Sometimes you learn more from mistakes than you do from successes, says H. Jaclyn Ishimaru-Gachina, president and co-founder of Gachina Landscape Management headquartered in Menlo Park, California. That was the case when one of the company’s branches secured a difficult client. While the company was initially quite proud to announce they landed this very large […]
Although he grew up around landscaping, Dean DeSantis, owner of DeSantis Landscapes in Portland, didn’t initially imagine he’d follow the same career path as his father, who started the business in 1974. At the time, DeSantis was just eight years old and says he spent most of his summers helping out. Even so, he just […]
In the past three years, NALP member Ben Carruthers, owner of Carruthers Landscape Management Inc., in Dallas, says the company has become more “HR-focused” than ever before. He’s been working with Human Resources “Harvester” Steve Cesare, of The Harvest Group, on a number of ways in which the company can improve their employee onboarding process—among […]
When it comes to hiring more labor, NALP member Lisa L. Kuperus, vice president of Farmside Landscape & Design in Wantage, New Jersey, says it must be a multi-faceted and ongoing effort. In this tight labor market—and with the industry’s struggle to receive H-2B workers—there is no time to become complacent. “We absolutely must have […]
Thirty-two percent of homeowners have been putting off at least one home improvement project for 12 months or more. And landscaping is in the top five on that list, according to a new study on home improvement site Porch.com. Home Improvement To-Do List The study says nine of these jobs on homeowners’ to-do lists “desperately […]
What does the 2019 home buying season look like? According to Realtor.com, rising prices, an influx of inventory and moderate sales pace will dictate the home buying season. Let’s take a look at these segments. Home Buying Update: 2019 Mortgage Rates Could Be Best Since 2005 Housing forecasts suggest the recent plunge in mortgage rates […]
Motivating employees and making them feel like valued members of the team has always been at the core of how Jason Musch, owner and president of Dutch Valley Landscape Contractors, has run his business. He says “without our employees, we are nothing.” Even so, in the past, the Chicago-area landscape maintenance company has experienced problems […]
Joshua Pool, chief operations officer of Timberline Landscaping, says he has always been one to gravitate toward the outdoors. Growing up in Central Kansas, Pool admits he loved playing in the dirt and being outside as often as he possibly could. After working with a local landscape company during his last year of high school, […]
Employee retention has never been much of an issue at McHale Landscape Design, a $20-million full-service landscape and maintenance company based in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. In fact, the company has many long-term employees who have been with the business for two decades or more—including McHale’s 50 foremen. But Kevin McHale, president, says he was getting […]
Like many other landscape business owners, Richard Arlington says he got his start in landscaping as a kid. Mowing grass, raking leaves and shoveling snow was an easy way to earn some income. Upon returning home from some time in the Marines, Arlington says he couldn’t find a job—so he returned to doing what he […]