About Us

5 Star Termite and Pest Control received their Arizona State License on February 8, 1980. It is still operated by owner Shelby Hawkins to this day. Shelby made 5 Star's mission statement the effective control of termites and pests without harming the environment, "a natural choice."

5 Star has always stepped away from standard practices to innovate and overhaul an industry in need of creative new solutions. From the beginning, 5 Star abandoned the use of power spraying to control pests in a yard. This involved the over application of chemicals that tended to hurt plants as well as kill ALL pests in the area. The problem with this practice, other than the possibility of damage to plant life, was not taking into consideration the whole ecosystem of your yard. Power spraying tended to kill beneficial pests (i.e. ladybugs, praying mantises, et cetera), too. 5 Star's attitude towards "the big picture" has always been an integral part of their termite and pest control treatment policy.

Jumping forward several years, the EPA restricted and then outlawed the chemical known as Chlordane. The termite and pest industry was left with new, far less effective, low-in-toxicity chemicals. This was great for our environment and health, but bad for property owners with termite infestations. No longer was simply dumping chemicals into the soil under and around structures an effective way to control infestations.

5 Star's owner, Shelby Hawkins, began experimenting with new ideas and treatment technologies to retain longer control periods. After several years of experimentation, she arrived on a foam based, above ground application process of termite control. In 1995 5 Star had an opportunity to prove the effectiveness of this new process by treating an island in the south pacific. Shelby rid an entire island of termites and roaches while being monitored for sound environmental ethics by the U.S. government. This success led to a new standard at 5 Star, the abandonment of soil application and use of above ground foam applications only.

This process went through several evolutions during the remainder of the '90s. The Process was patented in 2001, and came to be known as ETT444®. Refinements have continued to occur since the process was patented. This persistent evolution was not exclusive to the wall void injection process itself, but extended to the training of the applicators.

The technicians applying ETT444® needed to be smarter about its application; standard training practices were not up to 5 Stars standards. 5 Star's technician training program now not only consists of content on termites, and the materials used to control them, but a wide variety of construction knowledge. This equips the inspectors and technicians with the knowhow for any situation they are presented.

This education process has been extended to 5 Star's customers. 5 Star sought an approach that incorporates the customer into the plan of action for a pest problem. 5 Star began to educate the customer with knowledge of conditions around the home or office that attracted pests. If the customer aided 5 Star by resolving moisture or pest harborage issues, a targeted treatment would be consistently effective. For over 30 years, 5 Star has been a leader in innovation and change in the pest control industry. 5 Star is now leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of the industry in nearly all areas of termite and pest control. 5 Star will continue its efforts for a better environment and quality control.