group". They will see the green tabs on top right for 'Print Membership Certificate' and 'Download the NPMA Logo".
REMINDER from NPMA
To update your company's service area, please follow the steps below:
  1. Log on to the Manage My Group area of the NPMA website. Please note: in order to access the "Manage My Group" area of the NPMA website, you must be a company administrator. 
  2. Click on "Company Information" from the drop down menu.
  3. Scroll to the bottom of the page to find the Service Area section.
  4. Download the excel template found on this page.
  5. Update this template to include all of the zip codes that you service.
  6. Save the file on your computer.
  7. In the Service Area section click Choose File. Locate the excel template file that you just saved. Click open.
  8. Click Upload file.
Once you've completed these steps your service on Find-a-Pro is instantly updated to include these new zip codes. 
If you are having problems accessing please contact NPMA at (703) 352-6762 or  npma@pestworld.org .