Newsday Article - 2007

'Thrilled' to be on target as 'best' with pests

Bugs bugging you? Got Taco Bell-esque rodent problems? Who you gonna call?

If New York magazine's annual "Best of 2007" issue is your guide, Arrow Exterminating in Lynbrook should be first on your list. The issue, now on newsstands, named the company the best pest-control business in the New York area, citing Arrow's careful approach in the potentially perilous world of pest control. Before starting a job, the company takes an inventory of a home's residents to make sure children and pets are kept out of harm's way. The company also employs an entomologist to devise the most effective pesticides, and it uses natural products when possible.

"We're thrilled," said Debby Tappan, who with her sister, Jackie Grabin, runs the 60-year-old company their father founded.

So how did a Long Island company end up on the list?

Its residential and commercial service areas include not only Nassau and Suffolk but the five boroughs. And at one time New York City contracted the company to keep pigeons off the Queensboro Bridge off-ramps overlooking parking lots.

Arrow's clients also have included the Long Island Rail Road (pigeons again) and the U.S. Postal Service. The state Department of Transportation is a client. Not bad for a company that Army veteran Bernard Stegman, who's 88, said he founded in 1947 by himself with just $3.50 - enough money to buy some business cards. A friend who taught him the ropes donated the starting products, Stegman said during a telephone interview from Aruba, where he was on a family vacation with daughter Jackie.

"I'm speechless," he said about making the list. Stegman is Arrow's president. His daughters are both vice presidents. He said his business philosophy has always been simple: "I was willing to give people service any day of the week. Even now we are available on Sundays."

- CARRIE MASON-DRAFFEN - NEWSDAY