About Pete Schopen

Matt Alexander is the mayor of Dibble, Okla., and the owner of Arrow Pest Management, which is one of our current “Start-up Stories” participants....

With seven years of industry experience, Brian Zahringer started BugBoss The X-Terminator with his wife, Amber in 2021. Since its inception, BugBoss, which Amber co-owns, has grown steadily. He finished 2024 one cheese curd away from $200,000 and plans on hitting about $240,000 this year....

Pete Schopen shares his eight mentees he will write about this year. The goal is to meet monthly, and sometimes more if situations warrant it. Each month, he will highlight one of these companies in the magazine....

Over the past 12 months, there have been several significant moments with the four mentees who participated in our “Start-up” articles this year. As we wrap up 2024, let’s take one more look at our four companies....

Joseph Nguyen had an excellent first year in 2023, finishing with $110,000 in revenue. He hoped to double that in 2024, but he is well on his way to tripling his first-year numbers....

This past August marked the fourth anniversary of Pest Patrol, a Portland, Ore.-based company. Seymour, who was in a different industry five years ago, has made an incredible conversion to pest control....

Marcus Richardson of Finally Pest Control explains the company's growth strategy is much better than merely ‘adapt or die.’ It’s more about how to ‘adapt and live’!”...

Zach Bernstein and Kiki Uher, co-owners of Palm Beach, Fla.-based Bugsy’s Pest Solutions, overcame growing pains over their first 18 months of business before beginning to achieve success....

Read more about how a group of kayakers use compassion and professionalism to help relocate Canada geese to designated areas....

Pete Schopen keeps with the spirit of graduation season, celebrating three companies that have graduated from the Schopen “Start-up Stories” University 101....