Every October, Batzner Pest Management Inc. celebrates Customer Service Week with crossword puzzles, bingo and, of course, cockroach races.
“It’s just one of those things,” said company president Jerry Batzner. “It wasn’t like six bottles of tequila, and someone said, ‘Let’s have cockroach races.'”
Batzner said the races are a team-building exercise intended to help his workforce become happier and more productive. And judging by the company’s recent successes, it is working.
With more than $6 million in revenue in 2007, Batzner Pest Management is the state’s largest independent pest management company and has been growing by an average of 11 percent over the past eight years, with an anticipated 18-percent jump projected for 2008.
Although Batzner said he is proud of where this third-generation family business has been – it was started in 1946 by his great-uncle, Ed Batzner – he is more interested in where the company is going next.
“I think it’s more the excitement and the opportunity to run an organization that’s growing, that’s offering people opportunities, that’s offering people a career,” he said. “[That] is more exciting than the third-generation part of it.”
Batzner has made a point of actively supporting various charities and organizations, including Trees for Tomorrow, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the Milwaukee Rescue Mission, as well as offering complimentary pest management services like mosquito control to community organizations.
That generosity was rewarded in 2006 when the company won the Better Business Bureau Torch Award for Business Ethics and Integrity.
Jordan Fox, an independent public relations consultant who has known Batzner for more than 20 years, said the continued success and business philosophy of Batzner Pest Management is directly attributable to Batzner and his leadership style.
“Jerry Batzner’s entrepreneurial spirit resonates throughout the company,” said Fox, who nominated Batzner for the award. “It can be seen in the dedication of his employees, heard in the admiration among his peers and felt the moment you walk in the door.”
Address: 16948 W. Victor Road, New Berlin
Web Site: www.batzner.com
Industry: Pest control/management
Revenues: $6.15 million in 2007
Employees: 75
