LAYTONSVILLE, Md. – March was a busy month for Ruppert Landscape, the Maryland-based company that was No. 8 on Lawn & Landscape's Top 100 list in 2019.
Mike Felts, Jennifer Saah and Courtney Pohlit all received promotions, while the company added Pete Friz to their team as well.
Mike Felts will be the vice president of human resources and information technology. Felts has held numerous positions during his nine years with the company, including estimator, production manager, operations manager and branch manager in their Maryland landscape construction branch, and most recently, he was corporate administrative manager. Prior to joining Ruppert, he held positions as a partner in a general contracting company in North Carolina, a small business financial advisor, and served six years as a sergeant in the U.S. Army, deployed to Afghanistan for two of those years. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from Virginia Tech.
“With our anticipated growth, our goal is to remain responsive and focused on serving both our internal and external customers” said Phil Key, company president. “With Mike heading these efforts, we know that these teams are well-positioned to provide the support we need to help us meet our goals.”
Meanwhile, Jennifer Saah is the new vice president of accounting and financial risk management. She has over 12 years of experience in general ledger accounting, financial reporting, and corporate accounting management. She holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and economics from High Point University and is a Certified Public Accountant.
She joined the Ruppert organization in 2015, where she assisted with tax, compliance and related party accounting for Ruppert Companies, Ruppert Landscape’s parent company. In 2017, she was promoted to controller of Ruppert Landscape. That same year, she was awarded the company’s Corporate Impact Award for her outstanding dedication, contributions, and positive impact on the organization.
“As controller, Jen was instrumental in assembling and unifying the accounting team and creating processes and efficiencies that enabled consistent outcomes for us to better support our branches,” Key said. “We are grateful to have her leadership and expertise in financial risk management to help protect our assets and enable us to continue to provide reliable service to our operations teams, our vendors and our customers.”
Courtney Pohlit takes the position of director of people and recruiting. Pohlit holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing management from Virginia Tech and a master's degree in human resources from Towson University. She's a certified Project Management Professional and has over 15 years of experience in project management, account management and human resources.
She joined Ruppert in early 2019 as digital project manager. In this new position, she will be responsible for developing strategy to optimize the company’s talent acquisition and employee development programs and enhance employee engagement.
“Courtney has proven herself to be extremely organized, structured and forward-thinking, and works well in a team environment,” Felts said. “I am extremely happy that she will be changing roles to further support our company’s growth.”
Finally, the company hired Pete Friz as head of strategic initiatives. Friz holds a master's degree from Loyola University and has over 20 years of business-to-business service experience.
Specifically, he has almost a decade of tenure in the landscape industry, having held positions including director of operations and senior vice president with other leading industry organizations. In his new position at Ruppert Landscape, he will focus on executing strategic objectives to accelerate the company’s growth, including process improvements, systems investments, and training and integration programs, and will help develop leadership and management capabilities.
“Having previously worked for a large landscaping organization, Pete brings a unique and valuable perspective that becomes even more valuable as our company grows,” said Bob Jones, president of the company’s landscape construction division. “He will begin by spending his time evaluating our landscape construction division, focusing on project management processes and associated tools that will enable us to realize greater levels of efficiency and better position us for growth moving forward. He will also be spending time working with HR to help develop management and leadership programs.”
