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The Bed Bug Authority

To Learn More About Bed Bug and Pest Solutions from Allergy Technologies and Our ATAHC™ Platform, click www.ATAHCnow.com or call Us at 866-978-6288

Hi Everyone, 

It’s “LIST” time of year again. Lists of supplies that children need for school. Lists of the clothing they will need for the new year. Pre-season lists ranking the top college teams as the season begins. Lists of top contenders for trophies at September’s Emmy Awards. And lists of interest to our industry: the “Top Bed Bug Cities” for bed bug infestations, released this past June by both Orkin and Terminix. These highly anticipated rankings let cities know how they are faring (or not faring), calling attention to those who may need help from ATAHC™ in addressing their bed bug concerns.

We are also becoming aware that there are tremendous applications for Artificial Intelligence in the PMP world, from marketing to customer maintenance to predictive analysis. We bring you an initial list of several initial uses of AI in this letter. As the uses of the technology become clearer, we will be heavily researching and providing invaluable and regular tips relevant to all parties on how AI will transform the industry. Our information may help supercharge your PMP business, housing maintenance, and resident relations.

Meanwhile, those of us at the Bed Bug Authority hope everyone has accomplished everything on their own “Summer of 2025 Bucket List.”

 

newsandnotes

  • RANKING SEASON: It’s widely known that the highly anticipated list of Oscar nominees is revealed every January. Meanwhile, June is when our industry sits forward: both Orkin and Terminix release their versions of America’s Most Bed Bug-Ridden Cities.

  • The lists diverge due to slightly different approaches. Orkin's list is based on the number of bed bug treatments performed by their technicians. Terminix, on the other hand, bases its ranking on the number of bed bug control service requests received, even if its technicians did not tackle the treatment themselves—a subtle difference, but enough to create slightly different lists. Regardless, appearance on either list is a scarlet letter for those named. But remember, both lists are tempered by the density of service locations of each firm in cities across the nation. Translated – more service locations equal more requests and more treatments performed.

ORKIN’S TOP 50 (Click for background)

  1. Chicago
  2. Cleveland
  3. Detroit
  4. Los Angeles
  5. Indianapolis
  6. Washington, D.C.
  7. Grand Rapids, Mich.
  8. Columbus, Ohio
  9. Champaign, Ill.
  10. Milwaukee
  11. Baltimore
  12. Pittsburgh
  13. Cincinnati
  14. Denver
  15. New York
  16. Flint, Mich.
  17. Atlanta
  18. Louis
  19. Charleston
  20. Cedar Rapids, Iowa
  21. Davenport, Iowa
  22. Youngstown, Ohio
  23. Raleigh, N.C.
  24. Dallas
  25. Philadelphia
  26. Omaha
  27. South Bend, Ind.
  28. Richmond, Va.
  29. Knoxville, Tenn.
  30. Greenville, S.C.
  31. Norfolk, Va.
  32. Charlotte
  33. Peoria, Ill.
  34. Oklahoma City
  35. Hartford, Conn.
  36. Toledo
  37. Buffalo
  38. Fort Wayne, Ind.
  39. Seattle
  40. Minneapolis
  41. Miami
  42. San Francisco
  43. Dayton, Ohio
  44. Nashville
  45. Houston
  46. Las Vegas
  47. Boston
  48. Lansing, Mich.
  49. San Diego
  50. Syracuse

Notable among the rankings are:

  • “The All-Time Gainer:” Hartford, CT jumped an unprecedented 48 spots, from #83 to #35.
  • “Will it Play in Peoria?” That age-old, clichéd question has an answer: yes, bed bugs will play in Peoria. The city gained 18 spots and jumped into the top 50, at #33.
  • For the fifth consecutive year, Chicago remains Orkin’s most bed bug-infested city in the nation. 

As mentioned, Terminix released its rankings that same week with slightly different criteria and results.

TERMINIX’S TOP 50 (Click for background)

  1. Philadelphia
  2. New York
  3. Cleveland-Akron (Canton)
  4. Los Angeles
  5. Dallas - Ft. Worth
  6. Atlanta
  7. Houston
  8. Washington, D.C (Hagerstown)
  9. San Francisco - Oak - San Jose
  10. Indianapolis
  11. Dayton
  12. Columbus
  13. Chicago
  14. Cincinnati
  15. Pittsburgh
  16. Denver
  17. Detroit
  18. Boston (Manchester)
  19. Oklahoma City
  20. Baltimore
  21. Memphis
  22. Nashville
  23. Louis
  24. Little Rock - Pine Bluff
  25. Kansas City
  26. Tampa - St. Petersburg (Sarasota)
  27. Charleston - Huntington
  28. Lexington
  29. Tulsa
  30. Orlando - Daytona Beach - Melbourne
  31. Louisville
  32. San Diego
  33. Sacramento - Stockton - Modesto
  34. Fort Smith - Fayetteville - Springfield - Rogers
  35. Richmond - Petersburg
  36. Wichita - Hutchinson
  37. Miami - Ft. Lauderdale
  38. Birmingham
  39. Paducah - Cape Girardeau - Harrisburg
  40. Toledo
  41. Shreveport
  42. Harrisburg - Lancaster - Lebanon - York
  43. Hartford & New Haven
  44. Omaha
  45. Tyler - Longview
  46. Champaign - Springfield-Decatur
  47. Salisbury
  48. Roanoke - Lynchburg
  49. Palm Springs
  50. Montgomery (Selma)
  • Regardless of which approach you favor, the swath of cities exhibits the breadth of this problem.
  • Thirty cities appear on both lists; Terminix skews slightly towards the southern US, while Orkin is slightly more Midwest.
  • If you want to address these deep-seated issues with confidence and effectiveness, this is the time to contact Allergy Technologies for information on its innovative ATAHC Platform, which will drive your numbers down significantly. We have testimonials and robust data from our work to illustrate this.
  • Call us at 866-978-6288, email us at info@allergytechnologies.com, or click ATAHCnow.com.
     
  • Picture1

    BED BUGS ON THE SILVER SCREEN:     We’re all used to the “Preview of Coming Attractions” frame before upcoming theatrical releases. We can add one for an in-the-works bed bug film if the auteur can pull it off. The piece is less like Jerry Seinfeld’s fuzzy 2007 comedy “Bee Movie,” and more like Al Gore’s Oscar-winning 2006 documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth.”
     
  • “PEST” is a documentary directed by American University student Henry Haverstick to highlight the bed bug crisis. He is 70% towards reaching his $6,000 budget, with a plan to speak with prominent entomologists and PMPs, while working to capture dramatic “real-time” video through “rapid response” deployment of his crews.
  • Those looking to help “crowdfund” his project can do so at: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/pest-a-bedbug-mini-doc#/ . [READ MORE…]

  • GENOMES CRAWL INTO THE BED BUG SPACE: As “The Scientist” reports, advances in genomic study are leading to a greater understanding of how we ended up in our global bed bug menace. 
     
  • No one team will ever be able to reconstruct the past, but Virginia Tech’s Warren Booth and his group have been at the forefront, employing the newest genomic tools. Using living bed bugs, plus those preserved from the past, they traced their progression. “We can really look at how humans and urbanization have impacted their evolution,” says Booth.
     
  • Booth’s team built models theorizing that bed bugs developed a taste for human blood about 245,000 years ago. He believes bed bug numbers first spiked about 13,000 years ago, when humans first began settling in bigger colonies and bed bugs found blood meals easier to access within dense populations. 
     
  • For the sake of the Bed Bug Authority, let's fast forward 13,000 years to the present. With urban areas comprising 55% of the earth’s population, Booth believes the bugs have found receptive environments.
     
  • Most alarming was the ability of bed bugs to rapidly develop insecticide resistance. Comparing the genomes of bugs sampled merely from 2005 through 2019, his team noted that 2019’s bed bugs displayed alarming genetic mutations for resistance practically in real time.
     
  • Many entomologists may build upon – or challenge – Booth’s work. But as one of the first genome analyses, Booth provides a new perspective on the development of chemical resistance and the effectiveness of other tools. For much more on his work, CLICK HERE.
     
  • “BRAVO” FOR BED BUGS: Finally, bed bugs tend to fall more in the “Ick” category than the “Great Nickname!” lane. However, three women on the Bravo Network show “Summer House” leaned into the fan-bestowed name of “the Bed Bug Girls” for their affinity for staying in bed all day. Their leader, Paige DeSorbo, recently left the show to found “Daphne,” a clothing line of items suitable for both lounging and heading out. (Etsy also capitalized on this group name. [CLICK HERE] ) 

    Lesson: not only PMPs can make money on these bugs. [CLICK HERE.]

 

For More Information on Allergy Technologies and our ATAHC Platform, please click on www.ATAHCnow.com You may also contact us at 866-978-6288.

 

factsandfigures

THE PEST INDEX: William Blair and Co. yields a look at bed bug and industry trends. The most recent report, for June 2025, included insights on what PMPs must do to continue to grow their businesses. While the pest market seems to remain steady, there are ways to drive business higher.

  • The Bed Bug Index (commercial and residential) increased 1 percent year-over-year.
  • The Residential Pest Index increased 15 percent year-over-year.
  • The Commercial Pest Index increased 11 percent year-over-year.
  • The Termite Index increased 6 percent year-over-year.
  • The Mosquito Index increased 1 percent year-over-year.
  • The overall pest index increased 7% vs. 2024. However, the index was lower than April and May,

Are there fewer pests and bed bugs? No. There are missed opportunities for businesses, upon which William Blair analysts elaborate:

William Blair Equity Researcher Tim Mulrooney notes that June was a more difficult month for companies in the Pest Index compared with Rollins (Orkin ). “This aligns with our conversations with privately held pest control companies in the United States, some of which continue to face headwinds in digital leads,” says Mulrooney. “We also believe a more sophisticated approach to digital marketing will be necessary to drive leads in the rapidly evolving landscape of generative AI.”

Adds Dan Gordon, managing member of PCO Bookkeepers & M&A Specialists: “This result is further evidence that pest management professionals will have to be as smart and nimble as ever when it comes to marketing and selling their services in the age of AI.”

AI AND PEST CONTROL: This will become a steady feature in the Bed Bug Authority as AI revolutionizes the industry for all stakeholders: PMPs, residents, housing authorities, and building managers. For now, we can present several higher-level improvements as a kickoff to diving deeper into this field. We anticipate putting together an integrated approach once the data becomes less noisy and the success of different approaches can be teased out. Consistently, we will be spotlighting best-in-class tools to drive the optimal metrics. Some low-hanging fruit includes:

  • Targeted Messaging: AI tools can analyze customer data to send existing customers personalized messages, follow-up reminders, and service recommendations based on previous service history or likely pest problems for the season. Maintaining the customer relationship is crucial: it is less expensive to keep a current customer than to cultivate a new one.
  • Improving Search Engine Optimization (SEO): AI-enhanced SEO tools help businesses hone their website’s structure, presentation, and content so they appear both in traditional search engines and also in AI-powered search results (like ChatGPT or Googleʼs AI summaries), boosting online visibility among local customers.
  • Upselling Services: AI tracks customer interactions, service dates, and preferences, enabling friendly and ongoing engagement. This can result in upselling of related services, such as offering bed bug prevention tips to termite customers.
  • Content Generation: As the economy evolves and standard print or media advertising loses effectiveness, content and an authoritative voice become paramount. Whether through digital platforms (TikTok, Instagram), blog posts, or thought leadership, companies must remain in the conversation and exhibit innovation. AI can help create FAQs and blog posts on websites, which can drive search rankings. Brand visibility adds to credibility, which is what customers prize.

 

For More Information on Allergy Technologies and our ATAHC Platform, please click on www.ATAHCnow.com You may also contact us at 866-978-6288.

 

atahccorner

 

Look For Us at NAHRO: Allergy Technologies and ATAHC will be attending the 2025 NAHRO Conference in Phoenix with a significant presence via our “double booth” on the convention floor. Our executives and experts will be in attendance; this is your opportunity to sit with us and share information on your bed bug, rodent, and cockroach problems within your communities. We’re eager to show how we can help through our ATAHC Bed Bug and ATAHC Plus programs. We will also have extensive data and testimonials on how we have helped other localities tackle the same issues. We look forward to meeting many of you there and encourage you to stop by.

ATAHC KEEPS GROWING: ATAHC has also continued to expand, meeting our goal of establishing a national footprint. In July, we brought ATAHC Bed Bug to Rockford, Illinois, to address their problems throughout their complex of residential units (both senior Towers and scattered residences). Our progress has mirrored our success in other locations and serves as further “proof of concept” of our success in affordable housing communities. We look forward to expanding even further.

 

For More Information on Allergy Technologies and our ATAHC Platform, please click on www.ATAHCnow.com You may also contact us at 866-978-6288.

 

events

 

 

2025 NAHRO National Conference & Exhibition
September 28-30
Phoenix, AZ
Phoenix Convention Center

PestWorld 2025
October 21 - 24
Orlando, FL
Marriott Orlando World 

AHF Live: Affordable Housing Developers Summit
November 17-19
Chicago, IL
Hyatt Regency Chicago

 

Please add info@allergytechnologies.com to your contacts to ensure regular receipt of this e-newsletter. Additionally, contact us at that same address with questions or interest in the Program, and we will be in touch quickly.

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If you seek a proactive, preventative approach, ActiveGuard should be considered the centerpiece of your long-term solution to keep bedding from being infested! As part of a comprehensive strategy for treating an active bed bug infestation, ActiveGuard is an excellent choice for use as the final step in treating the mattress and box spring sleeping area. These liners' two-year ability to keep on killing bed bugs provides for continual prevention and control against any adult bed bugs, nymphs, or eggs missed during initial treatment and any bed bugs re-introduced after treatment.

Please add info@allergytechnologies.com to your contacts to ensure the receipt of this e-newsletter regularly.