A head for business, a heart of compassion

Steve Levy

If you had told University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) student Steve Levy that he’d one day end up in a hall of fame devoted to professional pest management, he might at first have thought you were crazy. That is, if you could get his attention from his double major of economics and psychology.

Perhaps Levy would give more thought to it, though, and realize a career in pest control makes sense. He has long been drawn to both business issues and behavioral ones. After earning his master of business administration degree from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, he landed in product management. Throughout his career, he had a hand in branding everything from Mighty Dog pet food to Flintstone vitamins.

A MOVE TO PEST CONTROL

By 2000, Levy was looking for a position that would let him make full use of his leadership talents. A recruiter put him in touch with Pest Management Professional Hall of Famer Malcolm Stack (Class of 2004), the late founder of rodent control manufacturer Bell Laboratories, and the pair hit it off immediately.

“I was taken by how nice and respectful everyone in pest control is, even competitors,” Levy adds. “I knew right away this is where I wanted to spend the rest of my career.”

Stack hired Levy as general manager in 2000, and named him CEO in 2002. Since then, Levy has grown the firm from 150 employees to more than 550; built 600,000 square feet of shipping and manufacturing facilities, and built a new corporate office in 2019. Levy constantly reinvests profits into research and development as well as the facilities, ensuring the business grows stronger each year.

Within the expansive manufacturing facility exists tremendous amounts of automation. But employees are still vital: During the pandemic, Levy and other Bell leadership worked in the factory to ensure products shipped on time.

The interpersonal side of business is never far from Levy’s mind. He has taken leadership roles for organizations such as the United Producers, Formulators and Distributors Association (UPFDA) as well as in industry regulatory issues.

AN ENVIRONMENTAL FOCUS

Levy’s leadership also is evident through Bell Labs’ restoration efforts of natural habitats on more than 100 islands worldwide. Among those endeavors is the Galápagos Islands, for which Bell Labs developed a bait to eradicate invasive rats. As a result, a giant tortoise was born live on the island for the first time in 150 years.

PMP HALL OF FAME

“Scientists used to take the eggs away to incubate, to keep the rats away,” Levy explains. “These efforts make Bell employees and customers feel good, knowing the products they make or purchase support conservation projects around the world.”

Beyond the island projects, Levy has guided Bell to be an industry leader in environmental stewardship. With most of its products produced in the U.S., all of its bait stations are made with 100 percent recycled materials. All wooden shipping pallets are recycled, and its corrugated master boxes feature 40 percent recycled content. Even the company’s newest product line, iQ Products Powered by Bell Sensing Technologies, was designed with the environment and the technician in mind: Greater efficiency and less fuel costs, paired with more accuracy, lead to more customer and employee satisfaction.

“I’m proud of the stewardship we have in the industry,” Levy concludes.