03/28/2024
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By Cara Beth Lewis

Honesty, respect, and professionalism – that’s what matters to this small business. After taking a leap of faith in 2017, Down East Pest Control has grown and achieved goals. According to owners Jeremy and Emily Dowless, the one-stop shop for your pest and moisture control needs now operates at a new, larger location in Bladenboro. 

The owners, Jeremy and Emily Dowless of Bladenboro, have been married for twelve years and have three children. While Jeremy manages the day-to-day operations, Emily helps with the books. The couple shared, “In the beginning, honestly, our goal was to have work to do every day. It is a scary feeling knowing that you left a steady paycheck for one that wasn’t promised.”

They continued to explain, “Today, our goals now are a little different. We want to be your one-stop shop for pest control and moisture control needs. We want to provide excellent customer service to every single customer, every time. We are a family-owned business that wants your business.” 

Down East Pest Control is licensed in North and South Carolina, providing services for residential and commercial clients. According to the owners, “We offer routine pest control services to help with termites, spiders, ants, roaches, rodents, etc. Most of our customers like the quarterly pest control service because if there are any issues between services, we come back free of charge.” They continued, “We also offer stand-alone or seasonal treatments such as bed bug services, yard treatments, termite treatments, and mosquito treatments. As for our moisture control services, we offer encapsulations, vapor barriers, dehumidifiers, sump pumps, and French drains. We offer free home inspections and quotes. Your home is your biggest asset, and unfortunately, a lot of people have no idea what is going on underneath their house. We are happy to come out and do a free inspection to check for termites, moisture, or any type of ‘pest.’”

All small businesses face challenges. The owners at Down East told BladenOnline about their challenges: “Our biggest challenge has got to be staffing. As a business owner, it is so hard to delegate tasks to others when you know your name is on the line. Finding employees that will treat your business like it is their own is a task of its own, but we have a great group. It is also hard to compete with some of the benefit packages from larger employers, but we are trying. We have been blessed with some wonderful employees, and we want to keep them. We try to do what we can for them, and we want to try to add to that as much as we can in terms of our benefits package.”

It is important to support small businesses because many small business owners give back support to the community in many different ways. “We are very active in our community,” Jeremy and Emily shared. They stated, “We sponsor numerous events and churches and ball teams throughout the year. One cause that is very near and dear to our hearts is the Trooper Kevin Conner Memorial Foundation.” 

Down East Pest Control is excited to continue to grow in a new space. Jeremy and Emily told BladenOnline, “Our office at 130 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Bladenboro, has been a good one, but we simply ran out of space. We have been looking to build or buy for over a year now, but nothing panned out. We found some other offices, but we really wanted to stay in Bladenboro, our hometown. Our new location is 12242 NC Hwy 131, Bladenboro. We now have much more office space as well as a huge garage area in the back for all of our supplies.” 

The Dowlesses also have exciting news to share regarding the previous location of Down East Pest Control, located on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Bladenboro. They shared, “Our old location will soon become Down East Auto Accessories. Jeremy has actually sold car and truck accessories for over ten years. He loves anything automotive, and this has always been more like a hobby for him. He never really advertised his products, but everyone knows that Jeremy is the one to call if you need floor mats, toolboxes, etc. We are in the process of transforming the old office into a showroom for the auto accessories. We will offer toolboxes, floor mats, bed covers, step bars, vent visors, winches, fuel tanks, dog boxes, and more.” 

www.downeastpest.com 

https://www.facebook.com/downeastpest/

Open Monday – Friday, 8 am-5 pm.

910-648-4500.

A message from Down East: 

“First and foremost, we want to thank God for all His blessings on our family and our business. We would also like to thank our family for all of their support through the years. Our parents have supported our dreams from day one and are always willing to help when needed, including keeping our wild and crazy kids at the drop of a hat! A huge thank you to our employees – you are the ones that make it happen. Thank you for your hard work and for always going above and beyond for our customers. We appreciate you more than you will ever know! Special thanks especially to our customers and our community. Bladen County is our home, and there is nowhere else we would rather be. Even though our community is small, its heart is not. The love and support we receive daily from our neighbors is unheard of! We work hard to serve you, and we appreciate your business. We built our business on word of mouth, and we want to be your trusted partner for any pest control or moisture needs for your home or business. We also covet your feedback. If we do a good job, let us know! If we miss the mark, let us know, and let us make it right for you. We are not perfect by any means, but we strive to do our best. We want to always provide excellent customer service!” 

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