Market Trends: April 2000

IN THE NEWS
ServeClick Brings New Wave of E-Commerce

ST. LOUIS, MO. – Unveiling what some call the next wave of e-commerce, Connectria announced the launch of ServeClick, a hosted service and e-commerce portal specifically designed for service-based companies and the first e-commerce system allowing service-oriented companies to schedule services and sales appointments and price services via the Internet.

According to Richard Waidmann, president and chief executive officer of Connectria, an application service provider, software development and network engineering firm, e-commerce to date has been focused exclusively on the online sale and delivery of products – a market expected to grow to more than $1 trillion by the year 2003. But Waidmann said most consumer services have been left out of the online marketplace even though services represent a larger share of the U.S. economy than products. “The service industry’s lag in offering reliable online service scheduling stems from the extreme complexity in developing accurate time scheduling algorithms for each unique service within each service industry,” Waidmann said.

Mark Rocco, vice president and general manager of Steamatic, St. Louis, Mo., a cleaning and restoration firm, has begun testing ServeClick and expects use of the software to increase efficiences, boost revenues and, ultimately, increase Steamatic’s profits.

“Right now, we can’t cost-effectively book appointments during non-business hours,” Rocco said. “With ServeClick, our customers will be able to visit either our Web site or ServeClick’s site to schedule services online whenever the impulse strikes them – we’re open for business 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

According to Jackie Engel, Connectria’s vice president of marketing and communications, ServeClick can also be integrated with a company’s existing Web site, and the companies that don’t already have a Web site will become part of ServeClick’s Online Service Mall.

April means spring for most of the country, but the Sun Belt has been working non-stop through the winter months.

And climatic predictions for the coming months call for continued drought concerns in that part of the country, which may actually be good news for contractors offering irrigation services. Irrigation installation and maintenance has been one of the more rapidly growing services among landscape contractors. In fact, more than 30 percent of respondents to a Lawn & Landscape survey offer irrigation services, and, not surprisingly, the majority of these contractors are located in climates known for their warm-weather and general lack of precipitation.

A POSITIVE IMAGE
Say Cheese!

Lawn care operators will get a chance to show off their best-looking lawns in the Picture Perfect Lawn contest sponsored by Lawn & Landscape magazine and the Professional Lawn Care Association of America (PLCAA).

The contest’s purpose is to recognize the best residential, commercial and public service projects in warm-season and cool-season grasses. Besides national recognition, each of the six winners will also receive a $200 Travel WorldWide Network travel voucher to the 2001 PLCAA Conference and Green Industry Expo in Tampa, Fla.

Winners will be chosen by PLCAA members who view 8-by-10 site photos and vote for the best-looking lawn in each category at the Association’s annual dinner Nov. 4 at the GIE Show in Indianapolis, Ind.

“Picture Perfect Lawn is a great way to get recognition for the superior work you do on your accounts – residential, commercial or public service,” said Tom Delaney, PLCAA executive vice president. “By entering, lawn care operators have an opportunity to let the world see through photos how their companies beautify the environment.”

Lawn care operators interested in entering the contest should call Lawn & Landscape’s Nicole Wisniewski at 800/456-0707 or PLCAA’s Jessica Veronneau at 800/458-3466 for an official entry form and to receive contest rules. The contest deadline is Sept. 30.

IN THE NEWS
Illinois Law Forces Regulation of Irrigation Contractors

CHICAGO, ILL. – New Illinois law HB 539 recently went into effect and allows lawn irrigation contractors to install sprinkler systems in the state. The law also states that only a licensed plumber can install backflow prevention devices and inspect sprinkler heads and risers.

The bill requires lawn irrigation contractors to register annually with the Department of Public Health and pay a registration fee to be set by rules currently being written by the Department of Public Health.

In addition, the bill allows the city of Chicago to provide, by ordinance, for registration of lawn irrigation contractors.

However, the bill preempts home rule, meaning that the state of Illinois has the exclusive power to regulate lawn irrigation contractors.

Truck Industry Reports Strong Market

WILLOUGHBY, OHIO – Sterling Truck Corp., a subsidiary of Freightliner Corp., called the 1999 market the strongest in history for the truck business.

According to the company’s statistics, Class 8 truck sales totaled 300,000 units with 260,000 units sold in the United States, 30,000 units sold in Canada and 12,000 units sold in Mexico – a 22 percent total increase over 1998.

The Class 6 and 7 markets are also up with a 23 percent increase from 1998 overall. Class 7 is the larger of the two markets with 130,000 units sold vs. Class 6’s 45,000 units.

The numbers in Class 7 follow the trend of customers purchasing more heavier medium-duty trucks in the 30,000- to 33,000-pound range, said Jim Hebe, president and chief executive officer, Freightliner Corp.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
Activist Group Criticizes EPA, Dursban

NEW YORK, N.Y. – TomPaine.com, an Internet magazine about politics, government and media, criticized the lawn care industry and its products by placing an ad on the editorial page of the Feb. 9 issue of The New York Times. The ad denounced Dow AgroSciences’ Dursban (chlorpyrifos) and the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) re-evaluation of the product.

“(Dursban is) so common it shows up everywhere. Trace amounts of Dursban and a chemical cousin have even been found in some bagels,” the ad read. “Mounting evidence suggests everyday exposure may harm people. Kids are especially vulnerable.”

Tim Maniscalo, manager for government and public affairs for Dow AgroSciences, Indianapolis, Ind., said that some environmental groups have been offering various stories to different media outlets about a variety of pesticides, including Dursban. “Chlorpyrifos is going through the re-evaluation process and the activists need to chum up the media,” he said. “This is all part of that process.”

Although DowAgroSciences didn’t respond directly to the ad, the company did release an 11-page statement that addresses each of the ad’s concerns one by one.

“Chlorpyrifos products have been on the market for more than 30 years,” Dow’s statement said. “No insect control product available for use has been more thoroughly studied.”

EPA responded to the ad via a letter to the editor in The New York Times. Although the letter had not been printed as of press time, EPA has posted the letter on its Web site, www.epa.gov.

In its letter, EPA wrote, “The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has taken significant strides to provide the public, especially children, with unprecedented protection from the risks of pesticide exposure. In August 1999, we announced the first tough new measures ever to protect children under FQPA by banning many uses of the most toxic insecticides used on kids’ foods. At that time, we also an-nounced a very ambitious schedule for scientifically assessing the risks of all organophosphate insecticides, which include chlor-pyrifos, or Dursban. We are on schedule.

“Your readers should know that EPA will finalize its review this spring and propose measures for reducing all exposures and risks, which could including canceling uses of Dursban.”

Maniscalo said the only response Dow AgroSciences received regarding the ad were some calls from the company’s New York-area customers.

IN THE NEWS
ALCA’s Holder Celebrates 20 Years

HERNDON, VA. – Debra Holder figured someone might say something about her 20th anniversary with the Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA) at the banquet held at the association’s Executive Forum. But she was in for a surprise when the members played a slide show commemorating many of the memorable events she has taken part in over the last two decades.

Now she has started off the next 20 years by being promoted to executive vice president of ALCA. “ALCA’s tremendous growth reflects how quickly the landscape contracting industry is moving, and at no time in the history of this industry have we needed to focus on strategic alliances more than we do now,” noted Steve Glover, past president of ALCA. “Debra knows this industry and has proven success in consensus building with key industry organizations. She will be invaluable in establishing and advocating public policy positions for the landscape industry.”

In Business...

The Davey Tree Expert Co. acquired Caldwell Tree Co.… Weather-matic announced Pipe ‘N Heads as its newest wholesale distributor… Osram Sylvania acquired Motorola Lighting… Metallic Power partnered with Briggs & Stratton… Echo is expanding its office warehouse, distribution and manufacturing facility in Lake Zurich, Ill.… Yazoo Power Equipment changed its name to Pug Power stemming from the company’s new management structure and refocused business objective… The Davey Tree Expert Co. opened a residential office in Nashville, Tenn.… Gardners’ Guild received the Achievement Award in large commercial maintenance for Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco, Calif.… Rain Bird and the Landscape Architecture Foundation selected Diane Evans as the recipient of the Rain Bird/LAF scholarship… Becker Underwood acquired the Rejex-it Wildlife Management Products division from PMC Specialties… Horizon purchased Pro Power Equipment Co.… Jacto backpack sprayers made a string of distribution agreements in the Southeast, West and Midwest regions... Ball Horticultural Co. is now an investor in GrowZone, a horticultural industry e-business for suppliers... Labor Finders International opened nine new branch offices.

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