A new University of Georgia
training center will help
pest control inspectors and operators stay ahead of home-
wrecking termites.

The Georgia Structural Pest Control Training Center opened
this summer at the Georgia Experiment
Station in Griffin, Ga. The
Georgia Department of
Agriculture established
the center through a U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency
grant.

Changes in the way Georgia homes are built and treated for
termites prompted the new
center.

“Pest control operators fought termites 10 years ago with
chemicals that left a
lasting protective barrier around homes,” said UGA entomologist
Wayne
Gardner. He coordinates the
training center. “These chemicals were taken off the market
because they were found
to cause cancer.”

Without these insecticides, shorter-residual products must be
applied more often.
Gardner said the new products are much safer. But they don’t
last as long.

“Now,” he said, “certified pest control operators must
periodically
check for infestations and damage.”

Pest control operators have to deal with new building
materials, too. “They have
to know how to spot termite damage in all types of materials at
the earliest stage
possible,” Gardner said.

In the past, pest control operators were trained by going
from one home site to
another. It was the only way trainers had to show how to inspect
and treat different
materials.

“The new training center includes a home foundation built
from every type of
material now used in construction in Georgia,” Gardner
said. “From stucco to
block to brick to poured foundation — they’re all on display
here.”

Now pest control operators and state inspectors can be
trained on one site.

Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Tommy Irvin
called the new center an investment. It will pay “great
dividends,” he said, to
the people of Georgia.

“The largest investment most people ever make is their home,”
Irvin said.
“This center will assure Georgians that if a pest control
operator comes into their
home, he will have been trained and will know what he’s doing.
You shouldn’t have any fear
of harm to your home, your pets or your family.”

Termites damage more homes than storms and fires combined.
Each year, Georgians spend
$56 million on termite control and damage repair.

“It’s smart business to have a licensed pest control operator
inspect your home or
business regularly,” Gardner said.

“When you saw a pest control van in your neighbor’s driveway
30 years ago, it was
a sign of poor housekeeping,” he said. “Today, it’s poor
housekeeping not to
include pest control in your maintenance regimen.”