Small Businessman's Roots Run Deep In District

Pioneer Press, 1/7/10

Robert Dold would certainly appear to be the archetypal All American boy: New Trier High School football quarterback and wrestling team captain; Eagle Scout; White House intern; commencement speaker at his Indiana University Law School graduation; resides just a few blocks from his childhood home in Kenilworth.

But when you're the third-generation head of the family business, which is the oldest pest management company in the U.S., ability is relative.

"Growing up in (the family) business, you have to work twice as hard to get half the respect," Dold said. "With regard to the people that I work with, I probably get more respect from crawling in a crawl space than I did from going to law school."

As one of five Republican candidates seeking the party's nomination Feb. 2 for the 10th Congressional District, Dold can laugh about the obvious punch line -- "Send me to Washington and we'll take care of the pests."

But his campaign is no joke.

"I run a small business. I'm terrified by what Washington's doing right now," he said. "I believe I can bring a fresh perspective."

Dold is familiar with Capitol Hill politics. He served as an investigative counsel for the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee during the first Bush administration, worked as an intern for Vice President Dan Quayle and clerked for a New York State Supreme Court judge.

"I loved the political scene, but (I thought) it's time to get on and do something else with my life," he said.

He pursued an master's of business administration degree at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Business, and today runs the family's Rose Pest Solutions in Northfield. As an advocate for small business, he wants less government intervention.

During a recent campaign visit to Keats Manufacturing in Wheeling, Dold was impressed that the metal stamping firm on its own initiative had changed out more than 100 light bulb fixtures to save energy and utility costs.

"That wasn't something the government had to come in and tell Wade (Keats) and Matt (Eggemeyer) how to do. It was a common-sense business solution," Dold told the assembled managers and laborers.

Work ethic and pulling your own weight were central tenets for Dold, instilled by his parents, who hung signs in Dold's and his sister's rooms that read "Your integrity determines your identity." His father was board chairman of the Northern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Also influential were the leaders of his Boy Scout troop, the same troop that he now leads as Scoutmaster.

"You know the Scout oath and the Scout law, and they lived it. They had this incredible zest for life," Dold said. "If I can have a fraction of the impact on these young men as my Scoutmasters had on me, I would be a great success."