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Vila & Son seeks buyer
HOMESTEAD, Fla. – By October, one of the largest landscape companies in the country will no longer exist, according to its chief restructuring officer.
“There’s not even a question in my mind” a sale will be done in mid-July, said Alan Goldberg, who joined Vila & Son in March as its chief restructuring officer.
According to the Lawn & Landscape Top 100 list, Vila & Son posted revenue of $62.5 million in 2008 and $53.8 million in 2009. Last year, it ranked as the 14th largest company in the industry.
The company was heavily reliant on the construction market, in addition to offering maintenance, irrigation, tree care and lighting services, and in 2010, its revenue dropped to $45.9 million.
“That’s tough on a company,” said Goldberg, who also owns Miami-based Crisis Management, Inc. “Construction, mainline construction, went down and landscape construction went down. Were there things we could have done? … That’s irrelevant,” Goldberg said.
Juan Carlos Vila, who founded the company in 1984, still serves as its owner and president, Goldberg said. The company has not entered bankruptcy.
Goldberg said the company is negotiating with three potential buyers – both landscape companies and private investment firms – right now, and recently hired an investment bank to help manage the process.
In anticipation of a sale, in early July Vila & Son filed a notice with the state of Florida that it could lay off all of its 641 employees in August.
“We’re still around; we’re still alive,” Goldberg said. “Just like many businesses, we need an influx of cash.”
Vila & Son, headquartered in Homestead, Fla., also has branch offices in Miami, Orlando, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Tampa, Port St. Lucie and West Palm Beach.
At one time, the company also operated 200 acres of nurseries and tree farms throughout the state, as well as a retail store in Royal Palm Beach, Fla. The retail operation closed a few years ago.
A sister company, Vila & Son Tree Farm, Inc., is not involved in the company’s restructuring. – Chuck Bowen
Nutri-Lawn adds U.S. franchise
SEATTLE – Nutri-Lawn has expanded its presence in the United States, adding Utah to the list of states it services.
The lawn care company has locations in Seattle, Colorado, Texas and nationwide in Canada. The newest franchise will service residents of Davis and Weber counties in Utah.
Local franchisee Jaxon Searcy opened a Nutri-Lawn location after deciding to move to the lawn care industry from the refrigeration and HVAC industry. Searcy has been servicing clients since the spring.
“After a long search for the perfect business to bring to the local market, I discovered Nutri-Lawn and contacted them about purchasing a franchise in lawn care,” Searcy said.
“Their commitment to eco-friendly lawn care impressed me so much that I purchased a franchise."
Landscaper teams with Nets for Threes for Trees campaign
BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Lawns by Yorkshire has agreed to donate 459 maple trees to be planted this fall in Brooklyn and Newark, N.J. parks.
Why the obscure number? Well, it’s the number of three-pointers the New Jersey Nets made during the NBA 2010-11 season.
The landscaping company and basketball team collaborated on the green initiative Threes for Tree, in which Lawns by Yorkshire committed to donating a tree for every three-point field goal made by the Nets during the season.
“The Trees for Threes Program is a fun and innovative program that educates and promotes environmental stewardship, and we are pleased to collaborate with the Nets and help grow trees in Brooklyn ,” said Lawns by Yorkshire CEO Steven Jomides. “Our cultures and green goals are perfectly aligned.”
Jomides, members of the Nets organization and Brooklyn elected officials celebrated the planting during a ceremony at a Brooklyn park.
“The planting of these trees not only beautifies our wonderful and historic parks in this great borough, but it will also go a long way in helping to reduce pollution in our environment,” said U.S. Rep. Edolphus “Ed” Towns. “This signifies yet another important step in our commitment to being good stewards of the land, and securing our precious natural resources for generations to come.”
DuPont’s Imprelis may cause browning and dieback in trees
After reports of severe damage to conifers and other trees from Maryland to Minnesota, DuPont Professional Products is cautioning lawn care operators not to use the new post-emergent broadleaf weed control product in areas where Norway spruce or white pine trees are located.
The company released Imprelis in early spring, giving LCOs a low-volume option that, by all accounts, gave solid control of a wide range of weeds, including hard-to-eradicate species like ground ivy and wild violet. Imprelis controls the broadleaf weeds with a new active ingredient – aptexor – and a new subclass of the carboxylic acid herbicides.
But since Memorial Day, applicators and university researchers in the Northeast and Midwest have been reporting curling needles, severe browning and dieback in trees near turf that had been treated with Imprelis.
In a June 17 letter to Imprelis customers, DuPont said it is investigating the incidents, and has found them to have the following common variables:
- A majority of the reports involve Norway spruce or white pine.
- In most cases, Imprelis was not applied alone, but in a mixture with other herbicides, either pre-emergent, post-emergent and/or with a liquid fertilizer.
- Some reports indicate there may have been errors in use rates, mixing practices and/or applications to exposed roots, or the tree.
Bert Cregg, associate professor of horticulture and forestry at Michigan State University, said it’s too early to tell what the damage means for trees’ long-term health, but, based on the level of dieback seen, trees could look deformed for the foreseeable future. – L&L staff
Californians form turfgrass and landscape foundation
A diverse group of turf and landscape professionals have formed the California Turfgrass & Landscape Foundation, a statewide coalition with the goal of funding and supporting turfgrass and landscape research.
The new foundation is a charitable 501(c)3 corporation that will raise funds and support research that represents the interests of stakeholders throughout the state in the areas of turfgrass, landscape and related water use.
“California is such a large geographic area, and up to this point, research support has been very regional and fragmented” said Bruce R. Williams, a golf course consultant who was chosen to serve as the executive director of the foundation. “We expect that the California Turfgrass & Landscape Foundation will change that and help unify the industry while giving much needed support to our research institutions.”
ValleyCrest reshapes leadership team
CALABASAS, CALIF. – ValleyCrest Landscape Cos. has made changes to its senior leadership team, promoting Andrew J. Mandell to the newly created position of CEO of ValleyCrest Landscape Development, the company’s construction division.
Mandell previously served nine years as executive vice president and chief financial officer of ValleyCrest Landscape Cos. Richard Wolff has been named to succeed Mandell as executive vice president and chief financial officer.
Mandell will team with Tom Donnelly, who remains president of the development division.
In his new role, Mandell will be responsible for an operational network that serves clients in major markets across the United States and internationally in the United Arab Emirates, Asia and the Caribbean.
Wolff brings nearly 25 years of senior-level financial experience, operational business leadership and broad CFO capabilities to ValleyCrest. Prior to joining the company, Wolff held positions at Castle & Cooke, ITT Industries, Triton Media Group and Sage Publications. His new role includes overseeing all finance, accounting, acquisitions, safety, fleet, real estate and information systems.
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