---
title: "Franchisee Voices: Jeff Huckabee of Mosquito Joe"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/d810c791-8027-4133-b027-399da4300e27
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/franchisee-voices-jeff-huckabee-of-mosquito-joe-9342
category: "Lawn & pest"
industry: "Home Services"
segment: "Lawn & pest"
published: 2017-01-16T21:16:01.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T04:12:22.394Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/118aa3a100616c6827745766d52ab7f31823.jpg
---

# Franchisee Voices: Jeff Huckabee of Mosquito Joe

**TL;DR:** Jeff Huckabee, a former nuclear engineer, opened a Mosquito Joe franchise in West Chester, PA, after retiring from his previous career. He was drawn to the business due to its seasonal nature, profit margin, and high customer retention rates.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2017-01-16. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/franchisee-voices-jeff-huckabee-of-mosquito-joe-9342).*

## Story

*Former nuclear engineer Jeff Huckabee is trading nuclear bombs for bug bombs when he opened Chester County's second Mosquito Joe office in West Chester in May 2016. After working in nuclear and petroleum engineering, as well as serving in the military, Huckabee retired into franchise ownership in a brand new industry.*

*With the threat of Zika virus growing as the warmer weather brought the mosquitoes back, Huckabee saw the need for a prevention and protection service in the area. Mosquito Joe is a prevention service which sprays an EPA- approved barrier spray around your yard to keep it mosquito, flea and tick free for weeks at a time. The concept has grown to over 270 locations in just over 4 years with this year set to be the most successful yet.*

I was born in West Texas and earned my undergraduate degree in physics at the Virginia Military Institute. I spent four years in Germany with the Army and then went on to grad school at the University of Wisconsin, where I got my master’s degree in nuclear engineering and human resources management. I was a nuclear engineer with Westinghouse for 15 years and then worked as a petroleum engineer with Shell.

I was a senior director of construction engineering in Pittsburgh when the oil industry took a dive so I was laid off at 64. I wanted to own my own business so I began looking into opportunities and moved to Westchester, PA.

I was working with a franchise consultant to find the right opportunity and was looking into seven different concepts. I loved that Mosquito Joe was a seasonal business with a nice profit margin and high customer retention rates.

Visit the International Franchise Association’s @OurFranchise website for more stories of passionate local franchise owners, employees and their communities.

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Home Services (sector)
- franchise ownership (topic)
- International Franchise Association (company)
- Mosquito Joe (company)
- career transition (topic)
- Shell (company)
- pest control industry (topic)

---
Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/franchisee-voices-jeff-huckabee-of-mosquito-joe-9342). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/d810c791-8027-4133-b027-399da4300e27).