Kurt Kluznik passed away on Sept. 3, 2026, at the age of 73. Kluznik was the founder of Yardmaster and served as the last president of the Associated Landscape Contractors of America in 2004 before it merged with the Professional Lawn Care Association of America, which led to the founding of the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET), now known as NALP.
Kluznik founded his Painesville, Ohio-based company in 1971 with the simple mission of providing commercial clients with dependable, high-quality landscape care they could count on. He also served as a partner and vice president of Little Mountain Homes, a homebuilding and property development firm.
“He was the sort of common man who built an exceptional company through hard work, grit and his curiosity,” says Jim Martin, president of James Martin Associates, Inc.
In 2025, Yardmaster became a platform brand for the private equity firm Unity Partners. Now Yardmaster operates from nine branch locations spread across Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
“When I think about Kurt’s impact on the industry, I think of Yardmaster as an early example of a landscape company successfully operating multiple branches,” says Roscoe Klausing, CEO of Klausing Group, PBC. “And who could forget that Yardmaster is where industry consultant Jim Paluch got his start? Jim drew on his experience at Yardmaster when founding his company JP Horizons and when writing his novel Growing Dreams.”
In 1992, Kluznik was nominated to a leadership role in ALCA, and he served as the chairman of numerous committees including the Education Committee, the Certification Board of Governors, the Exterior Landscape Division Board and the Crystal Ball Committee. Kluznik’s visionary nature served him well on the Crystal Ball Committee, where he and other landscape professionals predicted areas for future growth and development in the industry.
“Some volunteer leaders can be viewed or perceived as ‘in it for themselves’ or to gain some notoriety for themselves or their companies,” says Dan Foley, president of DHCC Management Corporation, and the first president of PLANET after Kluznik. “That was not Kurt’s motivation, as he always was thinking about what was best for the industry and our members.”
One of the biggest impacts Kluznik made on the association and industry as a whole was overseeing the merger between ALCA and PLCAA.
“Kurt was unwavering in his goal to do what was in the best interest of all of the association members and the industry in general,” says Jim Campanella, CEO of EcoSystems and the PLCAA president during the merger. “He was a fair, honest and respectful negotiator. In 2005, Kurt and I shared the past president position for the merged association, PLANET. He was tireless in his efforts to make sure the merger went smoothly and was rewarding for all members.”
Martin agrees that Kluznik was instrumental in ensuring that members from both associations were treated as equal partners. Martin says that while at the time some were reluctant to embrace this change, Kluznik knew this path would enable the association to become a nationally dominant organization.
“Getting two of these reasonably sophisticated organizations to work together and to come together, we’d be able to put on better education; we’d be able to have a much better lobbying and presence in Washington and even back to the state levels,” Martin says. “We’d be able to coordinate with all the state associations in a better way if you had one organization rather than two trying to do all those things. He had the vision for that. He understood it, and he wasn’t going to let what I’d call parochial history prevent that from happening.”
Foley says Kluznik was an instrumental participant and leader during this foundational time for the association and challenged others to see the vision and consider what was possible.
Always willing to share his experience and help others in the industry, Kluznik also served as an NALP Trailblazer, mentoring others over the years.
“He was somebody who was unselfish in giving his time to what was going to make the industry better,” Martin says.
Klausing says when he attended his first association conference, it was Kluznik who welcomed him, connected him with a mentor and shared advice in the months and years that followed.
“I’ve never forgotten that,” Klausing says. “He mailed me examples of internal process documents and marketing materials. Tools that were so much harder to come by then than they are today. He opened his business and showed me how he ran it.”
In 2006, Kluznik was named the NALP Lifetime Leader of the Year. He was a major advocate for the professionalization of the industry as well.
“Kurt was never focused exclusively on the success of his own business,” Klausing says. “He did a lot to bring the industry together and make it more professional.”
Described as smart, curious, and a good listener, Kluznik was always looking for opportunities to learn and grow.
“Often, we would be close to deciding or coming to an agreement, and Kurt would raise a different perspective to challenge us to be sure we were on the right path,” Foley says. “Or, just to challenge us for the fun of it!”
Kluznik will be remembered as a loving father to his two sons as well as a steward of the industry and the association.
“Kurt was truly ‘one of a kind,’” Foley says. “His willingness to see the big picture and be a visionary for our entire industry was inspiring.”
