Manufacturers Go Pink to Support Breast Cancer Awareness Month: This Week’s Industry News

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Want to keep up with the latest news in lawn care and landscaping? Check back every Thursday for a quick recap of recent happenings in the green industry.

Fisher Engineering, SnowEx Go Pink to Support Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Fisher Engineering announces the support of Breast Cancer Awareness month in partnership with SnowEx. During the month of October, Fisher is running a special promotion featuring limited edition pink FISHERXV2 v-plows and pink lift arm kits. Fisher will donate $100 from the sale of each pink XV2 v-plow and $50 from the sale of each pink lift arm kit to the Maine Breast Cancer Coalition, where purchasers can choose to make the donation in memory of a person that has been affected by breast cancer. GIE+EXPO attendees can purchase raffle tickets for a chance to win a limited-edition pink FISHER XV2 v-plow or limited-edition pink SnowEx V-Maxx G2 VX-1500 spreader.

Husqvarna Partners with Men Against Breast Cancer for 2017 Campaign
In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Husqvarna is partnering with Men Against Breast Cancer. Now in its fifth year, Husqvarna’s “Saws for a Cause” campaign will drive awareness and raise funds. Consumers in the U.S. and Canada can purchase limited-edition pink toy chain saws from local Husqvarna dealers during October. For every purchase Husqvarna and its partners will donate $3 (for up to $15,000), to Men Against Breast Cancer. Husqvarna is also holding the 2017 Husqvarna Breast Cancer Awareness Giveaway, where one randomly selected winner will receive a limited-edition pink 450 Rancher chain saw and limited-edition pink toy chain saw. That giveaway entry period runs from October 1 through November 15.

Weed Man Hits $100 Million Milestone
Weed Man USA, the largest franchised lawn care company in North America, is proof positive that when a business wholeheartedly invests in people, an ongoing culture of success is created. With systems in place that are strategically designed to create multiple advancement opportunities for franchisees and their employees, Weed Man has experienced year over year growth. This week, the company announced that it has officially hit the $100 million revenue milestone in the United States. Since January, Weed Man USA has expanded into 21 new territories. The franchise has now established roots into 520-plus territories throughout the United States. Weed Man USA has grown almost 12 percent in 2017 and is projected to continue growing at the same rate in 2018.

Billy Goat To Give Away A 13 HP Debris Loader At GIE+EXPO
GIE +EXPO trade show attendees are invited to enter a drawing for a Billy Goat 13 horsepower debris loader when completing a demo at the Billy Goat outdoor booth #6374-D. To register to win a DL1301H, attendees must complete a demo of any Billy Goat machine at booth #6374-D and submit a completed registration card at indoor booth #10168 or outdoor booth #6374-D. A combination of power and size, at 2,000 cfm of commercial suction, the DL1301H is designed for small to mid-size jobs and crews. A dual shredding 14.25-inch diameter armor plate impeller with Piranha blade that reduces debris up to 12:1 and maximizes trailer loading across multiple properties before dumping saves time and dump fees. The DL1301H is powered by a 388 cc Honda engine.

Asplundh Tree Experts Rocked with $95 Million Penalty
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia recently reported Asplundh Tree Experts Co., a tree trimming company has been handed a $95 million penalty, the largest ever imposed in a United States immigration case. The government said that the company hired employees who provided fake identification documents from 2010 to 2014. The company’s chairman and CEO Scott Asplundh said in a statement that it has taken steps to improve its hiring practices, including reviewing the identification of all employees. “We accept responsibility for the charges as outlined, and we apologize to our customers, associates and all other stakeholders for what has occurred,” he said.

PBI-Gordon Celebrates 70 Years
The year was 1947 and the United States was in the post-World War II economic boom. Four industrious men in Kansas City pooled their considerable talents and shared values to create what would one day become a leading manufacturer of herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, and growth regulators for the professional turf and ornamental management industries. PBI-Gordon continues to thrive to this day. The company, which became 100 percent employee-owned in 2002, is pursuing an aggressive 10-year growth plan that includes investment in manufacturing and warehouse facilities and the reformulation of products to reduce costs and improve efficacy.

KYOCERA to Acquire Power Tool Business from RYOBI
Kyocera Corporation has announced that it has concluded a basic agreement, as of September 29, to acquire the majority of shares, 80 percent, of a company to be established from the company split of Ryobi Limited’s power tool business. The acquisition is expected to be completed in January 2018. Kyocera has recently strengthened its power tool business in the U.S. and European markets through the acquisition of the Unimerco Group in Europe (now KYOCERA UNIMERCO A/S) in 2011 and the acquisition of SENCO Holdings, Inc. in August of this year (now KYOCERA SENCO Industrial Tools, Inc.) Ryobi has a strong market position in Japan and Asia encompassing a wide range of products with highly advanced technologies, Kyocera will be able to expand sales globally.

NCNLA’s One-Day Profit Planning Event Nov. 6
The North Carolina Nursery & Landscape Association (NCNLA) is offering a new local one-day intensive designed for landscape business owners and managers. Partnering with the Carolina Green Industry Network and two of the country’s leading experts on landscape business profitability, NCNLA’s inaugural One-Day Profit Planning will launch on November 6, 2017, at the Harris Conference Center in Charlotte. The one-day intensive will include interactive sessions on ­– Budgeting and Cost-Based Estimating (Marcus vandeVliet – MV Enterprises) and Defining and Sizing Your Team for Profit (Tim Smith – Ignite Business Strategies).

DTN Acquires Wilkens Weather Technologies
DTN, a provider of information and actionable insights in agriculture, weather, refined fuels and trading, recently acquired Wilkens Weather Technologies, a Houston-based weather company, from Rockwell Collins. Wilkens Weather Technologies provides weather forecasting services to customers in the offshore/maritime industry, in particular oil and gas.

New Reduced Risk Product Available for Production Ornamentals
Environmental Science, a business unit of the Bayer Crop Science, is launching Altus insecticide for use in landscape ornamentals. Altus controls sucking pests before, during and after bloom, as well as providing compatibility with honey bees, bumble bees and many beneficials. Altus provides a new foundational chemistry for the ornamentals industry, which is available to growers for use with production ornamentals in greenhouses. The product offering flexible applications, broad-spectrum control, systemic and translaminar protecting of plant growth. It is also classified as a reduced risk product by the EPA.

NJPA Awards Contracts to 15 Green Industry Vendors
The National Joint Powers Alliance (NJPA) recently awarded contracts to 15 vendors who offer grounds maintenance solutions. Through these contracts, government, education, and nonprofit entities can purchase mowers, chippers, diggers, landscape rakes, snow blowers and plow attachments, and much more. The vendors are: Ariens Company; Bandit Industries, Inc., John Deere–Mowers/Tractors; Exmark Manufacturing; Hustler Turf Equipment; Jacobsen; Kubota Tractor Corp.; Land Pride, Morbark, LLC; Power Distributors, LLC; Rhino AG, Inc.; Schulte Industries; The Toro Company; Ventrac by Venture Products, Inc. and Vermeer Corp. Purchasing off an NJPA contract streamlines the procurement process for public entities, saving them time and money. Effective as of August 18, 2017, the contracts are available to all NJPA members throughout the US and Canada.

FNGLA Landscape Show Set for Nov. 2-4
The Florida Nursery, Growers and Landscape Association plans to host The Landscape Show Redux Nov. 2-4, 2017, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. The original show had been canceled due to Hurricane Irma in September. The Landscape Show Redux will take place in the West building due to limited availability of convention center space. Also, the headquarters hotel moved from the Rosen Centre Hotel to the Rosen Shingle Creek on Universal Boulevard in Orlando. Complimentary bus service will be available directly to and from the Rosen Shingle Creek and the convention center. For more information on the rescheduled show, visit FNGLA’s website.

Arborjet Welcomes Bill Keogh to the Team
Aroborjet, Woburn, Massachusetts, announced that Bill Keogh joined the company as production supervisor. Prior to his role at Arborjet, Keogh worked as Director of Fulfillment at Shawmut Communications Group, where he managed online ecommerce storefronts for customers and oversaw warehouse shipping and receiving operations. Also, Kevin Brewer joined the company as New England Territory Technical Manager responsible for identifying and securing new business in New England and maintaining existing accounts with distributors, municipalities, landscape companies, arborists and universities. Prior to his role at Arborjet, Brewer worked as general manager at Kaiser Tree Preservation Co.,

The Cleary Bros. Welcome New VP of Sales
The Cleary Bros., Danville, California, recently hired Morgan Hall as its new vice president of sales. Hall is a Bay Area Native with 15 years sales experience, the last nine in commercial landscaping.

Valley Irrigation Announces Two Promotions
Valley Irrigation, a division of Valmont Industries, Inc. in Valley, Nebraska, promoted Jodi Wacker to vice president of global human resources – Irrigation and Tubing, and Darren Siekman to vice president of global business development – Irrigation and Tubing. Wacker joined Valmont Industries in 2014 as the North American Irrigation human resources manager. Two years later, she became senior director of Global Human Resources. Siekman originally joined the team in 2014 to lead a joint development between Valmont and DuPont/ In 2016, Darren became director of business development for Global Irrigation and Tubing.

Anuvia Plant Nutrients Partners with Vereens Turf
Anuvia Plant Nutrients announces an agreement with Vereens Turf to distribute Anuvia’s GreenTRX to Vereens golf, sod, lawn care and landscape customers. GreenTRX is an enhanced-efficiency, multi-nutrient, slow-release specialty fertilizer made to deliver fast deep greening of turf and lawns while also protecting the environment. Vereens Turf is a regional fertilizer formulator and blender serving Southeast golf, sod, lawn and landscape customers for over 20 years.

Read last week’s industry news roundup: Yale Replacing Grounds Gear With Electric Alternatives