Westfield firm uses science in global bug battle

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - In the simplest terms, Dave Mueller is a bug guy.

He studied entomology and environmental science at Purdue, then moved to central Indiana to launch two companies: commercial pest-control provider Fumigation Service & Supply and the firm he hopes will put it out of business someday, pheromone maker Insects Limited Inc.

Rather than using pesticides to treat infestations, Insects Limited does battle in its Westfield laboratory, developing synthetic versions of the chemicals bugs emit to attract one another.

Its pheromone lures and traps target the creepy crawlers that can threaten stored food, tobacco, timber and fiber worldwide - everything from food-processing plants to pharmaceutical warehouses to museums artifact collections.

More than three decades after its founding, the 10-person company has a global reach. Half of Insects Limiteds 50 largest customers are outside the United States, Mueller told the Indianapolis Business Journal (http://bit.ly/1savSkV ).

Fumigation Service, meanwhile, has six locations and a full-time staff of about 40 that delivers more traditional treatment to commercial clients throughout the Midwest. It occupies a separate Westfield facility where wood products from the region are fumigated before they can be shipped overseas; an on-site U.S. Department of Agriculture office provides required inspections.

Small and midsize firms dominate the nearly $12 billion U.S. pest-control industry, accounting for more than 70 percent of revenue, according to a June report from research firm IBISWorld Inc. Sales have increased about 2.5 percent in the past five years, the report said, and the trend is expected to continue.

Mueller declined to share his family-owned firms financial results, but he said the businesses are debt-free and have increased revenue every year since 1981.

He credits a business strategy divined from an unlikely source: his daily adversary.

Theres a lot we can learn from the insect world, said Mueller, 61.

Link:
Westfield firm uses science in global bug battle