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Like so many other landscape business owners, Bret Achtenhagen, president and CEO of Bret Achtenhagen’s Seasonal Services in Mukwonago, Wisconsin, was struggling with attracting, hiring, onboarding and retaining quality individuals to add to the company’s production teams. As a result, Achtenhagen says the company was growing faster than its ability to develop foremen and other […]
Located in Austin, Texas—where technology is basically a way of life (and most certainly a way of business)—Ben Collinsworth, owner and founder of Native Land Design, says he felt embarrassed that his company appeared to lag in that arena. Watching friends outside of the industry transform their businesses with technology inspired Collinsworth to do this […]
Bob Grover was a self-described “outdoorsy kid” growing up. “I grew up in the 1960s and 1970s,” he explains. “We had three television channels. Kids’ TV shows only happened on Saturday mornings. There were no video games. We went outside and played. I had the fortune of living on 1 acre in suburbia. It was […]
Landscape business owners often feel like there is an “us versus them” mentality when it comes to employees. They feel like everyone is just in it for themselves. Nikos Phelps, founder of Utopian Landscapes LLC based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, says that he sensed tension building in his company and took a step back to ask […]
The first time NALP member Jarod Hynson mowed a lawn with a push mower at 8 years old, the smell of fresh grass, the symmetry of perfect stripes and the sense of accomplishment made the outdoors a place that he wanted to forever call “home.” He started his company, Earth, Turf & Wood, based in […]
NALP seeks to uncover and highlight the important issues facing landscape professionals. And who knows better what’s affecting the industry than those in the thick of it? This week, four landscape professionals share what they’re most worried about when it comes to their largest labor issue. Q: What is your biggest labor issue right now, […]
Growing his company through the 2008 recession meant that Dave Fairburn, CEO of North Point Outdoors in Windham, New Hampshire, found he was “saying yes” to nearly every opportunity. He was always afraid to turn work down because he was unsure where it’d come from next. While trying to be all things to all people […]
Like a lot of landscape business owners, Shayne Newman, owner of YardApes, a full-service design, construction and maintenance company, was significantly impacted by the lack of visas to come through the H-2B program this past year. Of the 66,000 available, he didn’t get a single one—and he admits he was unprepared for it to be […]
Exscape Designs is a full service design/build company headquartered in Novelty, Ohio. Owner Bill Dysert says the company’s success comes from upholding and operating by three key core values: integrity, professionalism and accountability. “Our mission is to design, build and maintain outdoor living spaces that enhance the property value and quality of life for our […]
As is often said, “It can be lonely at the top.” Dean DeSantis, owner of DeSantis Landscapes, a Portland, Oregon-based landscape design, installation and lawn care company, was wrestling with this very feeling. Though he has a great team in place, he felt he had nobody to consult with for higher level advice. Because of […]
