Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 12, Number 7, 1 Iulai 1995 — Loan fund recipient steadfast in her fight against termites [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Loan fund recipient steadfast in her fight against termites

by Patrick Johnston OHA Native Hawaiian Revolving Loan Fund recipient Betty Barbett understands that winning the war against termites means homeowners have to be resolute in their fight against the pests. Barbett owns and operates Hawai'i Kai-based Onipa'a Pest Control, a termite control eompany with a revolutionary exter-

nnnauon system. one destgned to start a house off on"the right footing and keep it that way for

years to eome. The fight against subterranean termites (these are distinguished from drywood termites whieh operate above ground) begins even before a house is built. Prior to laying out the foundations for a building, exterminators will install one gallon of termiticide for every 10 square feet of area under a structure. For a 2,000-square-foot property that means 200 gallons of termiticide

put directly mto the sotl at the site. The traditional way of doing this - spraying the chemicals

manually - works fine for the first eouple of years but eventually requires costly upgrades. Reapplying the termiticide also means drilling holes into the house, a messy and inconvenient process. Onipa'a Pest Control's method - called the BarBetty System - involvps laying down a grid of tubes below the foundations of a new building with pressurized drip release valves spaced every 12 inches. The tubes are connected to an outlet at ground level, allowing exterminators to apply the initial treatment then do fol-low-up service on the system. The result is evenly distributed termiticide applied on a regular basis: an effective way to keep away the bugs. "It's a way of protecting our clients' most important investment" Barbett says. Onipa'a will charge more than traditional exterminators initially but that fee will cover more than a decade of service. "In the past people wouldn't provide service," Barbett points out, "I market my product with a 12-year quality control eheek system. ... We're babysitting their building." Barbett started Onipa'a Pest Control with her mother in 1988. Her family had run an insecticide business under a different name since 1964, but when her parents divorced, she took over the eompany and renamed it. "I had never been interested in business or insects before that," she says, "I guess when it eame down to it, I did it to help my

mother." Barbett eame up with the idea for the BarBetty System six

years ago when she was considering bidding for the termite eontrol work for a large building project. The building was a tall stracture that included five floors below sea level. When thinking about how to get her employees safely down into the ground to apply the termiticide, she eame up with the idea of using tubing. She then set about trying to create a termite control system for houses using tubing.

After g o i n g through a 1 e n g t h y p a t e n t process her system was approved in 1991. Barbett's system and her entrepreneurial skills have won her aeelaim —

and eontracts — across the state. In 1993, she received the entrepreneur award at the Kapolei Outstanding Achievement awards, an event sponsored by the James Campbell Estate that recognizes individuals and organizations that have helped improve the Kapolei area and community. In the same year, the Kaua'i County Housing Agency awarded her a contract to service a large affordable housing eomplex that was about to be eonstructed near Llhu'e. Officials

for the Kaua'i agency felt the system, although ejtpensive, would save money in the long ran, eliminating problems before they got out of control. The start of constraction eoincided with Hurricane 'Iniki whieh created increased demand for housing and an even greater need for the project. Barbett's work includes more than just installing the BarBetty System. Onipa'a Pest Control

also does conventional termite protection and works on previously built houses that are starting to have termite problems. Soon she hopes to start licensing her system to other termite exterminators across the state, helping to better serve homeowners with termite problems and adding to her business in the process. Onipa'a Pest Control ean be reached at 395-7760. For more information about OHA's Native Hawaiian Revolving Loan Fund eall 594-1888.

Onipa'a Pest Control owner Betty Barbett outside her Hawai'i Kai office. Photo by Patrick Johnston

The BarBetty System: an effective way to kili termites and keep them from coming back.