Exhibitors at the 2025 ELEVATE Expo, presented by NALP and powered by Cat, came with dedicated solutions that allow landscape professionals to be both more productive and profitable in their business through new equipment and software.
Productivity Boosters
Kress featured several new innovations designed to increase landscape professionals’ productivity through battery technology and automation.
“Each of these we want to bring innovation that helps landscapers do their jobs more productively and help them save money,” says Todd Zimmerman, SVP of dealer sales, operations and product at Kress.
Kress’s CyberTank allows a three-person crew to only need five batteries at max because they are able to charge Kress batteries in eight minutes. Zimmerman says this provides cost savings for landscapers because they don’t have to buy as many batteries.
“Our CyberTank is literally a tank of energy that is charged overnight, and you use that energy during the day of DC-to-DC charging,” Zimmerman says.
At the Stanley Black and Decker booth, they highlighted DeWalt’s new full suite of battery-powered handheld equipment, including two different models of string trimmers, edgers, a hedge trimmer, top-handle saws, an extendable pole saw and a backpack blower.
Griffith says they also have a wall charger with six outlets that can charge up to 24 batteries in five hours.
“As landscapers are starting to electrify, one of the biggest challenges they have is how am I going to charge all these batteries?” says Aaron Griffith, director of professional dealer sales with Stanley Black & Decker. “We have a very simple solution for charging, which is our power manager. It’s essentially a smart charger that you’ll plug into one 15-amp breaker. Then you can daisy chain as many of those as you want.”
Milwaukee Tool shared with attendees their latest solutions for power management, enabling crews to stay productive across an entire day throughout the whole company.
One particular innovation is how their batteries are cool cycle capable, allowing air to blow through the battery in between each individual cell to cool it down so it can charge immediately and at a faster rate.
“That’s a huge part of minimizing the number of batteries you need to buy, because you can actively cool these batteries and use them again many times throughout the day to minimize your investment costs,” says Brad Herzog, product manager for Milwaukee Tool.
Technology Tools
Caterpillar presented the digital apps they have available to support landscape professionals with the ownership of Cat equipment. This includes Cat Central, VisionLink and SIS2GO, which are each designed to solve different problems.
Cat Central allows end users to look up fault code meanings, review equipment hours, receive proactive service recommendations and buy parts. VisionLink is Caterpillar’s full fleet management solution that is designed to give customers proactive insights about their equipment so that they can manage it in the most efficient manner.
SIS2GO provides service instructions so landscape professionals can either service their own equipment or request a dealer to do the work.
“These different applications come together to form our digital ecosystem to make sure that we are offering customers support with whether it’s a question around how do I contact my dealer, how do I find the right parts that fit, how do I check where my equipment is, and how do I find the relevant service information so that I can perform service?” says Omar Romero, digital customer experience manager with Caterpillar.
Romero says that by attending ELEVATE, they are able to understand what landscape professionals’ biggest concerns are and use that feedback to design a more positive customer experience.
“Caterpillar is helping landscape professionals in their business as a whole by really making sure that we are listening to what they’re asking for, in terms of our different products, different equipment that is available to them, but also by offering them solutions that solve their pain points,” Romero says.
Glenn Bonick, owner of Bonick Landscaping, based in Irving, Texas, says that he’s been intrigued by the use of AI in the different software offerings on the show floor.
Some of Aspire’s AI integrations include multilingual translation in both Aspire Core and Aspire Mobile, generative AI to create emails, summarize notes, create proposal descriptions, and the ability to search user guide documents.
Zimmerman adds that with Kress’s free commercial app for landscapers, they can track the productivity of their crews and understand how much time a crew spent on a property, how long a piece of equipment was run and their travel time between job sites.
“Now that you have true data, the landscape company will know exactly how much time it takes for each product on each property so their bids can become more accurate as well,” Zimmerman says. “A crew can go from saving $1,000 per crew per year with using the productivity app. You can almost get 10% more efficient.”
Revenue Generators
On the automation side, Kress debuted their 40-inch fully autonomous robotic mower Voyager, which doesn’t require line of sight and provides 80 to 85% operational cost savings.
“Mowing is typically the least profitable business that they have,” Zimmerman says. “Voyager can now make it the most profitable business they have. The opportunity right now to change the industry forever with Voyager and Kress Commercial by going in and bidding on a project 20% lower than anybody else in the industry and still make money.”
John Deere also spotlighted their new QuikTrak electric autonomous mower.
“What makes it pretty unique is that we’re looking at doing autonomy a little bit different too,” says Luke Gribble, go-to-market manager for John Deere. “We’ve got a photogrammetry solution. We’re using RTK GPS. It’s a machine that can go on any property, wide open, residential, commercial. The goal is that there are really no limits for this machine.”
Gribble says they are looking for forward-thinking customers who are interested in working with Deere. He says the attendees have been excited about the opportunity and Deere’s approach to autonomy.
For those looking to increase their recurring revenue, Envu presented the In2Care mosquito station.
In2Care is a pest control solution that kills both adult mosquitoes and larvae by attracting female mosquitoes and then covering their bodies with an adulticide and a larvicide. As the female mosquito travels to other breeding sites, it spreads the larvicide to cryptic breeding sites.
“We’re allowing that female mosquito to take larvicides into cryptic bodies of water that you and I would never be able to treat,” says Jake Clabaugh, Western area sales manager for Envu.
Clabaugh says these stations take about five minutes to service, and the average home would need three stations. Â
“The big spends, whether companies realize this or not, is the vehicle, the service technician, the gas money, the insurance,” Clabaugh says. “Everything to get the person on the property is the expensive part. The best thing to do is to add services while you’re there. This is a great exterior-only service that can be added on easily by any pest control or lawn care professional.”
Creating Connections
Josh Chalfant, associate director of training and development for Environmental Management, Inc. (EMI), based in Plain City, Ohio, says one thing he likes about ELEVATE is networking with suppliers and having in-depth conversations with them.
“You’re probably going to get deals from suppliers that you weren’t getting before, because you’ve met with them in person, you’ve had the conversations, they now know you more so than just your local shop that you go to,” Chalfant says.
Gribble says he enjoys the networking the most as well.
“We, of course, love to talk about our machines and specs and what’s new and all the innovations, and we’re never going to get tired of that, but we can have a real, deeper conversation with a lot of folks in the booth,” Gribble says.
The Expo show floor also featured 12 different Campfire Conversations where attendees could gather to share about specific topics, such as how to craft unforgettable client experiences, creating inclusive leadership and where to find inspiration for design-build projects.
“It’s where you can collaborate and you can network,” Bonick says. “You can meet other people that have been down the same problems you have, and you can commiserate, but you can also learn from each other and understand that we all get through it a little bit different ways, and we’ll help you with the next problem you need to tackle. Hopefully, you go away with some phone numbers you can call to talk about some real business issues you can’t talk about with the guy you’re competing with.”
