NALP member Archives - The Edge from the National Association of Landscape Professionals

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NALP member

Franchise Leaders Join Forces: Exploring the Clintar and U.S. Lawns Merger

This year, U.S. Lawns, based in Orlando, Florida, joined EverSmith Brand’s portfolio of B2B service-based franchise companies. Previously, U.S. Lawns was owned by ValleyCrest and when ValleyCrest merged with The Brickman Group to form BrightView, U.S. Lawns tagged along. “We realized it was a good time for us to spin out, a necessary time,” says […]

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Level Up: Passion Powers Pleasant Places, Inc.’s Growth

Our Level Up series shares the strategies that help landscape and lawn care companies get to the next level. Guy Artigues enjoys hard work. “I truly enjoy the sweat on your brow type thing and just the instant gratification of this industry that it provided,” Artigues says. “Back then, you were just doing little things […]

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Second-Gen Owner Dean DeSantis Reflects On His Career Journey

In 1974, DeSantis Landscapes, based in Portland, Oregon, was just a landscape and irrigation start-up. Over the years, the business has steadily grown to serve the Greater Portland Metro and beyond and is now at $18 million in annual revenue. Second-generation owner Dean DeSantis took a journey of his own before coming to take the […]

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Talking with Titans: Richard Sperber

Richard Sperber is the executive chairman of Sperber Landscape Cos. He started in the industry working for his father’s company, ValleyCrest Landscape Cos. Sperber took on leadership of ValleyCrest in 2001 and grew it to more than 100 worldwide locations. He merged the company with The Brickman Group in 2014 to form BrightView. After a […]

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Level Up: K&D Landscaping Grows Aggressively By 25 to 50% Annually

Our Level Up series shares the strategies that help landscape and lawn care companies get to the next level. Justin White, owner of K&D Landscaping, Inc., based in Watsonville, California, was born into the landscaping business as his parents started the company in the 80s. “I never really planned on taking it over,” White says. “It […]

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Level Up: Sunrise Landscape Grows by Almost 300% in Three Years  

Our Level Up series shares the strategies that help landscape and lawn care companies get to the next level. In 2019, Austin Ashmore acquired Sunrise Landscape, based in Tampa, Florida, along with some outside investors. He had contemplated starting his company from scratch when he missed the entrepreneurial environment of small business, but he says […]

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Level Up: Mountain View Landscapes Priorities Their People

Our Level Up series shares the strategies that help landscape and lawn care companies get to the next level. At the age of 18, Steve Corrigan, president of Mountain View Landscapes, Inc., based in Chicopee, Massachusetts, landed his first commercial client when an apartment manager told him they were looking for someone to cut the […]

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In Memoriam: Glenn Jacobsen

Glenn Jacobsen passed away on Jan. 8, 2024, at the age of 65, after a battle with glioblastoma brain cancer. Jacobsen founded Jacobsen Landscape Design & Construction in 1979 and was president of NALP in 2013. Like many others in the industry, Jacobsen got his start mowing neighborhood lawns. He built his Midland Park, New […]

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Frederico Outdoor Living Fine-Tunes Their Focus Under New Leadership

Passing the business on to the next generation is a common hope and exit strategy for landscape company owners. Russ Frederico started his company, Frederico Landscape Management, based in Lehi, Utah, over 40 years ago. As an elementary school teacher, he was looking to supplement his income over the summers by mowing lawns. After a […]

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Level Up: High Prairie Landscape Group’s Careful Hiring Keeps Their Culture Strong

Our Level Up series shares the strategies that help landscape and lawn care companies get to the next level. While working for a garden center in college, Robyn Schmitz realized she felt the most fulfilled and passionate when she was helping design gardens for customers. After switching her major from journalism to horticulture/landscape design, she […]

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