Industry leader Charles Vander Kooi dies

Industry leader Charles Vander Kooi, president of consulting firm Vander Kooi & Associates, died March 12 of an apparent heart attack. The author, consultant and founder of HardScape Magazine spent decades as an estimator and helped more than 1,500 companies in their estimating and bidding systems. The family is holding a private burial and there will be a memorial service sometime in early April. Check back for updates.

“Charles Vander Kooi has been my mentor, my teacher and my business adviser,” says Tony Bass, owner of Tony Bass Consulting, a landscape business consulting firm in Fort Valley, Georgia. “A friend I already miss. A confidant like no other. A walking calculator with an ability to use comedy to teach in the most memorable ways."

Bass met Vander Kooi at a seminar in Atlanta back in 1997. “It was clear from the first hour that he could help me improve the profits in my landscape company. So I made a commitment to become one of his best students. I'm glad I made that decision."

Vander Kooi spoke at an average of 80 trade shows, conventions, and associations each year, teaching his philosophy across the U.S., Canada, Latin America, England and Australia. He consulted with an average of 50 clients annually, assisting in and improving their performance.

"(He was) one of the most impactful and memorable speakers I've seen over the years. He will be remembered well for his animated speeches and great sayings," says Kyle Tobin, chief environmental officer, president and owner of LawnSavers Plant Health Care in Toronto, Canada, adding that some of the most successful people he knows were Vander Kooi's disciples. 

Steven Cohen, chief innovation officer at GreenMark Consulting Group in Henrico, Virginia, calls Vander Kooi a one-of-a-kind trailblazer and a landscape industry visionary.

“Chuck inspired and influenced all through his outgoing personality, wit and intense wisdom,” Cohen says. “Chuck’s systems and process for estimating have saved, improved and brought great success to many if not all of his students. We are deeply saddened by his passing, but know his legacy will live on forever. My condolences to the Vander Kooi family.”

Vander Kooi frequently spoke at green industry events like the Ohio Landscape Association's annual meeting and iLandscape.

“He will be missed by many,” Bass says. “Charles often remarked in his seminars that he already worked out a plan for two words to be etched upon his tombstone: Overhead Recovery. Those of us who knew him personally will make sure this happens. Our industry has lost a legend. But his teaching and training will not be forgotten."