Dublin, GA based Allgood Services, Inc. to change name to Cingo

Allgood Pest Solutions, which opened its doors in Dublin in 1974, is changing its name to Cingo.

"Changing the name is a big deal for all of us," said Lanny Allgood, the company's sole shareholder. "Yet over the past year, the anxiety of change has transformed into true excitement."

It's a natural step in the growth of the business, founded by Lanny Allgood's father Jimmy Allgood in 1974 in a small shop on Duncan Street. Since 1993, it has been one of two company's operating in Georgia under the Allgood name. While family connections link the two companies, they have always operated as separate organizations. That's confusing, especially now that the Duluth-based company is owned by Rentokil Initial, based in Camberley, United Kingdom.

Cingo remains headquartered in Dublin, with the same leadership team in place.

"We still have the small-town feeling of Dublin in our company," says Jonathan Powell, who grew up in Dublin and is now Cingo's general manager in Augusta. "We've grown from one man's dream to a company with more than 100 employees. We are exploding with opportunity, and I'm thrilled to be a part of it."

Choosing a new name was no easy task. Lanny Allgood worked with a team of professionals to lead the company through the steps of changing a company name — brainstorming, researching, vetting legal issues, focus groups, creating the new logo and colors, engaging team members, and rolling out the new name to customers and the company's markets.

It's a process that took more than a year, and it led the company's leadership to the name Cingo. Why Cingo? It's a word that means to surround and secure, and that represents the foundation of the company's commitment to protect families from every single pest.

"The name is so different — when you first say Cingo, people look at you a little weird," said Wendy Morgan, Cingo's Director of Human Resources. "But when you explain what it means, it makes perfect sense. I'm excited about the opportunity to grow with this company. I don't know where we will be in 10 years, but it will be an exciting journey."

Cingo now operates in Dublin, plus additional markets in middle Georgia, south Georgia and Charleston, SC. Much of this growth has been through acquisitions. Many at the company credit Lanny Allgood with blending the acquired companies with the Dublin-based company to create a culture that makes all feel welcome.

"I'm happy to call our CEO a friend," said Powell. "He's very approachable to everyone here at our company and in our communities."

Like many in the company, Powell's relationship to Lanny Allgood and other Cingo employees goes back decades. Powell attended what was then Moore Street Elementary, Dublin Junior High School, and Dublin High School, and grew up down the street from Greg Vines, Cingo's Director of Growth.

The family roots of the company extend back to the very idea of creating a pest control business in Dublin in the early 1970s. Founder Jimmy Allgood tells the story of quitting his job as a cabinet salesman to launch a new company. In 2000, after graduating from law school, Lanny Allgood joined his dad. In 2012, Lanny Allgood, purchased the company, becoming CEO and sole shareholder.

"We took a start-up in Dublin and made it a true voice in the pest control business," said Jimmy Allgood.

As the company has grown, so has the opportunity to bring executive-level jobs to Dublin. Among the nearly 100 jobs are positions on the Executive team that oversees five regional service divisions and eight offices in Dublin, Milledgeville, Douglas, Savannah, Vidalia, Augusta, Waycross, and Charleston.

The company has also created customer-care center based in Dublin, and has nearly doubled the size of the company in the last 10 years, according to Bill Ballard, who has worked for the company for nine years in a variety of positions and is now Cingo's director of talent.

"It's a company that believes in building the community," said Rep. Matt Hatchett, R-Dublin. "We've seen that here in Dublin since the company was founded, and that value has continued as the company has grown."

Growth has been a constant for the company, and that translates into opportunity for the entire Cingo team, said Hunter Beall, Cingo's general manager in Charleston, S.C. And that's only going to increase under the new name of Cingo, he said.

"We let people grow into what they want to become, and that's not how it is at many companies," said Beall, a Laurens County native. "There's a lot of buzz here about getting to the next level, whether you want to be a manager or move to a different location. The opportunity here is huge, and that makes our culture what it is."

With the transition to Cingo comes a home-centered approach to pest control that creates another distinction for the company in the industry — a promise to take care of a family's home by handling every single pest for one fee. Virtually everything the company does is designed to make a home secure from pests, and homeowners secure with Cingo.

"We trust Cingo," says Rachel Smith of Dublin. "The company fits us, and we like that we know the person that comes to our home. He is careful around our home and our kids."

Community has been important to the Allgood family and the company from the beginning. Cingo team members hold leadership roles in a variety of Dublin and Laurens County organizations, including Rotary, Dublin Laurens Leadership, Boys and Girls Clubs, and the Community Advisory Board for Capital City Bank.

"Our world extends far beyond the walls of this building," says Cingo CFO Travis Craft, referring to the company's historic building on Roosevelt Street. "We live here, raise our families here, and attend church here. Dublin matters to us."

In the coming months, Dublin residents will see the Cingo brand emerge as the new logo begins to appear on signs, trucks, billing, clothing, plus the website and social media.

"Everyone here has always treated the Allgood name with the same respect they treat their own name," said Lanny Allgood. "With Cingo, we've given our team their own company name. It's an exciting time for our company and our community."

A version of this story originally appeared in The Courier Herald on Tuesday, February 14, 2017.

About Cingo: The name Cingo means to surround and secure, conveying the company's commitment to home protection. The company has been protecting families in the Southeast since 1974. It provides home protection services throughout Georgia and South Carolina, including Atlanta, Augusta, Charleston, Douglas, Dublin, Milledgeville, Savannah, Vidalia, Waycross and all points in between. Cingo was named a Best Place to Work in Georgia by Georgia Trend Magazine and listed as a National Best & Brightest Company to Work For. Learn more at www.cingohome.com.