Read more about these NALP members and partners in the news.
Scythe Robotics Expands Team
Scythe Robotics, a manufacturer of commercial-grade autonomous solutions, has brought on two employees to head manufacturing and talent acquisition as the company scales to meet surging demand.
Brian Merkel has been brought on as head of manufacturing and Jen Mongeois as head of talent acquisition.
Merkel comes from SpaceX Starlink and has a background in scaling production of manufacturing. Meanwhile, Mongeois has more than 20 years of experience in recruiting for technical and non-technical roles across hardware, software and field operations.
“Brian and Jen bring not only a wealth of experience to their roles but also the energy and drive that will help Scythe deliver game-changing autonomous mowing technology to landscape professionals,” says Jack Morrison, Scythe co-founder and CEO.
“We are excited about how our mission is attracting new talent to the landscaping industry,” he says. “They join a team of dedicated and dynamic engineers, field operators, and customer relationship managers that are eager to transform how we care for our green spaces.”
Scythe has surpassed 5,000 reservations for the M.52, their all-electric fully autonomous commercial mower.
Project EverGreen Announces GreenCare for Troops Awareness Week
Project EverGreen’s GreenCare for Troops helps ease the burden on the families of deployed military personnel by providing complimentary lawn maintenance. In celebration of the military families and volunteers, June 19-25 has been named National GreenCare for Troops Awareness Week.
This week is meant to raise awareness for military families and encourage them to register to receive services. It also is meant to thank current volunteers and encourage more to register.
“GreenCare for Troops is more than a program that checks a box and takes care of a necessary service, it has become a transformative experience for both volunteers and recipients,” says Cindy Code, executive director of Project EverGreen. “Not only do our volunteers provide a valued service that relieves a burden for military families, but they are also sustaining a healthy, safe lawn and yard for kids to play and families to unwind in at the end of a stressful day.”
2022 is the 16th year of GreenCare for Troops and the program has provided an estimated $15 million in donated lawn and landscape services.
SiteRecon Launches Mobile App to Help Document Site Conditions
SiteRecon has recently launched a new mobile app, Plato. This app helps landscape professionals document site conditions on maps.
Users can tag a photo with comments on the map and create a service ticket at that location. It also allows users to tag their teammates and communicate through the maps. Notes created on the maps can be exported in PDF format to show the service history of a property that is detailed and organized spatially.
“I think the app completely changes the way account managers log what they see on-site, what they discuss with customers, and how they communicate the service issues to the crews,” says Utkarsh Sharma, founder & CEO, SiteRecon Inc. “It gives a very powerful option to companies to preserve service history – even when the account managers change. Businesses have digitized the paperwork in their offices through software; now it’s time to digitize what they do on sites using maps.”
It is available for both Android and iOS devices.
Davey Tree Names Director of Human Resources Administration
Jennifer Behrend has been promoted to director of human resources administration.
She joined Davey Tree in 2014 as an employee records specialist. She has held a number of roles within the company since then including supervisor of HR compliance and manager of human resources administration.
“Jennifer has played a key role in numerous company initiatives, most recently including the addition of our Paid Parental Leave Policy and our multi-year SuccessFactors implementation,” says Anna Davis, vice president of human resources. “She has proven to be an indispensable asset to Davey, consistently demonstrating exceptional work ethic and leadership and continuing to go above and beyond expectations, all while supporting her team and our employees with empathy, selflessness and positivity.”
Green Lawn Fertilizing Promotes Josh Willey to COO
Josh Willey with Green Lawn Fertilizing/Green Pest Solutions has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer. In his new role, he will oversee all lawn and pest operations, facilities, human resources and sales.
He will also continue to manage the company’s leadership development program that he started in 2019. Willey joined Green Lawn in June 2017 as director of business development. He was quickly promoted to senior vice president of operations after five months with the company. Since joining, the company has doubled in size from just under $13 million to over $30 million in revenue.
“I am so proud and thankful for all of Josh’s accomplishments over the last five years,” says Matt Jesson, president and CEO of Green Lawn. “I am looking forward to where his outstanding leadership will bring us over the next five years and beyond!”
WorkWave Experiences 195 Percent Revenue Growth in Q1
WorkWave, a provider of SaaS software solutions, has experienced 195 percent revenue growth year-over-year through the first quarter of 2022. They’ve also had a software revenue growth of 181 percent.
The company is continuing its acceleration from a strong growth year in 2021. This growth is a result of continuous progress, releasing features such as TEAM Lite. The new Chief Revenue Officer and revamped sales team in the second half of 2021 has also improved sales.
“The success we are now seeing is just the first glimpse into the new level of performance that we will achieve as a result of intense work executed over the past several years,” says David F. Giannetto, CEO of WorkWave. “We believe that we have built a new business model indicative of how SaaS software companies will operate in the future, combining the strength of their close, mission-critical software-driven customer relationship with the power of financial solutions, so that their customers can collectively benefit in ways that they could not individually.”
WorkWave is seeing the results of its strong partnership with customers, with 96 percent new customer growth since Q1 2021 and a net retention rate of 127 percent.
