‘Circle Of Life’ Leads To Return Home

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‘Circle Of Life’ Leads To Return Home

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ABC Home & Commercial Services is among the businesses that have tapped into Weslaco EDC’s marketing grant program.
ABC Home & Commercial Services is among the businesses that have tapped into Weslaco EDC’s marketing grant program.

There were three things that Steven Aguilar was sure of when he graduated from Donna High School in 2014.

Despite early doubts, Steven Aguilar has followed in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps in running a pest control services business.
Despite early doubts, Steven Aguilar has followed in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps in running a pest control services business.

One, he was going to college out of the area. Aguilar was also certain that he would never return to the Rio Grande Valley to live permanently nor go into the family business of pest control services. The Texas A&M graduate was ultimately but happily proven wrong on all counts. In 2021, he returned to the Valley as the branch manager for ABC Home & Commercial Services after the Austin-based company purchased the Aguilar family business – ASA Guardian Pest Control.

Aguilar worked for ABC in Austin for two years after graduating from college as the company trained him for the management role up ahead. Returning home in 2021, he called it “a circle of life” event with his father and uncle working on his staff for an enterprise rooted in the efforts of his grandfather, Eloy Aguilar, who started out in pest control many years before in McAllen.

“I grew up in the business and I believe you always rep your company no matter where you go,” he said. “I was taught to take pride in what you’re doing.”

Steven Aguilar, far left, worked with family members and company founders to establish an ABC Home & Commercial Services branch in the Rio Grande Valley. (Courtesy)
Steven Aguilar, far left, worked with family members and company founders to establish an ABC Home & Commercial Services branch in the Rio Grande Valley. (Courtesy)

Change Of Plans

Aguilar’s ambitions out of college were to do sports marketing for a professional sports franchise with the Houston Texans being his ideal landing spot.

Those job prospects didn’t look good in completing his studies at Texas A&M. He had worked part-time for ABC Home & Commercial Services in College Station. While there, he saw ABC purchase a local pest control service in the Bryan/College Station market. It got him thinking. What if ABC bought the Aguilar family business in the Valley? His father Esteban was non-committal about that possibility in the late 2010s. 

The younger Aguilar put out the word and ABC expressed interest about entering the RGV market. No promises were made, but when the company hired Aguilar and began training him in Austin, hopes were stirred. It all came to fruition in 2021 when ABC did indeed purchase the Aguilar pest services business. Steven returned to the Valley to get the franchise established in Weslaco.

In 2023, Aguilar and ABC hosted a chamber of commerce ribbon cutting for a new location on Mid Valley Drive in Weslaco. He got plugged into the services offered by the Weslaco Chamber of Commerce and the Weslaco Economic Development Corporation. They have been helpful in establishing the ABC brand in the Valley and utilizing a Mid-Valley location in servicing a regional market.

“I tell small business owners that you treat a chamber membership like a gym,” Aguilar said. “You have to use it to get anything out of it. Take advantage of all of the programs the chamber and the EDC provide.”

The Weslaco EDC has hosted well-attended workshops to advise local businesses on marketing and building an online presence.
The Weslaco EDC has hosted well-attended workshops to advise local businesses on marketing and building an online presence.

Marketing Help

One of those programs is Weslaco’s EDC marketing grant program.

It was launched in early 2025 and provides up to $1,000 per small business for expenditures in digital, television and radio advertising. Thus far, the EDC has issued marketing grants to 15 small businesses in Weslaco. EDC staff offers insights and guidance as requested for marketing in general and the effective mediums to promote each small business in the program.

“We work with them on what their ultimate goal is,” said Michelle Smith, the community development and marketing manager for the Weslaco EDC. “There is a lot of information out there and we try to narrow it down to their needs.”

Aguilar and ABC were one of those 15 Weslaco businesses receiving EDC marketing grants. Aguilar used the EDC marketing funds to help pay for billboard advertising he had previously committed to when the grant program was started. Aguilar’s advice to other businesses when it comes to marketing is to be patient, do your research, and learn more about programs like Google business profiles that can boost online presence on Google search and maps.

“There’s a lot of different tools going up and you have to keep up and continue learning,” Aguilar said. “Ask your customers for positive Google reviews and to tag you in their posts. It’s a process and it takes time to get your name out there.”

Ricardo D. Cavazos is a Rio Grande Valley native and journalist who has worked as a reporter, editor and publisher at Texas newspapers. Cavazos formerly worked as a reporter and editorial writer at The Brownsville Herald, Dallas Times Herald, Corpus Christi Caller-Times and San Antonio Light. He served as editor of The Monitor in McAllen from 1991-1998 and from there served for 15 years as publisher at The Herald in Brownsville. Cavazos has been providing content for the Valley Business Report since 2018.

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