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If you call
Cavanaugh�s Professional Termite & Pest Services and ask for Mr. Cavanaugh,
you are sure to be asked a question in return. Which Mr.
Cavanaugh?
With five
Cavanaughs currently involved in the day-to-day operation of this Freehold, New
Jersey pest control business, the question makes perfect sense. Heading the
organization are Ralph and Bob Cavanaugh whose father, Roy, founded the company
in 1943. Ralph�s two sons, Michael and Tim, serve as chief operations officer
and operations manager for the corporate office respectively and Bob�s son,
Robert, manages the company�s military base business.
With 60 years of
success under its belt, this family-run corporation is synonymous with pest
control in the state of New Jersey. Believing there is much to be learned and
shared with others in the same business, Ralph Cavanaugh has served as president
of the New Jersey Pest Control Association and his son, Michael, is currently on
the board of directors.
But in spite of its
long-term success, this is not a company that is content to rest on its laurels.
Cavanaugh�s devotes great attention to gaining new customers and better serving
existing ones by utilizing a combination of professionalism, marketing and
technology. It is a formula that appears to work very well.
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Tim
Cavanaugh discusses the changing of termite bait stations with Rudy Virga, the
general manager at Pine Barrens Golf Club, a Cavanaugh's client |
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Quality promotes
growth
The company is headquartered in Freehold, New Jersey and has
additional offices in Somerville and Flanders, plus a satellite operation at
Fort Dix. A new location is planned for early next year.
Cavanaugh�s employs
approximately 70 people (many have been with the company 15 years or more) and
has earned a statewide reputation for quality work, excellent service and the
ability to get the job done no matter how large or how small. Attention to
detail may be the reason why. Consider, for example, that every morning before
the technicians begin their rounds, Tim Cavanaugh takes the time to review each
stop with them. It�s a team-like approach that creates camaraderie while
reducing the margin for error.
The services
Cavanaugh�s offer range from traditional interior and perimeter pest control and
termite/carpenter ant services to bird and animal control, weed and brush
management, deer repellent applications and odor elimination. In addition, the
company is one of only a few in the state with the licensing required to tent
and fumigate entire buildings. Cavanaugh�s also takes its services beyond the
traditional pest control arena by offering structural repair work.
Although a
significant amount of Cavanaugh�s business is with the more typical residential
and commercial accounts, the company also does extensive work for the military.
The involvement with New Jersey military bases dates back some 20 years when the
company was first awarded the pest control contract for Fort Monmouth. Ralph
Cavanaugh estimates his company�s customer base to be 60% residential and 40%
commercial.
Everybody
wins
In all segments of its business, Cavanaugh�s has come to rely on
LESCO for products and service. Thanks to the cooperation and communication
between Michael Cavanaugh, who is responsible for purchasing, and LESCO Sales
Representative Joann Zelasko, Cavanaugh�s is now able to obtain nearly all of
the products and equipment it needs through the LESCO Service Center in nearby
Tennent, New Jersey � managed by Steve De Lellis and Scott Tucci.
As the former
manager of the Tennent facility, Zelasko recognized early on the importance of
stocking the products Cavanaugh�s uses for its day-to-day operation. There was
no doubt in her mind that a good relationship between the two companies would be
a win-win situation.
Cavanaugh�s benefits by having the material and
equipment it needs available for pickup or delivery from a location five minutes
down the road. And LESCO benefits by doing business with one of the largest pest
control companies in the state of New Jersey.
As Ralph Cavanaugh
said, �The LESCO Service Center is convenient for us and we get good service.
The convenience is nice, but if you don�t get the service, the convenience is
useless.�
Zelasko understands the importance of providing that service and
does everything in her power to make sure there are no snags. For example, if
Cavanaugh�s is interested in a product the Service Center does not currently
stock, Zelasko makes it her mission to have the item added to inventory � and,
in most cases, she succeeds.
A good case in
point is when Cavanaugh�s wanted to begin monitoring its Sentricon� termite
stations with a new electronic scanning device that LESCO did not offer. Zelasko
worked with the LESCO corporate office to make the product available and now,
thanks to her perseverance and the technology of the new scanning system,
Cavanaugh�s termite inspectors can monitor twice as many properties per
day.
Another example of Zelasko�s service-oriented approach is the order form
she created listing the products most frequently used by Cavanaugh�s. To save
time, Cavanaugh�s simply indicates the products it wants and faxes the order
over to the Service Center. The order is ready and waiting when someone from the
company arrives to pick it up.
�Joann understood
what we needed and now inventories about 75% of the products we use,� Michael
Cavanaugh explained. �The convenience factor is very attractive to us. Our
relationship with LESCO has grown through the years and we would like to see it
grow even more.�
Challenges and
rewards
This year, as Cavanaugh�s celebrates 60 years of meeting the pest control
needs of homeowners, businesses and military personnel throughout the state of
New Jersey, the company has every right to be proud of its success and
longevity. Although Ralph Cavanaugh readily admits that a family-owned business
can be as ripe with challenges as it is with rewards, he wouldn�t have it any
other way.
�A family business
is a challenge and we all have to do our best not to take it home with us,� he
said. �But the positive spin is that the third generation is now involved and,
as difficult as the day-to-day business can sometimes be, you always know you
can trust your family members because they realize how much is at stake. Like
you, they want to do well.�
Just as his father
before him undoubtedly did, Ralph Cavanaugh draws immense gratification from the
fact that he can pass a successful business along to his children and other
family members as well as to the many other dedicated employees who work for the
company that bears his fine Irish name.
�I�m proud to feed a lot of families�
is the way he puts it. And we can�t think of a better way it could be said.
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