PHOTO: SONESTA
1. CHECKING IN The United Producers, Formulators and Distributors Association’s (UPFDA’s) spring meeting took place April 18-19 at the Royal Sonesta in New Orleans, La.
PHOTO: PMP STAFF
2. BOARD MEETING A SUCCESS The UPFDA board met April 18 to discuss a variety of topics while visitors listened in a gallery area. Pictured clockwise in the top photo, from bottom left are Donna Giacalone, The Bug Stop; Debi Logue, BASF; Mike Kelly, PCT; Berry Cothern, Syngenta; Casey Prewitt, Neogen; Pat Lynch, Bell Labs; Dr. Cisse Spragins, Rockwell Labs; UPFDA Executive Director Andrea Coron; UPFDA Associate Director Kristin Coron; Karen Furgiuele, Gardex Chemicals; Jacqueline Angulo, Superior Angran; Lee Barrett, Nisus; Scott Riley, MGK; and Daniel Hutton and John Woodward, Geotech Supply.
PHOTO: PMP STAFF
3. ‘A MIXED BAG’ Keynote speaker and economic consultant Dr. Loren Scott shared a mixed bag of projections during his presentation, “Gazing into the Crystal Ball: The Outlook for the Economy.” He expects an “official economic recession” to begin in the third quarter of 2023 — after little to no growth in the second quarter — and to conclude after the first quarter of 2024.
PHOTO: PMP STAFF
PHOTO: PMP STAFF
4. AN INTERACTIVE SESSION This author was charged with presenting a pest control state of the industry update to attendees, and decided to do so with some technological innovations — including showing a short video taken from interviews from Pest Management Professional’s (PMP’s) recent Growth Summit; sharing stats from the November issue of PMP, which featured the magazine’s exclusive State of the Industry Report; and offering an interactive quiz that attendees took with their cell phones to see how well they know industry trends and developments.
UPFDA Vice President Patrick Lynch, ACE, delivered an update of the EPA’s Proposed Interim Decision (PID) on Rodenticides. PHOTO: PMP STAFF
5. RODENTICIDE UPDATE UPFDA Vice President Pat Lynch, ACE, SVP of Global Sales for Bell Labs, delivered an update of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Proposed Interim Decision (PID) on rodenticides. Lynch expects the final PID to be shared in 2024.
PHOTO: PMP STAFF
6. REGULATORY REPORT UPFDA President Dr. Cisse Spragins, CEO of Rockwell Labs and a PMP
Hall of Famer (Class of 2018), pictured left, introduced presenter Julie Spagnoli of JM Specialty Consultants. A pesticide regulatory consultant, Spagnoli discussed evolving regulatory issues challenging pest management professionals and pest control solution suppliers, including the Endangered Species Act, the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act of 2022 (PRIA5), the “Environmental Justice” movement, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), and state issues such as preemption, certification and training.
Dr. Claudia Riegel speaking at the UPFDA event. PHOTO: PMP STAFF
7. CITY PLANNING Rounding out the meeting’s slate of speakers was Dr. Claudia Riegel, director of the
City of New Orleans Mosquito, Termite and Rodent Control Board. She delivered a captivating overview of the challenges of pest management in urban settings, noting, “It’s critical for municipalities to have one-, three-, five- and 10-year pest management goals, and detailed related protocols, solutions arsenals, and measurables.”
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