Pest control is one of the most connected industries in home services. Owners share numbers openly. They call each other before making big decisions. They show up at events not just to sell but to learn. It’s a culture built on the idea that a stronger industry lifts every operator in it.
But if you’re new to the business, or you’ve been heads-down running your company for a decade, that whole layer of the industry can be invisible. You know your P&L, your routes, and your team. You may not know where the real learning happens, or who to call when you’re trying to decide whether to open a second branch, sell to private equity, or fix a broken sales process.
This is a starter map. As the PCO Vendor Collective, we work with pest control owners every day, and these are the associations, peer groups, events, and outlets we point people to when they ask where to plug in.
Most owners know NPMA exists. Fewer know how to plug in beyond paying dues. Membership alone gets you a directory listing and vendor discounts. Involvement is where the real value shows up, and it comes in three flavors depending on how much of your time you’re willing to give.
The events are where the industry actually meets, decides, and plans. The ones worth knowing:
“You must go at least once. I’ve never felt more connected to the industry than when I stepped through the doors of Academy after my first year. Now I’m on year 7. I keep coming back!”
- Mark Calciano, Coalmarch Marketing on NPMA Academy
Hives are NPMA’s peer networking program, and one of the most useful benefits nobody talks about. NPMA handpicks a group of 5 to 7 members based on your goals and stage, then you meet on Zoom for 30 minutes a week, same time every week, for up to nine weeks. Each week one member brings a topic they’re working through and the group weighs in. It’s low-friction, free with membership, and one of the fastest ways to build a real peer network without leaving your office. Applications open a few times a year at npmapestworld.org under Engage → Leadership Programs → Hives.
The ELP is NPMA’s two-year leadership pipeline. Each cohort is capped at ten people, so it’s competitive, but the return is real: NPMA funds your travel and registration to major meetings, pairs you with a mentor, and puts you in monthly calls with other participants and NPMA leaders. It’s built for the operator who wants to serve on committees, eventually sit on the board, and help shape where the industry goes. Applications open in the fall each year and close in mid-November.
NPMA isn’t the only game in town. A couple of the best events happen through your CRM, where you’re comparing notes with owners running the exact same software you do. That kind of learning (what they’ve automated, what they’ve integrated, what workflows they’ve optimized) is different from what you get at a general conference. Worth adding to your calendar:
Almost every state has a pest management association. Some are large and well-funded. Some are volunteer-run. All of them are worth a look.
When you join a state association, in most states you’re also joining NPMA automatically. It’s the best two-for-one in the industry. The regulatory education is state-specific, so if you’re trying to figure out how a new rule affects your applicator licenses or fumigation work, this is where that conversation happens.
State events are smaller, cheaper, and closer to home. If PestWorld feels like drinking from a fire hose, your state’s winter conference is a much easier place to start meeting people. You can find your state association on npmapestworld.org under Association Partners.
Trade associations get you the events and the credentials. Peer groups get you the honest conversations.
Peer groups are small, usually invite-only communities of non-competing owners who meet regularly to share what’s actually working. Members open their books, admit what’s broken, and get real feedback from people who understand the business. There’s no polish. That’s the point.
A few worth knowing about in pest control:
Getting into a peer group usually happens through a referral. Ask around at your state association or at PestWorld. If you’ve been in the industry a few years and you’re actively growing, you’ll find a home.
If you’re not ready to travel or spend on a mastermind yet, podcasts are the fastest way to start absorbing industry knowledge. Three worth adding to your commute:
Two publications drive the industry news cycle. Both are worth an email subscription:
Both are active on LinkedIn, and both cover Collective member news regularly. Get on the e-newsletter lists first. Print subscriptions are worth it once you’re used to the pace of the industry news cycle.
You spend real money every month with a set of vendors: your CRM, your marketing agency, your bookkeeper, your review platform. Most of them have formal channels for customers who want to shape what gets built next, and almost none of them get enough good input. If you’re a thoughtful operator with real numbers behind your opinions, you’re the kind of customer they need to hear from.
A few ways it shows up:
How to get in: ask. Tell your account rep or customer success manager that you want to be part of shaping what they build next. Show up when they invite you. Give real answers, not the ones you think they want to hear.
The industry moves in the direction its customers push it. The tools you’ll use in five years will be shaped by the operators engaged with vendors today. Might as well be you.
If this is your first pass at getting involved, here’s a simple sequence:
You don’t have to do all of it at once. You just have to start.
The pest control industry is generous with newcomers. It always has been. The five of us in the PCO Vendor Collective (Coalmarch Marketing, Applause Technology, A.R.M. Solutions, PCO Bookkeepers & M&A Specialists, and Voice for Pest) each got our start because someone in the industry answered a question we didn’t know we were supposed to ask. This guide is our version of returning the favor.
If you want to talk through any of it, find us at PestWorld or send one of us a note. We’re easy to reach.