Last year, Bobby Jenkins added tree trimming to his company's already impressive line-up of home care services. Other than that, 2009 was only remarkable in ABC Home & Commercial Services' history for its flatness.

"Until last year, we had averaged 16 percent growth per year for the last 28 years," Jenkins said.

Walled in by the national economy's stupor, Jenkins didn't see growth, but he didn't lose ground, either. It turned out to be a minor bump in a road to progress other companies would envy. The Austin-based home services business has enjoyed year-to-date growth in sales of 10 percent. Jenkins estimates his territory – part of a statewide brand – will reach $32 million in revenues this year. Jenkins is a fixture on Austin television and radio. He advertises aggressively and in his own voice.

"I have branded Bobby Jenkins with ABC," he said. "I feel people are more comfortable doing business when they can put a face to the service." Broadcasting aside, there are also signs on 250 company trucks that run around town all day. Jenkins' sector of the ABC Home & Commercial Services brand includes 420 employees in Austin, San Antonio, College Station, Georgetown, Marble Falls and Bastrop.

His brothers operate two independent companies by the same name – one based in Houston and the other in Dallas. They share the same website, but beyond that, territorial ownership and management are independent. His brother, Raleigh Jenkins, is in Houston, and Dennis Jenkins runs the Dallas firm. Long ago, the brothers had the boundaries of their territories established so that as each grew, no one would encroach on another's turf.

Their mother, Sandy Jenkins, came up with the boundaries. "She is the keeper of the map," Bobby Jenkins said. Sandy Jenkins, 73, lives on the family ranch in Marble Falls. The 1,000-acre Double Eagle ranch is stocked with exotic wildlife. Red deer, zebra, bison and water buffalo share her Hill Country spread with llamas, emus, ostriches and other non-natives.

Her husband passed away 12 years ago, leaving her the sole living connection the brothers have to the origins of their business. Bobby Jenkins bought a San Antonio pest control company that was already 18 years old when he took over in 1967. It wasn't much of a company at the time – just one man with a truck and a client list. But it grew quickly, and within five years, the patriarch had a branch operation in Austin.

Raised in San Antonio, Jenkins when to Roosevelt High School and worked a route in his father's business during the summers. His childhood friend, Matt Burns, was another route technician for the company in those days. Now the company vice president and chief financial officer, Burns has seen how diversifying the company's operations helped stabilize its workforce. When it was just ABC Pest Control and all the company did was focus on insects, the company had to hire part-timers to handle the seasonal demand. "Now that we have more offerings, it's had the effect of flattening out our revenue," Burns said.

First, they added rodent exterminations. Rodents tend to encroach into homes in the winter months. This had the effect of keeping enough technicians occupied year-round, and the seasonal summer hiring ceased. In 1995, the company went into lawn service and the name changed to ABC Pest & Lawn Service. The original intent was just to treat lawns for pests and disease. "We had a lot of customers asking, 'Can you mow my yard?' For a couple of years we said no," Burns said. "Then we decided to give it a try."

It started as a one-man operation; they recruited a lawn man who had his own business. "From there, it grew internally," Burns said. "Today, our mowing sales are over $300,000 a month. That's 18 three-man crews. It's turned out to be a nice part of the business." The yard maintenance industry is typically one where workers are paid an hourly wage. Burns knew their business had reached a new level when he was able to put the workers on commission. At first reluctant, they soon realized they could earn in six hours what they had previously earned in eight.

At one time, ABC's ambitions in lawn care were more ambitious. They expanded into landscaping and were doing major design-build projects. Jenkins decided the scope of such projects had stretched beyond what he was willing to do. "We pulled back a little on that," he said. ABC limits its landscaping projects to under $10,000. But the company kept diversifying. Five years ago, it added handyman services. And two years ago, it got into heating, air conditioning, electrical and plumbing.

That's when the company name became ABC Home & Commercial Services. "You won't find this variety of services in one company anywhere else in the country," Jenkins said. "I think it's a very unique business." Jenkins moved into the Austin operation in 1983, and it became the company headquarters when the San Antonio branch was sold in 1987. It would be eight years before ABC would return to San Antonio.

Since its inception as an Austin-based operation, however, ABC has been somewhat out of step culturally with mainstream Austinites. ABC is an Aggie enclave in Longhorn country. "My dad was class of '59. My wife was class of '82," said Jenkins, who is himself a Texas A&M University alumnus with a bachelor's degree in business administration. His eldest daughter graduated from Texas A&M to enter the company's internal marketing department. He has another daughter and son at Texas A&M. Both his brothers went to Texas A&M, as did Burns. It isn't all Aggie harmony, though, added Burns, who notes that one of Jenkins' daughters married a Longhorn. The clan is not unfamiliar with the half maroon/half orange House Divided flags, and being in Austin, Burns added, "We do employ some Longhorns." Jenkins maintains diplomatic relations in Longhorn land through a strong commitment to local causes. The company is involved in 20 charities, and to that end, Jenkins dedicates considerable time. These include projects with the Austin Community Foundation, the West Austin Youth Association and Caritas of Austin.

Last spring, Jenkins raised money for Caritas by going on a 2,300-mile bicycle tour from Austin to Calgary, Canada. While he rode for Caritas, Dennis Jenkins rode for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society, and Raleigh Jenkins rode for the National Kidney Foundation of Southeast Texas. The five-week bicycle tour was a testament to how dedicated Bobby Jenkins has been to staying fit, but its inspiration was born of nostalgia. Jenkins, now 51, saw his mid-century passage in life as an excuse to surpass a bicycle tour he had done in college with Burns and another friend. "I had done a similar trip between my junior and senior year," Jenkins said. "We cycled from San Antonio to the Canadian border. We were 20. When I turned 50, I wanted to do it again." That second marathon cycling event also marked the company's 60th anniversary. With all the growth and successful diversification the company has experienced, there are sure to be many more anniversaries.

For more information about ABC Home & Commercial Services, visit www.abcpest.com.