OUR STORY

Company history

Rodents Away Odor Free was founded by Ken Hassman, born in a small town in southern Saskatchewan in 1947. While working on the family farm Ken developed a love for agriculture and the prairie lifestyle. 

Early in his career, Ken travelled the prairies selling veterinary pharmaceutical products. Over time his passion for the agricultural industry and natural entrepreneurial spirit took over leading him to developing a successful line of grated flooring systems.  

Ken loved being on the road meeting with his customers and growing meaningful business relationships that often led to lifetime friendships. When he wasn’t travelling for his business, Ken spent his free time camping and being in the outdoors. In the off season, like many others, he was soon alerted to the issues associated with rodents when storing his camper. After trying several traditional remedies to rid his trailer of rodents, such as glue traps and other mechanical devices, he soon grew tired of cleaning up the mess.  

Keeping with his entrepreneurial way, Ken sought out to develop a repellent that would keep mice away while also being safe for use around people, pets and farm animals. This pursuit of a better way eventually led to the development of Rodents Away Odor Free, a natural mouse repellent.  Excited about his new product, Ken was once again doing what he loved most and was back out on the road introducing as many people as possible to his new product and making new friends. 

As interest in Rodents Away Odor Free grew Ken turned to SaskAbilities, an organization he had worked closely with in the past, to see how they might work together in support of the local community. Ken had always been a strong supporter of SaskAbilities, and by producing Rodents Away Odor Free with them enabled him to provide meaningful employment opportunities for people experiencing a disability in Saskatchewan. 

The partnership turned out to be a great fit for Rodents Away Odor Free and SaskAbilities. Over the years Ken would frequently visit their facility to meet the people working on his product, often bringing with him pizza or donuts, eventually to become known as the “Mouse Man” who was greeted with excitement. They loved to ask him questions about where he was and will be going next. He enjoyed seeing their smiles and the pride they took in their work.

In honor of his memory and commitment to the local community, our partnership with SaskAbilities remains a key cornerstone of the business.