As I look through my notes from July 1st to present, I can’t believe I’m already more than half way through my term. The saying “time flies” is true. It has been a busy but exciting time for PCOC and I don’t see it slowing down anytime soon.

I start off every meeting with this quote…”We need Everyone’s Time, Talent, and Treasure”. Our industry is on the front lines of protecting public health in terms of pests, such as bedbugs, cockroaches, rodents, etc. We are the licensed pest control professionals who protect people, property, and our food supply all over the state. Could our customers even imagine their lives without our industry? It’s time to be that unified voice to remind our elected officials that PCOC pays close attention to all things pest related, we are an essential industry in this state and we vote!

This year we are up against many obstacles facing our industry in both the legislature and regulatory bodies. Becoming an association member is more important than ever. Your company becomes part of providing the association with the resources and the number of members it needs to continue to work on our behalf. It’s just another part of doing business and every company within and outside our state reaps the benefits of PCOC. Please join today…we need you and you need PCOC!

PCOC is made up of 2 1/2 staff, an accountant and a lobbyist. Everyone else is dedicated volunteers that give time, talent and treasure to educating our members, elected officials and general public. We have committees dedicated to fighting for our molecules, bringing important information to our members, and keeping a unified voice throughout our industry. We are a self-regulating industry that uses the most current and up to date training on safety, use of chemicals, IPM, and so much more. We are over 80 years strong.

Let’s take a look at what has been going on this fiscal year at PCOC…July started with separating the regulatory committee and the legislative committee. We knew it was going to be a challenging year in both arenas and that most of our energies would need to be focused on legislation and regulation, so we created a strong representation for both. Since June, we also created the SPM Task Force to specifically work on DPR’s sustainable pest management plan moving forward. This group works closely with both the legislative and regulatory committees and is proactive on all matters regarding SPM.

We live in a very technological world and the executive committee has dedicated our time to find the right software to fit our member needs. We are currently working on changing our software over to a very user-friendly system, “Member Clicks”. This will help members, staff, and the districts with ease of registrations, event notification, district tracking, website, social media, and so much more.

September and December BOD’s were packed with information, updates, and a little fun golfing and bug crawling! Our new membership coordinator, Donna Brown, was introduced at the December meeting. She has done a fantastic job learning about our association, working with members, and talking with potential members about PCOC. Sarah Conrad, after 7 years of service, decided to take a position elsewhere… we wish her success.

In November we hosted a strategic planning session with participation from all areas of our association represented. It was two packed days but so many great ideas and a strategic plan moving forward came together. Thank you, participants! Your Executive Committee is 100% committed to coordinating volunteer based working groups to address the four pillars that came out of our strategic planning session and doing the necessary work to implement the necessary changes. Our first change will be the vote for a name change of our association at the BOD at Legislative days April 8th-10th. I want to encourage all members to attend as this is going to be a great event and we need every voice meeting and discussing important issues with our legislative folks.

Our Termite Academy will be held on March 6th-7th at UC Berkely campus. Look for registrations later this week on our pcoc.org/events calendar and get signed up early because we always sell out.

Expo/BOD/auction/banquet is in Lake Tahoe at Harvey’s resort June 19th-21st. Mark your calendars and more information will be coming about this great event in early March.

Lastly, I want to encourage every member company to invite a non-member to a district meeting and ask them to join our association. It is more important than ever to have every company in our industry participate with their Time, Talent and Treasures so that PCOC, our state association and our voice, have the resources both in numbers and finances to be that unified voice of reason.

Mary Hernandez                                 
PCOC President                                   
mary@hernandezsewing.com            
(805) 720-3987