Footsteps to follow in

MSNW Group, in Washington state, is looking for “CHAMPS.” And they’ve found one in the landscape lead at their Whatcom branch. His name is Eduardo Contreras.

“Ed is great; I recruited him for the company,” says Bryon Cooper, branch manager. “He used to be my neighbor.

“He’s a solid all-around guy who shows up to work every day and doesn’t call in sick,” Cooper adds. “He’s always got a smile on his face.”

Contreras has been with the company for nearly a decade now, and it’s been his work ethic, punctuality and willingness to lend a hand to anyone and everyone that’s allowed him to work up to his current position of landscape lead.

“I’m really happy,” Contreras says of being named a 2023 Employee of the Year. “I try to do the best I can to manage all the sites we have.”

And according to Cooper, he is doing a stellar job of maintaining those sites.

“The quality of his work is hands down superior. He leads our branch here for landscaping,” Cooper explains. “As landscape lead, he oversees the overall upkeep of the properties he has, and he has a lot of our high-profile or Top 20 accounts on his portfolio. We get a lot of compliments from the clients about him.”

MSNW Group President and CEO Terrel Weg says Contreras embodies all of the company’s most important core values — something that’s been especially important as the business aims to grow.

“Our core values are really important to us at MSNW and a couple of years ago we made them into an acronym — CHAMPS,” Weg says. “Eduardo really encompasses all those core values.”

At MSNW, CHAMPS breaks down into Continuous improvement; High standard of excellence; Absolute integrity; Mutual respect and support; Positive with a “We’ll take care of it” attitude; and Servant-hearted stewardship.

Weg adds that not only does Contreras represent all of these values, but he also excels as a landscaper in a part of the country where that’s not always so simple thanks to Mother Nature.

“He’s been with us for a significant amount of time, especially for a front-line job like that,” Weg says. “We certainly have some extreme weather here in the Pacific Northwest — and it’s not easy to be a landscaper here. Unlike our partners across the nation, when it’s raining, we are still providing landscape services.”

Those who can, teach

Contreras takes his expertise and proactively leads the training initiatives for all incoming team members at the Whatcom branch.

“He can take pretty much anyone we give him and train them to bring them up to the MSNW standard,” Cooper says. “You can give him someone experienced or someone fresh off the street and Eduardo will mentor them and make sure they do everything to our company’s standards.”

One person who’s about to find out first-hand how impactful Contreras’ training can be is Weg, who is set to star alongside him in some upcoming educational videos.

“We’re revamping all of our training for our company in 2024 and for part of our training videos, we’re putting together ‘Train Terell’ moments where ‘if Terell can do it, anyone can’ situations,” Weg explains. “We’re picking different individuals from different departments, and Eduardo is the one who will be doing the training for the landscape department.”

With his mentorship soon reaching company-wide, Contreras says he enjoys being a regarded guide for not only newbies but those who’ve been with the company for a while.

“The way I like to train the new people is by letting them know how to do the job correctly,” Contreras says. “I also talk to them about safety so that they don’t get injured. I want them to do a good job so that they get to go home safely every day.”

Cooper adds it’s Contreras’ uplifting spirit that helps to get everyone on board even during the most difficult of times.

“He leads by example and just has a good attitude,” Cooper says. “He’s really good with the team. When we change technology, he does his best to keep him and the team on track. We’ve changed a couple times in the past few years, and he’s always had a great attitude about it.”

That’s something that’s no small feat — since Cooper says he’s had some employees threaten to not change old habits in the past.

“I’ve had team members try to tell me they aren’t going to use it,” he recalls.

But with a little help from Contreras, everyone seems to get on board with change. It’s a talent Weg notes takes a special kind of person.

“Everybody’s opinion of Eduardo is just he’s very humble and he is an effective teacher because he is patient and he is kind,” she says. “Teaching is such a skill to have, and not everyone has it — but Eduardo does.”

Running on all cylinders

But it’s not just mentorship that Contreras brings to the branch — he’s also started several initiatives to improve efficiency.

One of the most prominent initiatives is a structured, weekly vehicle inspection system to maintain MSNW’s fleet.

“The reason I started the initiative was before, nobody was checking if a truck needed an oil change or any maintenance of the cars, so that’s why I decided to start that,” Contreras says. “It’s saved the company some money, too. Prior to that they had to spend a lot more money on maintenance.”

The process dictates that trucks are checked routinely for maintenance issues and cleaned once a week. “The calendar system is working good,” Contreras says. “On the 15th of every month we inspect the vehicles and we know what needs to be done with the trucks. And every Friday we clean the trucks — inside and out.”

Cooper says he wasn’t surprised when Contreras started the initiative as his truck has been flawless from Day 1.

“His work truck is always spotless — he takes time outside of the workday to ensure that his truck is always in pristine condition,” Cooper says. “If he’s out there making sure his truck is spotless, well then the others will follow suit.”

Weg adds it doesn’t stop with his vehicle; Contreras also makes it a point to be dressed properly every day and looking good when he’s out on sites.

The go-to guy

Cooper says there isn’t a trait of Contreras’ that he didn’t wish everyone else had.

“If we could clone him, we would,” he jokes.

Weg says she and the team truly do appreciate all of the hard work Contreras contributes and has enjoyed watching him excel throughout his career with MSNW.

“Eduardo just always steps up,” she says. “He makes sure he is doing everything possible to help the team succeed.

“He just has exceptional work ethic and is extremely punctual,” Weg adds. “There is such a high level of trust that we’ve established with Eduardo over the years. He is just the man you want on your team — period. I’d love for everyone to have the same values as he does. Not only is he an amazing human being, he’s also a really great landscape technician and we’re really blessed to have him.”

For Contreras, he loves everything about the job from training new hires to mowing and pruning. His sights are set even higher with the company and would like to be promoted further.

“I want to keep progressing and working hard so that maybe one day I can become a supervisor,” he says. 

The author is an associate editor with at Lawn & Landscape magazine.