About Pete Schopen

Buggin’ Out Pest Solutions has grown from $52,000 in 2022 to $170,000 in 2023 and $275,000 in 2024. But while owner Travis Kjemperud loves the steady growth, the 35-year-old is becoming acutely aware of the business-related things that he doesn’t know. But growing a business comes in stages....

Joel Amores has had a turnaround in his life in order to get where he is now. He is now a successful businessman, devoted husband, loving father and inspirational leader in the Cuban community....

Augie Gamelli at Gamelli’s Pest Solutions in Shelburne, Mass., has a very important test coming up. He needs his restricted-use license to grow his business....

Matt Alexander is the mayor of Dibble, Okla., and the owner of Arrow Pest Management, which is one of our current “Start-up Stories” participants....

With seven years of industry experience, Brian Zahringer started BugBoss The X-Terminator with his wife, Amber in 2021. Since its inception, BugBoss, which Amber co-owns, has grown steadily. He finished 2024 one cheese curd away from $200,000 and plans on hitting about $240,000 this year....

Pete Schopen shares his eight mentees he will write about this year. The goal is to meet monthly, and sometimes more if situations warrant it. Each month, he will highlight one of these companies in the magazine....

Over the past 12 months, there have been several significant moments with the four mentees who participated in our “Start-up” articles this year. As we wrap up 2024, let’s take one more look at our four companies....

Joseph Nguyen had an excellent first year in 2023, finishing with $110,000 in revenue. He hoped to double that in 2024, but he is well on his way to tripling his first-year numbers....

This past August marked the fourth anniversary of Pest Patrol, a Portland, Ore.-based company. Seymour, who was in a different industry five years ago, has made an incredible conversion to pest control....

Marcus Richardson of Finally Pest Control explains the company's growth strategy is much better than merely ‘adapt or die.’ It’s more about how to ‘adapt and live’!”...