03/19/2024

President's Message from Samantha Forrest

Another successful IPMC is behind us, and so much lays ahead for MSPCA!

As we gear up for another eventful year in the world of pest control, there are several exciting developments and upcoming events that we're thrilled to share with you. From legislative advocacy to welcoming new board members and recapping recent conferences, the pest control community is buzzing with activity.

NPMA's Legislative Day was held in Washington DC on March 10-12, 2024. This event presented a valuable opportunity for the group of nearly a dozen Maryland members to come together and advocate for important legislative issues that impact our profession and industry. During the event we learned about state pest control preemption and other legislative issues impacting our industry. On Tuesday, a group of us voiced our concerns, shared our expertise, and worked towards shaping policies that support our industry's growth and success by meeting with congressional members in their offices on Capitol Hill.  A bonus, this year we joined the Virginia Pest Management Association for a joint, state association dinner on Monday evening. If you didn't attend Legislative Day this year, I encourage you to attend in 2025!

We're excited to announce the newly appointed board for the 2024 year! With a diverse range of skills and experiences, this team is well-equipped to guide our organization toward continued growth and success! I want to give a HUGE welcome to our new board Members: Kaliksa Gooch and Zachery Travers! We are delighted to have you as a part of the board this year! Their dedication and expertise will undoubtedly contribute to the continued advancement of our industry and our state association, with Zachery already looking to get involved in helping us UP our social media game and Kaliksa who jumped in to volunteer and help during our Interstate Pest Management Conference in January. We look forward to their valuable insights and leadership. The executive committee was also appointed as follows: Samantha Forrest (myself): President, Kevin Poland: Vice President, Andrea Brubaker: Treasurer, Brett Lieberman: Secretary. Please read the full article on the newly installed board in this issue of the newsletter. I also encourage anyone interested in serving in a leadership position to reach out to me personally, or email the MSPCA staff at info@marylandpest.org

In January, the pest control community came together for the Interstate Pest Management Conference (IPMC) in Linthicum, MD, and what a success it was! With nearly 650 attendees, this year saw an impressive increase in attendance of over 10%!! We made several improvements this year, including changes to our registration area and the agenda, and we have received incredible feedback! We extend a heartfelt thank you to each and every PMP who was in attendance!! To each of our speakers, vendors, and sponsors for making this event possible, we GREATLY APPRECIATE YOU!! Special appreciation goes to a few of our Vendors who also aided in additional sponsorship. These sponsors helped us bring Interstate Conference to all of our PMPs who attend: Ensystex, Nisus, Syngenta, and Target Specialty Products. Thank you for your generous support -  we could not do this event without you! The IPMC will return to Maritime Conference Center on January 29 & 30, 2025 - please mark your calendar and plan to attend.

Back by popular demand, MSPCA is reinstating the "Last Chance Recertification Webinar" which will be held on May 23rd! While we are still putting last minute touches on the speaker line-up and agenda, we wanted to go ahead and open registration. If you need recert credits before June 30th, or just want some great pest management training follow this link to learn more and to register,.

As we look ahead to the rest of the year, let's continue to work together to uphold the highest standards of excellence in pest control and advance our industry's collective interests. Here's to a successful and prosperous year ahead!

Sincerely yours, 
Samantha Forrest