Do you lend a helping hand?
 
From clay shoot to Foodie, golf outing to mixers, the UBCC Board of Directors to committees and events, volunteers are there.
 
It might surprise you that across Pennsylvania 28 percent of us volunteer, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry website.
 
That translates to a staggering 338 million – that’s millions of hours of donated time, with an estimated value of $7.7 billion in services donated throughout Pennsylvania.
 
“Volunteering with UBCC not only helps our chamber grow, but also gives you valuable access to the business community around you,” said Corey Armideo, a partner at PBR Productions in Perkasie.
 
Armideo volunteers on UBCC’s membership committee, which meets monthly to discuss member outreach and engagement, new member initiatives and recruiting.
 
Volunteers meet to discuss how local governance – from borough councils and township supervisors to county commissions and state representatives, help or bootstrap the business community – and what can be done to grow our economy.
 
Our members know about roads and infrastructure, because they use them to deliver goods and services – so who’s better suited to provide transportation insight?
 
When members volunteer their time, thoughts and concerns about transportation and logistics throughout the region, it can only make distribution better.
 
When they speak up about talent shortages and how to guide young people into good paying jobs, workforce development becomes significantly more meaningful – and making the connection to schools, college and universities creates opens easy communication channels.
 
Our business members provide opportunities to meet and network, through regular chamber mixers. They open their business homes and offer refreshment – and yes, that’s a form of volunteering, too.
 
“Volunteering with the UBCC is an important part of Comcast Spotlight’s membership because it allows me to meet and introduce myself to local businesses…,” said Pam Sawyer. She’s senior account executive for Comcast Spotlight, and a membership committee member.

Sawyer said she’s able to meet new people easier, because of Chamber mixers her committee work and the opportunities volunteering provide.
 
“It is also very satisfying, personally, to know that the time spent volunteering has helped with the goals and the growth of the UBCC,” Sawyer said.
 
When members head to central Pennsylvania to volunteer as mentors during Pennsylvania Free Enterprise Week summer camps, they’re volunteering their time, their talent and something they treasure most: sharing their professional experiences to help the next crop of business leaders.

Volunteer hours are the mainstay of our organization and any amount of time, talent or treasure truly makes a difference.
 
Armideo said volunteering with the chamber tells other members you care about helping your community.
 
Bruce Kinsey, of Bruce P. Kinsey Photography in Telford volunteers both time and talent: he’s a membership committee member, and he takes photos of events, ribbon cuttings and mixers for UBCC.
 
“It [volunteering] gives you the opportunity to be engaged, be informed, and be the difference,” Kinsey said.
 
For more information about how you can help and make a difference in Upper Bucks, call the UBCC at 215.536.3211.

An ounce of prevention is worth its weight in cure
BY Melinda Rizzo
 
Bats in the attic rafters? No problem.

Mosquitoes making your yard a tropical nightmare instead of an easy, breezy summer paradise? No sweat.
Mice running the gauntlet across the kitchen floors? Piece of cake.

Over two decades of experience as a pest control expert and exterminator, Shane Peev, owner of Sunset Pest Solutions, Inc., in East Greenville has seen just about everything.

He knows how to handle pest infestations  –  from bats (remember, they’re protected) to bees, groundhogs to termites, rats and mice, those pesky mosquitoes – the whole kit and caboodle.

Peev handles residential and business concerns with equal parts passion and concern for his customers and their needs, and to make the world a more pleasant place.

One of the most intriguing jobs he’s done involved a home property in Dublin, some years ago.
“In fact, it was a neighbor of the property owner who called me out,” Peev said.

It went like this: Thousands upon thousands of rats had infested the property in a chilling story more commonly associated with 1970s horror movies, than rural or small town Upper Bucks County private properties.

“The woods were moving,” Peev said, of the number of rats about the place. Rats breed quickly and often. Left unchecked a single mating pair can become a huge problem in short order.

Peev’s structural approach to pest control, his curiosity about tough cases and a realistic, calm point of view Peev said the rats took about three weeks to “get things under control.”

His advice to dealing with these “mischief” makers – mischief is the word for a group of rats - is to pay attention as soon as you see a single rat. “I’d rather prevent the problem than control it,” Peev said.

Besides wiping out a third of Europe during the Middle Ages in Europe (rats carry Bubonic Plaque), they are also a carrier of more common pathogens, including those causing dermatitis in people.

Because they’re omnivores – which mean they eat anything and everything, they can cause damage and contamination to plants, animal feed and human food and its sources.

While you’re more likely to find rats in outbuildings, under structures like decks or sheds or in basements, Peev said bats hanging out in attics should be treated with care.

Bats breed and have their young or “pups” in June, which means August is the time to consider evicting them.

“You have to wait until the pups are big enough to fly. Then it’s about getting them out of the building and sealing where they come in,” Peev said.

Bats are not only beneficial – they control insect populations, especially mosquitoes, they’re also a protected species.

According to the Penn State Extension Service, bats are protected under Pennsylvania law and should not be needlessly destroyed. For more information about bats visit https://extension.psu.edu/bats.
“I’d say the top three pests are mosquitoes, mice – which we have problems with year round and Carpenter ants,” Peev said.
Peev said ants present a unique problem because there are so many different types and a once-size-fits-all approach to bidding them good riddance, isn’t the best way to handle them.

“You have to know the type of ants you’re dealing with. For some bait works best, for others you need a different approach. The wrong approach to getting rid of them can, in fact, make things much worse,” Peev said.

“As technology gets better and improves all industries, so [methods] get better for us, too,” Peev said.

For more information about Sunset Pest Solutions Inc., or to schedule an appointment visit sunsetpestsolutions.com, email [email protected], or call 610.428.1081.