Company takes aim at competitors

Pest control entrepreneur George Pickhardt finally figured out how to turn the recession into an advantage.

So much so that Pickhardt, CEO of Sarasota-based Arrow Environmental Services, one of the largest pest control firms on the Gulf Coast, is on a buying binge. The company, with 90 employees and $6 million in annual sales, most recently bought Seminole-based Ultimate Pest & Termite Control, which serves Pinellas and Hillsborough counties. That deal closed in January.

Meanwhile, late last year the company bought Largo-based FloridaCare Pest Management and Kelly's Pest Control in Sarasota. Those two deals, plus the one for Ultimate Pest, cost $700,000, Pickhardt tells Coffee Talk.