If you hadn’t heard of the company Ethoscapes five years ago, that would be understandable, as the business was created in 2023. However, since then, they have soared into the spotlight with their rapid M&A and organic growth.
In 2024, the business was the second-fastest growing company out of Landscape Management’s Top 150, with 203% growth in revenue year-over-year.
“The rapid growth of our development can be attributed to successfully executing our growth strategy,” says Manny Gonzalez, CEO of this Houston, Texas-based company. “Clearly, growth can occur in two ways — organically and through acquisitions — and we have pursued both. However, to achieve our goals, the enterprise must not only have a clear, executable strategy but also the right equipment, systems, market awareness, client confidence, and, most importantly, the right people to execute the plan, ensuring a balanced approach to integration and scaling.”
How Ethoscapes Was Born
Gonzalez previously worked in the oil and gas industry, where he focused on the environmental aspects of the business.
In 2020, Gonzalez and Stenning Schueppert, the managing partner of Evolution Strategy Partners, recognized an opportunity within the landscape industry to unite major family-owned businesses and develop them into a large, professionally managed enterprise. Later that same year, they acquired Westco Grounds Maintenance, which was established in 1984. In 2023, they established Ethoscapes as the parent company.
“My shift into the landscape industry began as an investment opportunity with a private equity firm, where I served as an operating partner,” Gonzalez says. “Once we finalized our first acquisition in the landscape sector, I decided to step away from the firm and take on the role of CEO to lead the platform business.”
Gonzalez says while Schueppert excels in deal-making, financial strategy, and negotiating, his own strengths lie on the human side of operations.
“I focus on understanding talent and how well individuals fit their roles, as well as optimizing organizational structure and operational efficiency,” Gonzalez says. “I also place a strong emphasis on communication — ensuring the team is aligned with the vision of growth, synergies, system professionalization, safety, and company culture.”
Evolution Strategy Partners has quarterly board meetings with Ethoscapes as well as weekly team meetings to provide updates on safety, sales, operations, and financial matters. Gonzalez says when they are in M&A mode, the Evolution team collaborates closely with him and a select group of others.
Ethoscapes’s Business Structure
So far, Ethoscapes has completed six acquisitions over four years. After acquiring Westco, they added on Champions Hydro-Lawn in 2023 and Houston Landscapes Unlimited (HLU) in 2024, as well as three smaller acquisitions.
Gonzalez says the plan initially was to use Westco as their platform company, but as their M&A strategy evolved, they decided to establish Ethoscapes as the parent platform company.
“This shift allowed us to scale not only within the operational companies — through personnel, equipment, synergistic operations, and our service value proposition — but also at the platform level, positioning us for future acquisitions,” Gonzalez says.
He says their smaller acquisitions can be integrated as tuck-ins while larger operations will function as bolt-ons and operate as fully independent sister companies. They have the flexibility to choose the best fit for future acquisitions.
“During the due diligence process, we gain valuable insights into the history, culture, market, and client loyalty of the company being acquired,” Gonzalez says. “It is at this stage that we decide whether to integrate the company into one of the larger, more established businesses or to bolt it onto the Ethoscapes platform as an independent operational and synergistic entity.”
With their structure, Ethoscapes handles all the non-operational back office tasks such as finances, HR policies, IT, audits, insurance, bonding, safety, legal matters, and sales and marketing, which Gonzalez refers to as the Ethosystems. He says this allows their brands Westco, Champions Hydro-Lawn and HLU to focus on what they do best operationally.
Each company has its own specialty. Westco’s core business provides high-touch mowing to HOA clients, while HLU is more commercial construction-centric. Champions Hydro-Lawn’s core competency is in erosion control and turf establishment for municipal utility districts (MUDs) and other commercial clients.
Ethoscapes also launched their own tree care business, Tree60, which services municipalities and existing clients.
Scaling Up
Gonzalez says that while they are currently focused on the Houston metropolitan market, their strategy for expansion includes targeting other Tier I and Tier II markets across Texas and beyond. He says they are actively seeking acquisition opportunities, and at times, sellers are reaching out as well.
Currently, Ethoscapes does not have a dedicated M&A team. Gonzalez says he and the Evolution team work together to conduct the due diligence process when a potential candidate is found, but he anticipates as they continue to grow, they’ll add on an M&A team.
Several key factors they look for in the companies they acquire include the owner’s intent and motivation for selling, whether the acquisition aligns with the client’s expectations of their value proposition within their existing platform, and the business’s profitability and potential for growth.
With Ethoscapes’s larger acquisitions, all three owners were ready to retire and transition out of their careers, but they’ve also had owners choose to reinvest and align their efforts with Ethoscapes. Gonzalez says they approach all options with an open mind.
Gonzalez notes that each company they’ve acquired has a unique and independent culture.
“This diversity has deepened my appreciation for working with such a wide range of teams,” he says. “We have the opportunity to select the best elements from each company’s culture — whether from leaders, account managers, operations and field managers, or technicians.”
He says Ethoscapes strives to cultivate shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices instead.
Gonzalez notes that while acquisitive growth saves them time, they never want to lose sight of the importance of organic growth.
“When you have a private equity presence, one day they’re going to sell,” Gonzalez says. “It’s an investment. What sells is not just your ability to do a smooth and proper and successful M&A and transition but that you’re growing organic. There’s actually more value placed on organic growth than there is acquisitive growth.”
Tips for Success
Gonzalez recommends having a clearly defined strategy for your acquisitions and ensuring the potential addition is a good fit for the future by understanding their services, markets and competition.
“Conduct a comprehensive evaluation during the due diligence process, focusing on finances, operations, labor, legal challenges, and market position,” Gonzalez says.
He also advises assessing the cultural fit while being mindful of potential financial, regulatory, safety or operational risks.
Gonzalez says acquiring companies is an exciting process, but it can also be highly distracting.
“It requires the ability to balance managing an operational enterprise while working on the acquisition itself and then focusing on integrating the new company — especially its most valuable asset, the employees — during the transition,” he says. “The buyer only gets one chance at this, and failure is not an option.”
Gonzalez says their post-acquisition employee retention rate is strong, staying consistently above 90%. He says it all comes down to communication and messaging.
“We begin by gaining the seller’s confidence and ensuring they understand our intent for the newly acquired business,” Gonzalez says. “Our objective is to retain all employees and continue, if not enhance, the great work the team has already accomplished.”
He says the seller also serves as their internal champion, representing them to the existing employee base. They highlight how the change will positively affect employees’ career paths and how Ethoscapes will support their personal and professional development. Gonzalez says their goal is to ease any uncertainties and build long-term confidence, trust, and stability.
This article was published in the May/June issue of the magazine. To read more stories from The Edge magazine, click here to subscribe to the digital edition.
