Beneficiaries
Since 2017, Natural State Pest Control’s philanthropy in its community has included awarding a scholarship each year to a graduating senior in Benton or Washington counties in Northwest Arkansas based on academic excellence, involvement in athletics, character, and the ability to inspire others and overcome adversity.
In 2025, in partnership with ServiceTitan’s Power the Nation campaign, Natural State was able to award a scholarship to two rising stars in the community: Cristlyn Cooley-Haynes (Fayetteville High School) and Tristan Banks (Haas Hall Academy). Cooley-Haynes and Banks are the eighth and ninth recipients of this scholarship.
The Benn Banks Memorial Scholarship
Natural State, owned by Amanda and Trent Ragar, created the scholarship to honor the memory of Benn Banks and the friendship the Ragars experience with the Banks family.
Banks was diagnosed in 2014 with adenoid cystic carcinoma, a rare cancer that arises from the salivary glands and other sites in the body, such as the lung and breast, according to the National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine.
Banks, a husband and a father of two boys and a former Air Force Academy linebacker, possessed a big personality and a big voice.
"He walked into the room, and he was that person that didn't go unnoticed,” Amanda Ragar says. “He captured people's attention. People really loved him. He was such a hard-working, driven person, so we just wanted to continue his legacy."
Shortly after Banks' diagnosis, a full laryngectomy would rob him of that voice. The 6-foot-3, 275-pound Banks walked into the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute in Little Rock, AR, wearing a pink, bunny-themed onesie. As he wrote in 2015 for the family magazine Peekaboo, "There is no place on earth where people need to smile more than in the cancer wing of a hospital."
Banks died in 2017, five days before his 41st birthday. The scholarship presentation offered more poignant moments than usual in 2025 with Banks’ younger son, Tristan, as one of the recipients.
Tristan Banks, who lost his dad the day before he turned 10, overcame a learning challenge diagnosed in high school to achieve a perfect score on the American College Test and work as a tutor to younger students. In his essay for the scholarship application, he wrote that his experience with his father's death also helped him show compassion for a classmate who lost her mother to cancer.
"My dad fought for every moment," Tristan Banks wrote. "Each breath was a struggle, but he pressed on, never wasting a ray of sunshine. I think he’d be proud of the strong person I’ve become, shaped by all my experiences."
About Natural State Pest Control
The company, whose motto is "We Kill Bugs. We Help People. Period," is based in Lowell, AR, and also operates offices in Fayetteville and Fort Smith. Natural State provides its customers services for pest, lawn, and lighting, including holiday lighting. Its generosity in its community made Natural State the recipient of ServiceTitan affiliate FieldRoutes’ first Impact Award at the Ignite customer conference in 2024.
What they’re saying
"We're a locally owned company, and we want to take care of our community. We want to give back to our community. It's important for all of our employees. Trent and I were raised where you want to take care of the people around you, and that's just part of our company. It's just part of our culture." – Amanda Ragar, owner, Natural State Pest Control
"We help when nobody else does. That speaks volumes to our leadership and the way Trent and Amanda run this company. The entire vision for this company was to use it as a vehicle to help our community. And we do so many free pest services, so many things just to help veterans, students, individuals. We have a couple of really big things each year: The 12 Days of Pestmas is huge, and the scholarship is huge. Those are our two big ones, but so many little things sprinkled in between." – Brittney Oakley, marketing manager, Natural State Pest Control
"I don't have another vendor we've ever worked with, ever, that's wanted to partner with us on one of our philanthropy projects. That's very rare, and that's a super-cool opportunity. Ask for help; you can't do it all alone. If you can bring a bigger impact with other people coming on board and wanting to help your mission, why not? Absolutely reach out. It's great." – Ragar on ServiceTitan
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ServiceTitan pledges to amplify, empower, and support the philanthropic work of contractors across the country. To join the movement, visit ServiceTitan's Power the Nation home page.
