East Texas Business Spotlight: Daren Horton and Gecko Pest Control

By the Real Ryan Nichols Editorial Team
Last verified: July 26, 2026

MARSHALL, Texas — Pest control is easy to notice when something has gone wrong. The better work is often quieter: inspecting a building carefully, explaining what was found, choosing an appropriate response, documenting the visit, and helping a customer keep the problem from returning.

That is the practical lane occupied by Gecko Pest Control, a locally owned company based in Marshall with a second published location in Longview. Current public records identify Daren G. Horton as an owner and principal contact. A 2024 company case study from software provider FieldRoutes identifies Becki and Daren Horton as the owners.

The company's official website lists residential and commercial services for ants, bed bugs, spiders, roaches, rodents, fleas and ticks, mosquitoes, stinging insects, and termites. It also emphasizes inspection, property-specific treatment, prevention, and communication rather than a one-size-fits-all visit.

The constructive story is bigger than removing pests. A Greater Marshall Chamber of Commerce record documents that Horton donated a year of pest-control service to the Trifecta Place Teen Advocacy Center after learning the center needed help. That is a useful example of a skilled business contributing what it actually knows how to provide.

Disclosure: This is an independently prepared editorial profile based on public sources. It is not a paid placement, endorsement, personal interview, or claim that Ryan Nichols has a personal relationship with Daren Horton, Becki Horton, Gecko Pest Control, or its employees. The business did not approve this article.

Who owns Gecko Pest Control?

The ownership record supports a careful answer.

The Better Business Bureau's current profile lists Daren G. Horton as owner and principal contact. The Greater Marshall Chamber of Commerce also identifies Horton as the owner in an archived relocation announcement, although that page misspells his first name as “Darren.”

A FieldRoutes case study published January 16, 2024 identifies Becki and Daren Horton as the owners. Because FieldRoutes sells software used by the company, its case study is a vendor-produced source rather than an independent audit. It is still useful for the owners' attributed history, but its performance claims should be read with that relationship in mind.

This article does not assign ownership percentages or infer legal interests that the reviewed sources do not provide. The supported conclusion is that Daren Horton is publicly identified as an owner and principal contact, while the 2024 case study identifies Becki Horton as a co-owner.

Where the business operates now

Gecko's official website currently publishes two locations:

Marshall
100 N. Bolivar Street, Suite 001
Marshall, Texas 75671

Longview
911 NW Loop 281, Suite 211-13
Longview, Texas 75605

The official phone number is 903-225-8025, and the site says Spanish-language assistance is available.

The BBB profile lists the Marshall address as 100 N. Bolivar Street, Suite 001, in ZIP code 75670. That one-digit ZIP difference is a reason to use the street address and confirm details directly before a special trip.

Older chamber and public-contract records use 905 E. End Boulevard South. That was a documented earlier location, not the address this profile presents as current.

BBB publishes these office hours:

• Monday through Friday: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Saturday: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Sunday: closed

Hours, appointment availability, service areas, prices, and treatment options can change. Call or use the official contact form before relying on an older listing.

A history with two different starting points

The company's history needs one important distinction.

Gecko's official site says the business has served Longview and Marshall “since 2000.” FieldRoutes reports that Horton started a Gecko Pest Control business in Dallas in 2000, later sold that company, and moved with Becki Horton to Marshall to open the East Texas operation.

The BBB profile separately records:

• business started locally: April 1, 2008;
• business incorporated: July 27, 2010; and
• entity type: limited liability company.

Those dates are not necessarily contradictory. One can describe the beginning of the Gecko business name and operating experience; the others can describe the beginning and incorporation of the local East Texas entity.

The article does not collapse them into a single legal “founding date.” A customer-facing business history and a local entity record answer different questions.

What Gecko Pest Control offers

The official site and BBB profile agree on the broad service categories.

Residential service

The company advertises inspection and treatment for:

• ants and fire ants;
• bed bugs;
• cockroaches;
• fleas and ticks;
• mosquitoes;
• rodents;
• spiders;
• stinging insects; and
• termites and other wood-destroying organisms.

The site describes one-time visits, clean-outs, and recurring plans. It also says inspections are used to identify visible activity, hidden risks, entry points, moisture conditions, landscaping issues, and other property-specific factors.

That distinction matters. A treatment intended for one isolated pest sighting is not automatically the same service as a recurring prevention plan or a termite program.

Commercial service

The company advertises commercial pest management for restaurants, offices, retail locations, warehouses, industrial facilities, schools, churches, and community buildings.

Its official commercial page describes:

• an initial consultation;
• an on-site inspection;
• a customized plan;
• scheduled treatment;
• ongoing monitoring; and
• service documentation.

The page also says commercial plans can be adapted around operating hours and industry requirements. Those are the company's own service descriptions, not a guarantee that every property receives the same schedule, product, result, or compliance documentation.

Service area

The official site lists Marshall, Longview, Hallsville, Jefferson, Waskom, Karnack, Elysian Fields, Harleton, Carthage, Beckville, DeBerry, Kilgore, Uncertain, White Oak, and surrounding communities.

Residents outside those places should confirm coverage and travel charges before scheduling.

The licensing record—and how customers can verify it

Structural pest-control work is regulated in Texas.

The Texas Department of Agriculture says its Structural Pest Control Service licenses and regulates professionals who apply pesticides in and around structures. Its current-license reports page provides downloadable business, applicator, technician, and apprentice lists.

A search of the current commercial-business report returned Gecko Pest Control entries in Harrison and Gregg counties under Daren Horton. BBB separately lists a structural-pest-control license record for the business with a May 31, 2027 expiration date.

The company's website footer publishes another license number. Because public listings can use different identifiers for a business, branch, responsible certified applicator, or reporting system, this article does not declare the numbers interchangeable.

A careful customer can:

1. search the live TDA commercial-business report;
2. ask the company for the business license and the name of the responsible certified applicator;
3. ask what credential the person performing the service holds;
4. confirm that the proposed work falls within the relevant license category; and
5. contact TDA if a record appears expired, duplicated, or inconsistent.

That is healthy consumer practice for any pest-control provider. It is not an accusation against Gecko.

Constructive work in Marshall

The most specific community-service record reviewed comes from the Greater Marshall Chamber of Commerce.

When the chamber welcomed the Trifecta Place Teen Advocacy Center, it reported that Daren Horton learned the center needed pest service and donated a year's worth of that service.

That contribution is constructive for two reasons.

First, it met an operating need. A community organization needs a safe, usable building before it can reliably serve people.

Second, it used the company's actual trade. Donating a service a business already performs can be more sustainable and more useful than attaching its name to an unrelated promotion.

Other local reports have described Gecko's participation in a food drive and a community pest-control day with Northeast Texas Habitat for Humanity. Those articles were located in the Marshall News Messenger archive, but full text was not available during this review. This profile therefore does not add unverified household counts, donation totals, dates beyond the published headlines, or claims about who received service.

The chamber's documented donation stands on its own.

What other owners can learn from the model

Teach customers how the work is evaluated

Pest control involves decisions most customers cannot observe directly.

An owner earns trust by explaining:

• what evidence was found;
• whether the target is confirmed or only suspected;
• where activity is concentrated;
• what can be corrected without chemicals;
• what product or method is proposed;
• what preparation is required;
• what follow-up is included; and
• what would count as success.

The company's official process emphasizes inspection and explanation. That is a sound business principle even apart from any single provider.

Turn customer feedback into an operating system

The FieldRoutes case study says Gecko adopted new communication and routing software and increased its emphasis on asking customers how the company performed.

Because that account comes from the software vendor, this article does not treat its revenue, staffing, or review-growth figures as independently audited facts.

The operational lesson remains useful: asking “How did we do?” only matters if someone reviews the answer, identifies a pattern, and changes the work.

A small business can build a simple version:

1. ask one consistent question after service;
2. separate praise from repairable problems;
3. assign a person to respond;
4. track repeat issues by technician, service type, or location; and
5. tell the customer what was corrected.

Donate the skill, not just the logo

The Trifecta Place example shows a practical form of community support.

A plumber can repair a nonprofit's leak. A printer can produce event materials. A landscaper can restore an overgrown entrance. A bookkeeper can help an organization set up a basic reporting system.

The work should be freely agreed upon, properly scoped, and honestly documented. A donation should not become leverage over the recipient or a substitute for fair wages and safe practices.

A practical customer checklist

Before the inspection

Write down:

• where the activity was seen;
• the date and time;
• photographs or video, if safe;
• whether children, pets, food, gardens, aquariums, or sensitive equipment are present;
• previous treatments;
• known leaks, crawl-space issues, or entry gaps; and
• any deadline, such as a real-estate inspection or health review.

Do not touch an unknown animal, nest, chemical, or contaminated material simply to collect evidence.

During the estimate

Ask:

• What pest or evidence did you confirm?
• Is this one-time service, recurring service, exclusion work, or a separate termite program?
• What areas are included and excluded?
• What preparation must the customer complete?
• What product or nonchemical method is proposed?
• What re-entry, ventilation, food, pet, and aquarium precautions apply?
• How many visits are included?
• What triggers an additional charge?
• Is there a guarantee, and what are its written limits?
• How can the agreement be canceled?

Get pricing, scope, renewal terms, and guarantee language in writing.

After service

Keep the service report and follow the preparation and prevention instructions. If activity continues, document the date and location rather than relying only on memory.

For a recurring plan, periodically ask whether the service still matches the actual pest pressure. More treatment is not automatically better; the goal is appropriate control with clear reasons for each step.

If the problem involves termites

Ask whether the visit is a general pest inspection, a wood-destroying-insect inspection, or a treatment proposal. Those are not the same thing.

For a real-estate transaction, confirm which form and credential the lender, insurer, buyer, seller, or inspector requires. Do not assume a routine household service visit satisfies a transaction-specific inspection requirement.

What this profile does not claim

This article does not claim to know Gecko Pest Control's current revenue, profit, debt, valuation, customer count, employee count, route count, treatment success rate, chemical inventory, insurance limits, or ownership percentages.

It does not independently certify the safety, environmental impact, effectiveness, price, or suitability of any treatment. Product selection and precautions depend on the site, target pest, label, applicator, and occupants.

It does not reproduce customer reviews as verified facts. Testimonials on a business website describe customer experiences but do not establish that every customer will receive the same result.

It does not review or rate the company, guarantee service, or imply that the owners approved this coverage.

The social-preview artwork is an original symbolic editorial scene. It is not a photograph of Daren Horton, Becki Horton, an employee, a customer property, the company's offices, or an actual service visit. It contains no copied logo or official license.

Editorial perspective

Gecko Pest Control is a useful East Texas Business Spotlight because the record connects three kinds of constructive work: a regulated technical service, an effort to make that service understandable to customers, and a documented donation that helped a local youth organization maintain its space.

The strongest part of the story is not an award or a marketing slogan. It is the repeatable method:

Inspect carefully. Explain plainly. Follow up. Use the trade to help the community.

That standard is useful whether a customer hires Gecko or another licensed provider. It gives residents a better way to compare companies, and it gives other local owners a model for turning specialized knowledge into public value.

Nominate the next East Texas business spotlight

Know a constructive East Texas business owner whose work deserves a closer look?

Nominate the owner with the business name, city, official website or public business page, and one specific example of what they are doing well. A nomination is not a promise of coverage, endorsement, or paid placement. We verify ownership, services, location, history, and numerical claims before publication.

Sources and related reading

• Gecko Pest Control official website: current services, service area, contact information, and locations
• Gecko commercial pest-control service page for Marshall
• Better Business Bureau profile: ownership, address, hours, entity dates, services, and licensing record
• Texas Department of Agriculture current structural-pest-control license reports
• Texas Department of Agriculture Structural Pest Control Service overview
• Greater Marshall Chamber of Commerce archive: ownership, earlier location, services, and Trifecta Place donation
• FieldRoutes 2024 case study: attributed owner history and operating changes

Read the Laura Nevils and Books & Barrels Business Spotlight, the Connor Walters and Silver Grizzly Espresso Business Spotlight, explore more East Texas coverage, or tell us about a local story.

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