Middleton Lawn & Pest Parent Company Outlines Long-term Growth Plans

Sunair Services Corp., provided a report on recent initiatives the company has taken to position the organization for long-term growth.

"I joined Sunair four months ago and since that time we, as a company, have concentrated on identifying and implementing measures to improve the performance of our pest and lawn services company, Middleton Lawn & Pest Control," says Jack I. Ruff, CEO and president of Sunair Services. "Our new management team has been working together to improve our business model by making it more efficient, responsive and competitive to the benefit of customers and stakeholders. We have consolidated certain areas of our business to provide for improving operating efficiencies. Following are some of the initiatives we have taken."

In order to consolidate operations and create a more focused organization, Middleton combined its four regional districts previously located in Daytona, Orlando, Tampa and SouthEast Florida and its corresponding five support locations into two regional centers, East and West with three support offices. This consolidation and other efforts resulted in reduced operating expenses through the elimination of approximately 30 positions. Management also believes that this consolidation will enable Middleton to better serve its customers, which will make them more competitive and position the Company for continued growth. Below are just some of the initiatives being taken:

• Service Realignment Strategy - Combined inside and outside services to improve routing and fuel efficiency while improving customer service and communication.
• Highly Comprehensive Fiscal 2009 Budget Process - A new branch level budget model has been built encompassing every facet of our business. In conjunction with the budget, a new incentive program that focuses on profitability is now in place.
• Branch Consolidation/Closings - Closed several branches and reviewing the consolidation of others.  Focus on improving route density and efficiency (reduce vehicle expense, gas & labor), reducing occupancy expense.
  Route Consolidation - Reduced lawn, pest control and termite routes by identifying opportunities to schedule and route more efficiently and to share resources between multiple locations while increasing compensation per technician to support lower turnover.
• Operating System - Conversion to a new state-of-the-art robust platform to improve efficiencies and monitor performance across all areas of the business.
• Revised Vehicle Policy - To reduce fleet size, maintenance, repair, insurance and fuel expenses.
  Purchasing Initiative - To evaluate and renegotiate current agreements such as chemicals, phone lines, treatment equipment, office supplies and uniforms.
• Occupancy Expense Initiative - To evaluate all current leases and explore alternative options including renegotiating current agreements.

"We have also made important personnel changes and hired new individuals to propel our growth," Ruff says.

Those changes include:

• The promotion of Jeff Buhler to vice president of Operations
• Jim Swayne was promoted to regional manager, West Coast
• Mike Swanson was named regional manager, East Coast
• Richard Benoit was hired as the new director of information technology
• Milan Roy was named director of human resources

"These recent appointments are part of our growth strategy," Ruff says. "We are creating a powerful leadership team that is vital to position Middleton for further growth and maximizing shareholder value. Looking ahead, we will consider additional actions as needed to improve our operations and financial performance and to strengthen our business while continuing to provide ever improving service for our customers."