R.B. Pest Solutions specializes in providing effective and reliable pest control solutions for residential and commercial properties. During this winter season, Robiar Smith, CEO of R.B. Pest Solutions, shared with me what business owners should be doing during the winter months on top of operating in the covid pandemic. She said, “As the seasons change in this unique time of COVID it is important for business owners to be very aware of the uptick in pest activity especially if your business space is temporarily closed. Rodents, roaches and flies represent a large influx of this activity. If not addressed immediately they can cause serious harm to your business.”

Question: Restaurants have felt the brunt of the pandemic head on. How is the Covid Pandemic and the business shutdowns impacting the rodent population?

Answer: With the restaurants closed, there are significantly fewer food sources so they are much more aggressive and desperate. You do not want to leave a rodent problem in your business untreated if you are closed because they will multiply quickly. Anything or any area which is undisturbed will be options for where rodents can thrive. Not only Rodents, but also roaches and flies find these spaces ideal. Low foot traffic has provided the pest refuge with limited interruption and restaurant owners should have measures in place to deal with an infestation.

Business environments that store food, have standing water, beverages, and garbage disposal close to premises are areas that attract the highest levels of activity. Along with the nauseous the threat of infection and disease if high when not addressed properly. According to the National Pest Management Association, Cockroaches are known to spread 33 kinds of bacteria, including E. coli and Salmonella species, six types of parasitic worms, and seven kinds of human pathogens.

Contact R.B. Pest Solutions if your business needs extermination, Inspections, Preventative measures and/or Monitoring.

Question: Robiar, your story is pretty incredible. Tell me more about how you came to be in the pest control business.

Answer: When my mother was pregnant with me, she and my father were a young couple and my mom wanted to make sure he stayed on the straight and narrow and had a way to provide for the family. They lived in Bronzeville and one day my mother walked into Aberdeen Pest Control which was in the neighborhood. It was run by a married couple, Curt and Dorothy. My mom walked in and asked if they had any jobs available. They said yes and my mom sent my dad down there to work. Fast forward to today, my father has trained hundreds of exterminators and he is well known in the city of chicago.

My work history includes being a professor of technology, teaching business courses, entrepreneurship, professional development, and IT. One day I had an epiphany and decided to take all I knew and had been teaching to start my own business and since my father is so knowledgeable in pest control, I knew that where I should create my business. My father passed all his knowledge to me and he planted a seed of excellence in me. Pest Control is not just about money for me. This is about my father’s legacy. R.B. Pest Solutions has contracts with the city of Chicago and we are licensed through with the Environment Protection Agency.

I now have a seat at the table and through me, my father also has a seat at the table. He provides that extra care and service to provide the best experience. We have married his 4 decades of old school customer service, experience, and knowledge and added my new school efficiencies and technology. We are an amazing Father Daughter Team. Everyone calls him Pops and he trains all my new hires.

I’m often amazed that I went from teaching business to having this amazing Black Owned Business. I went from an idea to fruition. Our retail store is in Chatham and the store is truly there to hire from the community and to educate the community. Our staff is 100% from the community and very diverse. We offer competitive pay, bonuses and benefits. Pest control is essential and we are here to be a solution for and in our community. We currently have a staff of 25 and will be hiring four more people.

The letter “B” in the name R.B. Pest Solutions is in honor of my father, Michael Benton. Since my parents, Michael and Dolores, didn’t have any sons, it is important for me to carry on my father’s legacy with this company. His work ethic and business strategies will not go in vain. Generations to come will know about the man who taught me so much! He’s the best teacher a woman could ask for. My mother introduced her husband to extermination. In return, he showed his daughter, a little black girl from the south side of Chicago, the true meaning of entrepreneurship. I learned to create my own lane and live my dreams while fulfilling my other responsibilities.

R.B. Pest Solutions is a locally owned business. For more information, visit the website https://rbpestsolutions.com or call 312-217-9605. The retail store is located at 8243 S. Cottage Grove.

Click here to read Part 1 of this interview for Winter Pest Control Tips for your home.