Dan Ritter knows a thing or two about making money off of unpleasant matters. In 1990, he started EES (Effective Environment Solutions), Inc., a manufacturer of odor-control products, which includes urinal screens and toilet rim cages.
The 10-employee company makes about $3 million in annual revenue.
But it wasn't long before Ritter started hearing about bedbugs and how much they were wreaking havoc with some of his clients, major hotels. Two years ago, he partnered with the University of Florida, Gainesville, to come up with a natural bedbug repellent called Bed Bugs No More!
The spray is quite effective, said Ritter. One of its ingredients is the plant-based geraniol which "tends to melt the keratin that holds the bedbug's skeleton together," he explained. "It kills virtually 100 percent.''
Right now, Ritter only sells the sprays to hotels, YMCAs, jails and other commercial businesses. But he is hoping to get it on the shelves of major retailers soon. Bedbugs are not going away, he said, adding that his spray ''could easily double his company's sales."
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