OUR STAFF IS HERE TO ASSIST YOU
Jeff Annis - Owner - Local Ownership
Pat Vanhooser - General Manager / Bug Babe -
Augusta Location
 Pat
VanHooser grew up in the Washington, DC area and got her start in
the pest control industry with the Department of Defense in the
mid1970s. The government had a program to get women into non-traditional
jobs and Pat applied for, and was accepted to, the Pest Control
program. There she obtained experience in every type of pest service
that included not only the "usual" rats, roaches, ants
and termites, but also the more exotic bats, birds and wildlife
control. There is never a typical day on a military reservation
and some days it involved a helicopter ride to get to a training
area to eliminate stinging insects that were keeping the troops
from doing their job! This was great training to take into the private
sector.
In 1990 Pat moved to the CSRA to look after her parents who had
retired down south some years before. She landed a position as
the first female technician with Advanced Services in early 1991
and fit right in with the Annis family tradition. She proved her
dedication to professionalism and customer service and quickly
was promoted to supervisor and then branch manager of the Aiken
office. In 1998 she became the general manager of the entire company
and remains in that position today.
Pat is always available to our customers to answer questions
and solve problems. She will take phone calls about pest control
and offer advice for "do it yourselfers" ...just ask
the Bugbabe! And, if you want, Pat will come speak in person to
your civic club, school or other meeting. This is just one more
way she has become part of the family tradition of customer and
community service.
 Dena
Thomas - General Manager - Aiken Location
Dena Thomas grew up in the Northwest – Washington, Oregon,
Montana and Alaska. After finishing high school she moved to Michigan
to go to college and ended up working for a wholesale oil company.
In 1995 she moved down south to Augusta where she worked for another
company in the same industry.
In 1995, she began working for Advanced Services in the Augusta
office, handing the termite department. After living in the North
most of her life, she was completely unfamiliar with bugs, so
she attended lots of training, and took Purdue University’s
Pest Management training course. She wanted to acquire as much
knowledge in this new industry as she could, in order to become
as much of an asset as possible.
In 1998 when Pat VanHooser took over the position as general
manager, Dena became the Aiken branch manager. In 2001 Jeff Annis
asked Dena if she would like to become part owner of the South
Carolina division of the company. The answer was a quick, “yes”.
After having worked for Jeff for almost 6 years, she had become
part of the Annis family tradition for excellence in service and
community support, and was ready to take on more responsibility.
Ownership has it’s challenges, but having the support of
Jeff and Pat’s wealth of experience has made the transition
much easier. Dena continues to promote the Annis family tradition
to the community of South Carolina.
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