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Platinum Pest Solutions puts bedbugs to rest

Jason Sayre became a father at the age of 17, took a job after high school and started reading a lot of business books in an effort to achieve his goal to run a company and be "financially wealthy."

After a few years working various jobs including a clerk position at the Chicago Board of Trade, Sayre came up with the idea of launching a pest control business with two good friends he played ball with.

"We talked about the pest control idea. They thought I was crazy," Sayre said. "I felt like it would be something that would work."

Business partners Ken Williams and Mike Panichi said that Sayre is a "visionary;" they trusted him and followed his lead. They pooled their savings, obtained a small business loan and started Platinum Pest Solutions in Country Club Hills with an old white cargo van.

In six short years, the company, which expanded to Lansing, Rolling Meadows and Indianapolis, now has 85 employees, 50 trucks and expects to do $8 million in sales this year. The pest control and eradication company has been included in Pest Control Technology's Top 100, which recognizes the best and largest pest control firms in the country.

"We find and eliminate pests," Sayre said.

The company's main focus has been getting rid of bedbugs, mainly in apartment complexes, said Panichi, who left his job as a probation officer in Cook County when the company started taking off. Sayre, 39, explained that they have a canine division with four handlers, a dog trainer and eight dogs to find the bedbugs. "Like with drugs, dogs can sniff for bedbugs," which can be tough for humans to see.

"Multiunit dwellings are our niche," Panichi said of the growing company.

Clients mainly consist of property management companies. "We just got the contract with the Chicago Housing Authority," Panichi said, adding that they are expanding more into the commercial side as well.

Rodents and rats are another growing portion of the business.

"We take an organized approach to pest control," said Sayre, who serves as company president and continues with his plans to grow the company, especially in metro areas. "We're trying to spider out. We're looking to move into every major city in the U.S." with southern Wisconsin as the next location for expansion.

Prior to launching the business, Sayre worked for a restoration business while he was getting custody of his children, now 22, 18 and 14. He saw the need for pest control.

He has placed a heavy focus on treating employees and customers the right way.

"My goal is to create opportunities for our employees," he said. Panichi added that they have hired a full-time recruiter who also focuses on retention. "Employees are our biggest asset," he said, adding that they offer benefits and 401(k) plans.

"I just love this industry," said Sayre, who describes himself as optimistic and is always looking at the solution.

The founders meet with a business consultant regularly and have mapped out a 10-year vision. "We want to be in 20 to 22 cities in the next 9 years," Panichi said.

And Sayre is still reading business books that he passes onto his co-founders so they will continue to be on the same page in running the business.

Good hands

Allstate is buying Arizona-based InfoArmor Inc., a provider of employee identity protection, for $525 million in cash.

InfoArmor Inc. provides protection to more than 1 million employees and their family members at more than 1,400 firms, including more than 100 of the Fortune 500 companies. The deal with the privately held company, headquartered in Scottsdale, is expected to close later this year.

InfoArmor is an 11-year-old company that sells its products through brokers dealing with employee benefits arms of corporations.

"Consumers are increasingly at risk of having their digital identities compromised. Last year there were over 16 million victims of identity fraud, which resulted in over $16 billion of losses. With the acquisition of InfoArmor, Allstate will protect more customers from this risk and help rebuild their lives after they have been hacked," said Tom Wilson, president of Northbrook-based Allstate.

Leadership award

Jim Turcan, CEO of Cornerstone Partners Horticultural Services Company, received the 2018 Environmental Leader of the Year Award by the Snow and Ice Management Association.

The award recognizes individuals who influence the adoption of best practices for efficient ice control operations in their business and demonstrate how they promote sustainable salting practices to the industry.

"There is an over dependence, and in some instances an excessive use, in the U.S. on sodium chloride (NaCl) for winter maintenance of roadways, parking lots, driveways and walkways," Turcan said. "Sodium chloride can be detrimental to our environment. Not only is it dangerous for plants and animals, but the runoff seeps into our storm drains and waterways, irreversibly polluting our aquifers," he said.

Safety buy

Klein Tools in Lincolnshire acquired Ergodyne, a company that makes safety products.

Tenacious Holdings Inc., the parent company of Ergodyne, said Ergodyne will be operated as a separate business unit in St. Paul, Minnesota, at its current headquarters. Tom Votel will remain president and continue to lead the Ergodyne team.

Klein Tools, which develops and manufactures professional-grade hand tools, is now on its sixth generation of family ownership - a lineage that started in Chicago in 1857. Ergodyne, founded in 1983, spent the last three decades pioneering the development of products that Make the Workplace A Betterplace. What started with one product has grown into a line of top-flight, battle-tested Tenacious Work Gear. "Ergodyne and Klein Tools have much in common, including our commitment to innovation, safety, our customers and our reputations for producing high-quality products," said Tom Klein Jr., co-president of Klein Tools.

"We believe that our combined resources and expertise will enable us to grow more quickly together than we could have separately. We're excited to welcome Ergodyne to the Klein Tools team."

Together, Klein and Ergodyne plan to expand their venerable brands and leverage their combined expertise, years of experience and industry know-how to accelerate innovation in the safety products space.

"We couldn't be more excited to join the Klein brand and family," said Ergodyne President Tom Votel. "Our company has seen tremendous success over the last three decades within the safety space, and we can't wait to propel that forward with this historic partnership."

Jim Turcan
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