Mosquito Authority adds pest control services to its portfolio

Rachel Kroeger

Staff

August 11, 2025

FOX VALLEY – After hiring Mosquito Authority himself, Kendall Kirkpatrick said he was sold – not only on the services, but also the company.

A number of years ago, Kirkpatrick said he “was looking for an opportunity to start a business,” and Mosquito Authority was looking for new franchisees.

Living in a low, wetland area, Kirkpatrick said the Fox Valley is heavily populated by mosquitoes.

“I’ve fought with mosquitoes for almost 20 years – since I moved to Wisconsin – and everything I tried didn’t work,” he said.

That was, Kirkpatrick said, until he hired Mosquito Authority to treat his yard for a Fourth of July weekend.

“It was amazing,” he said. “I [thought], ‘This is life-changing for me, and it’s got to be life-changing for other people, so I’ve got to get in this [franchise].’”

That’s when now-Owner/Operator Kirkpatrick said he joined the Mosquito Authority franchise family – commencing his first season of service in spring 2021.

“We’re actually in our fifth year of service,” he said.

Kirkpatrick said he continues to grow both his clientele and service offerings – recently adding pest control solutions and renaming the business Mosquito & Pest Authority of the Fox Valley.

“It’s actually two businesses – Mosquito Authority and Pest Authority – that I own by authorization,” he said. “But for ease of conversation, I just call it Mosquito & Pest Authority.”

Bugs that bite

The type of service Mosquito Authority offers, Kirkpatrick said, is still relatively new to the territory his franchise covers.

“It’s a relatively newer industry in this area,” he said. “It’s probably been [around] fewer than 10 years, so people are learning about it and getting educated about it.”

Though other companies in the area provide different mosquito control services, Kirkpatrick said the treatment offered by Mosquito Authority is unique and delivers results.

“We’ve got a multi-step process that we do, and it really coincides with the breeding cycle of the mosquito,” he said. “The goal is to get on top of the breeding cycle and then stay on top of it. Mosquitoes don’t stop coming just because we treated one time.”

Mosquito control, Kirkpatrick said, is “a process – not a one-time event.”

“Mosquitoes never stop breeding in the summertime,” he said. “It’s a process that we have to keep updating [to make] sure it protects our customers.”

Kirkpatrick said the process Mosquito Authority follows is called Integrated Pest Management – which prioritizes using products last.

“We don’t always like to [start by using] our products,” he said. “Some

During the survey, Kirkpatrick said Mosquito Authority owner-operators and employees start by searching for “mosquito breeding sites that could be in someone’s yard.”

“It could be as simple as water collected in a bucket or a toy that’s in the sandbox – something that people don’t necessarily see… [and] it doesn’t take much,” he said. “It only takes about a tablespoon of water for mosquitoes to lay hundreds of eggs.”

Three weeks later, Kirkpatrick said those eggs hatch – resulting in more mosquitoes, which then lay even more eggs to hatch in yet another three weeks.

“So, we disturb those breeding sites, or we treat them with an all-natural product that prevents mosquitoes from advancing through their breeding stages,” he said. “Then we provide a barrier [treatment] around the homesite.”

Kirkpatrick said that barrier treatment is sometimes mistakenly conflated with a yard-based spray.

“A lot of folks think we spray the grass, but we do not,” he said. “We actually [spray] trees and bushes, [because] that’s where mosquitoes like to hang out – where it’s protected and cooler.”

Kirkpatrick said spraying a customer’s yard doesn’t work as well when trying to protect against mosquitoes because there are already “predators in the grass – like grasshoppers and other insects – that will eat them,” and after people mow their lawn, the benefits of the treatment are cut short as well.

“Anything that [is] put on the grass would be a short-term type of fix,” he said. “The product and the process we use are effective for about three to four weeks. At about the three-week mark is when it needs to be refreshed, and that’s because of weather as well as UV [rays] from the sun – it starts to break down.”

When Mosquito Authority revisits a client’s yard, Kirkpatrick said the process begins anew every time.

“Things in people’s yards change all the time,” he said, “so we always take a look to make sure we eliminate any sources that may have changed since the last time we were there.”

It’s Mosquito Authority’s cyclical, mult-step process that Kirkpatrick said makes its treatment more effective.

“There are a lot of other companies out there that come and start spraying right away without disrupting the breeding cycles,” he said. “I say it’s like fighting a gas fire without shutting off the gas.”

Critters that crawl

Because his Mosquito Authority franchise is only called in for seasonal duty, Kirkpatrick said he brought on the new Pest Authority arm of his business, in part, to round out his year.

“Pest control does offer more of a year-round opportunity for growth,” he said.

The other, more important reason Kirkpatrick said he decided to expand the scope of his business was because of his customers.

“When I was just doing mosquito control, they’d ask me, ‘Hey, do you do different things? Do you handle ants? Do you handle bees?’ – and until this year, I had to say ‘no,’” he said. “But now I can handle all those other concerns.”

Handling “most pests, as well as rodents” that typically invade homes, Kirkpatrick said Pest Authority offers a similar level of service to that of Mosquito Authority for the concerns its franchise owners are equipped to address.

“If you look at the whole [pest control] industry, there are a whole host of things that can be considered pests – we are not the full spectrum,” he said. “We’re not dealing with [animals like] raccoons, [but] at some point, we will probably expand. Right now, we’re serving our customers in the areas that they’re asking us [for] the most.”

Because all insects and pests are different, Kirkpatrick said varying methods need to be used at appropriate times to ensure a client’s concerns are properly handled.

Similar to Mosquito Authority’s multi-step process, Kirkpatrick said Pest Authority also prioritizes prevention over chemical intervention by following its Pest Management Policy.

“We take a look and try and understand where the insects are, if they’re getting in the house, how they’re getting in the house and why,” he said. “We always look for what I would say are some of the ‘simple solutions’ to address pest control.”

Those simple solutions, Kirkpatrick said, may be sanitation-related, regardless of how clean a client keeps their house.

“A piece of old food or a wrapper someone has lost [could be] somewhere [and] you just don’t know,” he said. “Your kitchen may be immaculate, but the ants will find the one thing you don’t see.”

In either case – mosquito or pest control – Kirkpatrick said he always reassures his customers that whichever products are used specifically aim at the intended target. 

“In some cases, we don’t always need to use our products… [but], especially in mosquito control, people are very concerned about the use of our products and how they affect honey bees,” he said.

To quell any concerns customers have for their local bee population, Kirkpatrick said he and his employee – Teddy Anderson – “are highly trained to avoid areas where bees are active.”

“The areas we target for mosquitoes are not the same areas [where] honey bees will manifest,” he said. “So, we’re able to have an effective mosquito control treatment in the same yard where an owner might be keeping bees.”

Clients who cheer

Adding pest control to his business this year, Kirkpatrick said, is proving to be a sound decision, as his customers sing the praises of his comprehensive service.

“It started with a soft rollout to some of my existing customers, and, though we haven’t [officially announced] we’re in pest control, it’s [already added] a lot of business to what we do every day,” he said. “It’s kept me very, very busy – which is a good thing.”

Kirkpatrick said integrating pest control into his existing book of business “was actually a very easy process.”

“Our customers like our service, and although we’re smaller, I’m building my business on what I call ‘legendary customer service,’” he said. “We’re good communicators, we have good service and people feel they’re getting value for the price they pay.”

Kirkpatrick said they’re able to deliver both top-notch treatment and service because pest control is the only thing Mosquito & Pest Authority of the Fox Valley does.

“There are companies out there that do other services and then add on mosquito control or pest control – things that aren’t their core competency,” he said. “Sometimes they’re not as effective, because [the treatment is] not as frequent [and] they don’t follow the science.”

To make things even easier for his customers, Kirkpatrick said Mosquito & Pest Authority offers service bundles and automatic rescheduling.

“We can [also] do a subscription where customers pay on a monthly basis all year long,” he said. “It really helps with budgeting… and then we show up and we take care of everything. They don’t have to worry about calling us – we just come and take care of it.”

The satisfaction of his clientele, Kirkpatrick said, has resulted in Mosquito Authority being voted Best in the Valley by local awards program The Community Choice Awards for four consecutive years.

“Our customers like what we do, and they’ve continually told the reader polls out there that we’re doing it right,” he said

To learn more about Mosquito & Pest Authority of the Fox Valley, visit its website, mosquito-authority.com or find it on social media.