Batzner Pest Management Announces Annual Madagascar Hissing Cockroach Race on October 6 as Part of National Customer Service Week

Fans of the “exotic and glamorous” Madagascar Hissing Cockroach, here’s an exciting announcement! Batzner Pest Management is scheduling its ninth annual Madagascar Hissing Cockroach race on Tuesday, October 6 at 1:00 P.M. Jerry Batzner, president of the 63-year-old company bearing his family name, says his staff is now “training” their collection of Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches to compete in their upcoming annual hisser race at his New Berlin offices, 16948 W. Victor Rd. The race is part of the company’s annual National Customer Service Week celebration.

If you don’t recall the pertinent information about these “cute (not really) critters”, you should know they originate in the island of Madagascar, off the coast of Africa. Batzner keeps them as pets in his offices and as an educational tool, too. The Madagascar cockroach is a fascinating insect because of its unusual ability to produce its hissing sound.

On racing day, Batzner employees will form teams, and each will choose their racing roach from the Batzner collection. “The roaches will zip (if you can call that zipping) along a customized, eight foot track built especially for the race," Batzner says. “Every year, the race attracts local and national attention and recently, ESPN, the cable TV sports network, termed it one of the Top 10 Sporting Events of the Week.”

Customer Service Week allows the Batzner company to recognize the important contributions made by their customer service professionals. Batzner’s customer service specialists will participate in games and other activities during the week, which runs October 5-9. Prizes will be awarded to the winners.

"But this is not just a party," Batzner says. "Customer Service Week, which began about 21 years ago, is a national event recognizing the importance of customer service and honoring the people who practice it. We’re proud of our own customer service staff and are happy to recognize them for their important contributions to our organization and to our customers.”