By: Julie Buntjer
Worthington Daily Globe
December 16th, 2012
WORTHINGTON — The bug business has proved to be big business for Plunkett’s Pest Control, and a new base of operations in
Worthington will make it easier to continue to grow the business locally.
Service Supervisor Ken Vander Veen said they moved into their new location, in the former Lende Signs and Graphics building on South Lake Street, in mid-August. The building serves as a base of operations for Plunkett’s in southwest Minnesota. While there is not a staffed office in Worthington, Vander Veen said the building provides a training area for employees in the region, as well as much-needed space to house their vehicles and pest-fighting equipment.
Plunkett’s provides pest control services for everything from
ants,
beetles and
bees to
termites,
rodents and
pest birds. They exterminate
cockroaches,
spiders,
box elder bugs and more.
Just a few months into their new location, Vander Veen said they needed to do very little to make the building suit their needs. Plans are to install a second overhead door in the shop area of the building for ease in maneuvering vehicles inside.
“This is plenty of space for us,” said Vander Veen, adding that the large, heated shop space was primarily why they wanted to relocate from their previous location behind the Ahlquist and Wiltrout Law Office on Ninth Street.
The heated shop was necessary for Plunkett’s to store its bed bug heat equipment trailer, which includes a diesel generator and portable electric generator. A resurgence in bed bugs has brought a lot of business to the pest control company.
Based in the Twin Cities, Plunkett’s Pest Control was founded in 1915 in Minneapolis and is now in its third generation of family ownership. The company has more than 300 staff people to deliver services to residents and commercial clients across 10 Midwest states.
The Worthington base includes 12 pest control technicians, service supervisors and technical specialists, who work in approximately a 90-mile radius of the community.
Vander Veen has worked for Plunkett’s Pest Control for 28 of the more than 35 years the business has had a Worthington presence. Worthington Area Service Technician Terry de Boom has also been with the company for quite a few years.
For service information, customers may reach Plunkett’s Pest Control toll-free at 1-877-571-7100.
