Fox Pest Control 2021: A Year in Review
At the start of each New Year, we craft new resolutions and goals for the next 12 months. But what about reflecting on how far we’ve come in the last 12? Both are important for becoming the best versions of ourselves. Here at Fox, we want our company to be the best it can be, and we do that in part by celebrating the people, events, and achievements that brought us to where we are now. Let’s take a look at 2021!
Highlights from Our Fox Family
New Team Members and Promotions
Our Fox Family is at the center of everything we do. That’s our team members, their families, and – of course – our customers. In 2021, 401 new people joined our Fox team long-term in various roles at corporate headquarters and on the ground in Fox’s branches across the nation. We’re so excited to have them with us as we start the New Year! Among other notable achievements with our team are the multiple individuals who received promotions for their hard work. The team members who received promotions are Nicole Davies (Branch Office Manager), Laurel Thompson (Customer Service Supervisor), Jordon Pentecost (Corpus Christi Branch Manager), and countless more! We are grateful to all of them for their diligence and their embodiment of Fox’s core values.
One-Of-A-Kind Customers
When speaking of the Fox Family, who can forget our top-notch customers? Our technicians always talk about how incredible our customers are. They add life and connection to long days, transforming pest control into much more than just a job. In Rochester, technicians Jimmy Casillo and Austin Genna met TJ, a customer’s 4-year-old son. TJ just happens to be a junior entomologist – or at least that’s what Fox has officially dubbed him. TJ uses an app and his bug knowledge from shows he watches to diagnose pests he finds. On one visit, he excitedly told his mom, “We have a serious situation! There is a brown-banded cockroach in the kitchen!” TJ was right! To make TJ an official junior entomologist, our Rochester and Syracuse teams awarded him with his very own entomology kit. TJ and his family are examples of customers who light up our company!
Fox in the Community
Fox Pest Control Scholarship
Each year at Fox, we strive to help communities all over our service areas in whatever ways we can. After all, these are the very communities that enable our company to thrive. In 2021, Fox started a tradition that we look forward to continuing for years to come: The Fox Pest Control Scholarship. The Fox Pest Control Scholarship awards one dedicated student per year $2000 for outstanding achievements in the community. Over 60 students submitted essay or video applications in 2021. After we sorted through submissions using a complex grading rubric, Delia Cote from the University of New England was picked as the scholarship recipient.
While volunteering for Hope for NH Recovery — a nonprofit that helps people with substance abuse issues recover — Cote and her father created what they called the Post-It Project. To make each person in recovery feel loved and appreciated, they purchased close to 600 post-it notes, wrote inspirational messages on them, and posted them over three walls in the organization. Delia wrote a separate note of instruction next to the display: “Take one or leave one.” Taking and writing inspirational notes has since become a tradition at Hope for NH Recovery. We couldn’t have asked for a better scholarship recipient.
Make A Wish
Fox has had the great privilege of partnering with the Make A Wish Utah Foundation for the past four years and sponsoring five strong, resilient children. In 2021, we met Benji, the most adorable 10-year-old who loves playing video games. Benji suffered from a brain tumor last year that affected him greatly. After a difficult journey to remove the tumor, Benji is now doing excellent. His wish was to go on a shopping spree, so Fox jumped in to sponsor this wish and we were able to create a life-size Mario Kart game for him. He rode in his own “Mario kart” and traveled through 4 different Mario worlds. Benji was then able to open a slew of gifts all directed towards his love of video games. The experience was incredible not only for Benji and his family but for Fox as well. Making a difference makes a difference.
Sponsorships and Fox Traditions
Sponsorships and community-based traditions are integral ways through which we can help our communities. Our Harrisburg branch sponsored the Harrisburg Holiday Parade to help spread joy during the holiday season. To bolster the parade’s “Merry and Bright” theme, Fox’s jolly mascot Fitz came to spread holiday cheer. Several of our Harrisburg technicians also joined in on the fun. It was an experience to remember for years to come! To learn about other Fox sponsorships, visit the “In the Community” page on your local branch’s website!
Down South in McAllen, TX, the Fox team has a yearly tradition they don’t plan on retiring any time soon. Every year, Branch Manager Josh Castelan organizes a Toys for Tots drive. 2021 was no different. Josh and the technicians poured their hearts and souls into collecting as many toys as possible for needy children throughout the Rio Grande Valley. At the end of the drive, they had collected 150 toys. Each year, the McAllen branch and all of our other branches who participate in similar service activities come away with the same realization: Helping our communities brings true joy.
Leadership and Accolades
Leadership Summits
To inspire our current and future leaders within our company, Fox organized two separate leadership retreats packed with motivational speeches, relationship-building activities, and good old-fashioned fun! The summits took place in the Ka’anapali, Maui Island in Hawaii and the picturesque mountainside location of Bear Lake in Logan, UT. Topics included obstacles, empowerment, vision, preparation and planning, influence, Core Values and so many more. Participants, including branch managers, district managers, and sales representatives among so many others found true value in the experience.
Inc. 5000 List
After years of customer loyalty and leadership building, Inc. Magazine ranked Fox Pest Control as No. 1807 on its 40th annual Inc. 5000 list, a list published yearly in Inc. Magazine that recognizes entrepreneurial success and outstanding revenue achievements.
“Securing a spot on the Inc. 5000 wouldn’t have been possible without our incredible team and loyal customers,” Fox CEO Mike Romney said. “People are the core component of our business. We wouldn’t be where we are today without the best possible team and leaders in the industry.”
PCT Top 100 Companies
In 2021, we added on five new branches – Dallas, TX; Pittsburg, PA; Sterling, VA; Princeton, NJ; and Orlando, FL – creating a total of 30 branches across 13 different states. This growth has allowed us to consistently appear on the Top 100 Pest Control Companies list compiled annually by Pest Control Technology Magazine. This year, Fox jumped from No. 20 to No. 15, making it the only company in the top 20 percent of the list to move up from its 2019 ranking. We are thrilled with this accomplishment and can’t wait to see what happens next!
Bring on 2022
After an incredible year that brought us all closer together, Fox is looking forward to this new year. With the best customers we could ask for, supportive families, and a team that’s eager to learn and grow, we expect 2022 will be our best year yet.
Join us in making it yours!
