Washington Business Fall 2019 | Washington Business | Page 45

business backgrounder | industry
BUGMAN
How a Tacoma-based pest control company became
known for its custom license plates.
Jason Hagey
More than four decades ago, Larry Treleven purchased a custom license plate for his
father’s work truck. The BUGMAN plate was a hit and today Sprague Pest Solutions
has nearly 180 bug- and pest-themed license plates on vehicles in six states.
At A Glance
Larry Treleven, part of the
fourth-generation family business
Sprague Pest Solutions, bought a
custom license plate for his father
in the mid- ‘70s, shortly after the
state began allowing personalized
license plates.
The plate, which said BUGMAN,
was just the beginning. In the
decades since, Sprague has added
dozens more bug- and pest-
themed plates to its fleet of work
vehicles.
In 1975, Washington state began allowing drivers the option of buying personalized license
plates, also known as vanity plates. Voters approved the idea two years earlier via referendum,
and Larry Treleven was one of the first to order a custom plate.
He made the trip to the Department of Motor Vehicles and purchased the special plate for
his father’s birthday. It said: BUGMAN.
By that time, Bob Treleven was the second-generation owner of Sprague Pest Solutions, a
Tacoma pest control company that was founded in 1926 and has been in the Treleven family
since 1931.
The BUGMAN plate, which was attached to Bob Treleven’ s work truck, turned out to be
a big hit, both with Larry’s dad and with Sprague customers.
“He liked it a lot and we thought, ‘Maybe we should have them on the other trucks,’” Larry
Treleven, now vice president of Sprague Pest Solutions, recalled recently. “That’s kind of
become our signature.”
The license plates are more than
just fun. They distinguish Sprague
from competitors, and they help
establish the company’s culture.
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