Jim Huston passed away on April 2, 2025, at the age of 75. Huston was the founder and president of J.R. Huston Consulting, Inc., which provided consulting services, software solutions and educational workshops and seminars to the green industry.
Huston held positions in finance, aviation supply inventory management and procurement while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps as a captain. After serving in the military, he became a senior production control analyst for the electronics division of General Dynamics.
In 1987, Huston began management consulting in the landscape industry. He first oversaw the consulting division for Charles Vander Kooi and Associates, Inc. before starting his own firm in 1989.
For over 35 years, Huston was an influential figure in the industry, assisting numerous companies in the landscape industry with the computerization of their estimating and/or accounting processes. Huston was one of only two Certified Professional Landscape Estimators in the world and was also inducted into the Green Industry Hall of Fame for his impact on the industry.
Zech Strauser, owner of Urture and the founder of Strauser Nature’s Helpers, based in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, says he first met Huston when he took his pricing class at Rutgers University.
“I ended up hiring him to come out when a couple of my employees quit, and I was under a half a million dollar business, and we spent Easter Sunday dinner together at Friendly’s restaurant in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, and ended up working together for probably a solid 18 years of the 25 years in business,” Strauser says.
Huston had a passion for sharing his financial knowledge. Strauser says Huston was skilled at helping owners who were struggling figure out their next steps and understand their P&L statements better.
“If you’re a contractor in the green industry, and you are in a space where you don’t feel like you got a handle on your back office estimating, P&Ls, budgeting, he’s the greatest person to bring you into that world,” Strauser says.
Chase Coates, owner of Outback Landscape, based in Idaho Falls, Idaho, agrees that Huston was gifted at making things clear.
“He didn’t overcomplicate anything,” Coates says. “He was good at helping you see what to focus on next. Jim had a calm, steady perspective. A lot of how I look at business today he helped shape. Jim helped me build the first budget I’d ever made for my business.”
Brian DuMont, CEO of Yardnique, based in Morrisville, North Carolina, says he first met Huston in 1999 at a conference. DuMont told Huston that he couldn’t afford him at the time, but he’d get the money together and call him someday. Four years later, DuMont reached out and started working with Huston.
“Jim was a guy who was incredibly caring, who was very sincere,” DuMont says. “When he said he was going to show up, he was going to show up. A lot of times, he would do whatever it took to be there, whatever time you needed to go over a budget, an estimate, a P&L, to talk through a problem.”
Huston was an NALP consultant member and spoke at NALP events, such as LANDSCAPES, regularly over the years.
Huston also authored many industry books, including “How to Price Landscape & Irrigation Projects,” “Estimating For Landscape & Irrigation Contractors,” and “Benchmarks for Landscape Construction Professionals,” as well as “Job Descriptions for Green Industry Professionals,” which is still available through NALP’s bookstore. Additionally, he developed five software programs for the green industry.
“He wanted to pour out his knowledge,” DuMont says. “Just recently, before he passed, he said, ‘Brian, I don’t think I’m going to ever be able to stop. I might have to get off the road a little bit, but maybe I’ll do this thing called a podcast. Maybe I’ll do some podcasts.’ He just loved helping other people, and he would light up.”
He traveled extensively across the U.S. and Canada, meeting with landscape company owners and hosting workshops and seminars.
“What really made him so different was the fact that his ability to just be so genuine and put companies first before himself,” DuMont says. “He would hop in his truck and drive to these locations, and then he would connect, not only with the business owner, he connected with the spouse, the kids. He would break bread with the family. A lot of times, he spent the night at my house. He had a way of not only investing in the business, but he invested in people’s lives, and that’s what he loved to do, and he loved to help people more than I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Huston formed friendships beyond just partnerships.
“Jim turned every business relationship into a friendship,” Coates says. “There is no way my business would be what it is today without him. Days when Jim was in the office were some of my favorite days at work.”
Coates says that Huston always made time for everyone. DuMont says in one particular instance, Huston flew out from Colorado to attend a surprise birthday party for him.
“I’ll never forget that,” DuMont says. “That meant the world to me that he took the time. Not only were we business partners in this sense, but we became really good friends.”
Huston was also known for connecting entrepreneurs together.
“Jim was the ultimate networker,” Coates says. “He knew everybody and introduced everyone to each other.”
Strauser says it was at one of Huston’s brainstorming events that he first met DuMont.
“If there’s that small group of people that you could put together that impacted your career on a professional, financial, growth level, Jim is in that top three,” Strauser says. “There’s no question about it that I would not be where I am today without him.”
Described as wise and genuine, Huston had an energy that was contagious. He always made a point to get to know people on a personal level. Huston was a servant leader who truly embraced his success by watching others grow.
Huston was a man of faith and an avid hunter who had a deep love for the outdoors.
He is preceded in death by his eldest son, Uriah, and grandson, Gabriel. He is survived by his two sons, Samuel “Clay” Huston and Joshua Huston (wife Tiffany), grandchildren Jessica “Kari” Cavanah (wife Kirsten), Josephine, Liam, Connor, Logan, sisters Carol Keck and Susan “Sue” Witonis (husband John), and several nieces and nephews.
Huston’s funeral service will take place on Saturday, April 19, 2025, at 10 a.m. EST at Thomas L. Geisel Funeral Home. The address is 333 Falling Spring Road, Chambersburg, PA 17202.
