The Green Woman behind U.S. Pest

2008 is already a hot year for progressive changes in politics and cultural outlooks. Among the key issues dominating news venues from the national to the regional level, as well as the questions directing the presidential nominees’ speeches across the country, are, one, the popular new concept ‘Green’ and, two, the representation of women and minorities in top leadership positions. For generations to come, 2008 may mark the year we actually entered the twenty-first century, and U. S. Pest Protection Co., Inc.’s Erica Brister is one of the major forces behind it.

Every major U.S. industry is undergoing pressure to offer green alternatives. Surprisingly, the pest control industry has been among the slowest to respond. No national pest company has yet ‘gone green.’ However, the demand for green has not been lost on smaller local companies, which one expects will be the major force that eventually changes the face of the pest industry. In our own bit of the world – Nashville and its outlying areas – U.S. Pest is leading the way to safer, green pest protection. U. S. Pest is not only challenging the pest industry to go green, it is also challenging the industry on another front. One of the major faces behind U. S. Pest’s green movement is that of a twenty-six year old woman, Erica Brister, who was recently named the new President of U. S. Pest. Few pest companies are green and few have women in major leadership positions. U. S. Pest is showing the industry that the recruitment of women into top management positions is a smart and lucrative project. U. S. Pest introduced green methods and products years ago, but through the recent efforts of Erica Brister – daughter of U. S. Pest’s co-founders, Sam Peden and Sheryl Allen – and her husband, Josh Brister, the company is revising and strengthening green training and knowledge, as well as promoting greater cultural, green awareness through PR and advertising. Erica says “We’re Green and Growing” and has plans for her and her husband, along with the rest of the Green Team, to expand U.S. Pest to even larger markets in and around Tennessee.

Erica received her Bachelors Degree in Business and Marketing from Emerson College in Boston, MA in 2005, where she also focused on the fine arts, especially photography. Erica returned to Nashville in 2007 and became involved in U. S. Pest’s marketing division, eventually becoming the Head of Creative Development, before accepting the title of President. Erica’s educational and business background in marketing and photography, as well as her natural artistic eye, has led her to re-envision the company’s ethical concerns, business strategies, and overall public face.

At the Nashville Southern Women’s Show, Erica and her Green Team will promote U.S. Pest’s green image and demonstrate U.S. Pest’s new and innovative technologies and techniques. Especially of interest to those concerned with protecting their home against pests and protecting their families and pets against harmful pesticides is U.S. Pest’s development of a new service plan that promotes not just green products, but green services. With U.S. Pest, as Erica is fond of saying, “Its easy being green.”
For more information about Erica Brister or U. S. Pest, visit www.uspest.com or contact Erica at 615-590-1260 or erica@uspest.com