Hilda Cox
July 26, 2016
Chamber staying busy promoting area business
July 27, 2016
When folks think of Terminix, they think of a brand that’s a household name and a company that services people worldwide.
But to folks in Houma, it’s more. Here, Terminix is something that’s family-owned and family-run.
Terminix Pest Control has become a mainstay in the Houma business community by keeping its principles consistent with the latter.
Fundamentally an industry that requires its staff to snoop through its clients’ homes — around the attic, beneath the beds and the front porch, behind the baseboards and above the doorframe — Terminix employees tout that pest control requires an intimacy between company and client. It’s a relationship the company has emphasized and pushed throughout its existence.
“These guys that are going to everybody’s houses and stuff, those are the guys that are generating money. That’s our face with the customers, so if those guys and gals are happy, the customers are going to be happy,” said Dan Foster, general manager of the pest control company. “And we’re going to be happy, too, because we’re going to have a lot of business.”
Terminix of Houma has morphed into a family business since it opened its doors. Brothers Billy and Dan Foster own and manage the company, respectively, and according to Dan, they have pursued a family environment in everything they do, from the office building to the interoffice needling of friends and coworkers.
“We have a lot of fun,” Dan Foster said. “The only thing we really take seriously, and I mean real seriously, is taking care of our customer, number one. Number two is getting along with each other. If we would hire someone who didn’t get along with the other employees, they’d be gone because we believe in everybody pulling in the same direction. We like to have fun. If you don’t like joking and teasing, don’t come to work here.”
The idea of a tightly knit staff may seem to clash with the stereotypes of an international brand name. But Foster said his company is largely independent from the Terminix name and often procures its pest control products from other sources.
“The most contact we have with them, we send them a franchise fee every month,” Foster said. “We really don’t use any products labeled Terminix. We use what we think is the most effective for our customers.”
Terminix of Houma opened its doors in 1972. Billy Foster joined the company in 1976, and Dan joined his brother 1990, when Billy bought out his two partners. Since then, the brothers have watched the revenue stream increase ever year, whether it’s by 1 or 15 percent, Dan Foster said.
Billy Foster had just graduated from Nicholls with a degree in entomology; his three-year older sister graduated with him and Dan obtained a degree in accounting three years earlier. The three Foster siblings were born in New Orleans and graduated from Terrebonne High School.
Dan Foster had a brief bayou hiatus when he moved to Houston to work at Texaco. He would later return and work as the comptroller for Patterson Truck Line. He said his heart was always in Houma, but in the pre-Martin Luther King Boulevard days, it was hard to find a job that paid to qualifications.
As Terminix of Houma has grown, so has the town it calls home.
“It has just grown tremendously,” Dan said. “I graduated from Nicholls in ’69, and Houma is just a completely different town than it was then. It was a small town. You knew everybody, but you didn’t have the same business opportu-
nities.”
Today, the company boasts countless customers in its Terrebonne-Lafourche-Grand Isle customer pool and dozens of employees to service their needs. Foster said the employees are cross-trained to handle regular pest control duties in addition to termite inspections and essentially schedule their own stops with their own client list.
Dan said there is no secret to reaching the silver-and-gold business status. He sees it as common sense.
“It’s just surrounding yourself with the best people you could possibly hire,” Dan said.
He added that working with his brother has been a joy — an experience that both he and the rest of the family enjoys.
“I know people think I’m exaggerating, but we’ve never had a serious argument or really much of a difference of opinion,” Dan Foster said. “We think alike when it comes to business and when it comes to the way we treat people and what we expect from our employees.”
Dan Foster (left) has worked with his brother Billy since 1980, when the family members joined forces in the pest control market. Today, Terminix takes pride in providing top-notch customer service and also competitive employee benefits.
Terminix in Houma keeps the pests away. But it also is a company that provides a local, family-like feel, despite being backed by a nationwide brand.
