03/03/2005
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Joe Wilson |
As Midwest vice president for Orkin, Inc. in the outskirts of Chicago, Joe Wilson supervised 1,500 employees at one of the largest pest control companies in North America. Becoming CEO of PermaTreat Pest Control in 1982 was quite an adjustment.
When Wilson bought the company, it had six employees; his salary was less than a third of what he made at Orkin; interest rates were so high he couldn't sell his house, so the family stayed back in Illinois for a year. But PermaTreat gave the Virginia native the chance to return to his roots, be his own boss and build a company according to his own blueprint.
"It worked out very well," he says. "I'm glad I was able to take that opportunity."
Today PermaTreat has 90 employees and seven locations, and it's one of the largest independently-owned companies in the state. Further, Wilson was recognized in 1987 as the Region III Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration -- and was one of five finalists for the national honor -- and in 1998 PermaTreat was named Business of the Year by the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce in recognition of its contributions to the community and its business success.
"I've always been active on legislative and regulatory issues," says Wilson, who notes that activism is critical in keeping his business healthy. "It's a matter of survival. It's a constant battle to keep legislation and regulations from nibbling away at your profits."
PermaTreat, which was founded in 1967, was already a member of NFIB when Wilson bought the company. He liked what he saw so much that in addition to maintaining the membership, he joined the NFIB/Virginia Leadership Council where he has served for close to 10 years.
Wilson belongs to other organizations, as well: He's currently in his 16th year on the governor-appointed Pesticide Control Board, and he has served on the legislative committee for the National Pest Management Association.
"There are people making decisions about regulations that impact my business who don't have any real-world experience running a business or serving this industry." If he doesn't participate in the process, Wilson continues, their actions will go unchecked.
Wilson notes that his top priority on the federal level is the elimination of the estate tax. On the state level, he sees health insurance, workers' compensation and unemployment compensation as critical issues; not only can they be very costly, they can threaten a business's ability to stay afloat. And unless business owners like him speak out, Wilson believes that unfair, burdensome regulations will simply expand and become more invasive.
Just like any pest that goes untreated.
