Power Players

Last October, Lawn & Landscape Associate Publisher and Editor Chuck Bowen sat down with owners and executives from top companies across the country to better understand the issues the industry faced in 2011 and what’s to come this year in 2012. The panel talked sales, pricing, labor, regulations and employees. All year Lawn & Landscape will be running excerpts of that conversation. This month, the conversation focuses on growth opportunities.
 

Chuck Bowen: What do you guys see as opportunities looking ahead?

Scott Jamieson: For us, we’re still growing organically. But now that we have some stability in the company, we’re doing acquisitions, we’re moving into new markets. That’s also the risk, because we have to be very measured about moving into a new market and acquiring the right kind of company. But for our company we can feel that upward thrust again. It’s going a little bit. We have some good competitors that are tired and have weathered the storm but are done. And as long as they have the right business model, we are looking to expand.

Tracy Bertog: I think that what is a great opportunity for us right now is acquisitions. But the only problem we’re finding is that the owners of the companies (acquired) who have say a $1 million company, are expecting to jump on board and right away make $100,000 from the get go and work eight hours a day, four days a week. So that’s where we struggle is getting the owner to go away. We want the accounts, we’ll sell off the equipment, because we want density and we don’t need the equipment, and we usually come out OK on those deals. The problem is what do you do with the owner?

Dale Elkins: We’re focusing and continuing to try and get better and better with in house markets. Athletic turf is becoming more and more opportunistic. And of course what we’re into, and George (Gaumer) is too, is golf course maintenance work.

To get specific, those are the opportunities we are pursuing now, and they’re big. The route work is still one hell of a thing to get through, but there’s still a lot of big jobs out there, but it’s going to be more of an in-house operation.

Bob Grover: I think that the light at the end of the tunnel is that the plants are going to grow, whether the economy does or not.

So, the grounds maintenance side is going to be competitive and prices are going to continue to be a challenge, but it’s not going away. One great thing about our industry is that you can’t outsource it, and technology will not eliminate trees.

TB: And snow also. We’ve had three great winters in a row in our area which has been outstanding. And they can’t really cut (prices) there. You can’t not salt and can’t not push it.

George Gaumer: There’s another industry that has really changed in the past years, hasn’t it? With the advent of associations and more and more people using better equipment and better subcontractors and more competitive pricing. Haven’t prices gone down?

TB: They’ve gone down, but the equipment has gotten so much better. What we’re able to do with a big order and 14-foot push backs on them versus a truck with a 10-foot blade, there’s no comparison. The other thing with snow that I’ve found over the years to be our biggest selling point is that people need to get out. Culligan can’t be shut down for a day because we couldn’t get there and get rid of the snow. It’s a much easier sell for us.

“We’ll be there. We have the equipment on site, and we’ve been doing this for 37 years so you don’t have to worry about it.”