On Nov. 5-6, 2019, the North Carolina Pest Management Association (NCPMA) held the first Premier Technician Training courses. Seventeen pest management professionals participated in the courses at the North Carolina State University (NCSU) Structural Pest Management Training Facility in Raleigh.
The courses included “Ant Behavior: How and Why Ants Do What They Do” which was led by Patricia Alder of NCSU and “Mouse vs Rat: The R Factor Commensal Rodent 101” which was led by Maria Miller of Univar.
The next series of Premier Technician Courses will be offered in Spring 2020 and will be announced soon on the NCPMA website at www.ncpestmanagement.org/ptp.
“The first two Premier Technician Program courses were a great success, and our participants were able to learn about pests in a way they’ve never experienced before. This is the most intense training offered to passionate individuals who want to educate themselves about our industry,” said Clint Miller, NCPMA President. “As an association, we love providing top-quality education opportunities for our members. We are thrilled to kick off this program and offer another way for our members to become true experts in their chosen field.”
The NCPMA Premier Technician Program is an intensive, hands-on training program designed to recognize pest management technicians who strive to be experts in the industry. The Premier Technician designation will be awarded to industry professionals who complete eight or more Premier Technician courses. The program offers a continuous series of courses that educates participants about pest infestations from discovery to treatment by providing in-depth, hands-on training in the classroom and the field using state-of-the-art equipment.
The Premier Technician Program includes courses on Cockroaches, Ants, Flying Insects, Bed Bugs, Rodents, Wood Destroying Insect Report Accreditation, Wood Destroying Organisms and Occasional Invaders/Stored Product Pests.
The program is made possible through the contributions of its Strategic Founding Partners: BASF, Bayer, Bell Laboratories, Inc., Corteva Agriscience, FMC and Syngenta.