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Loftness Adds Lightweight Mulching Head For Compact Excavators
Jessica Schwartz
BrightView Landscapes Lauded For Customer Engagement Commitment
BrightView Landscapes Services (BVLS) and BrightView Landscape Design (BVLD) have been welcomed to the National Business Research Institute (NBRI) Circle of Excellence. The NBRI Circle of Excellence Award recognizes organizations that place a high value on employee and customer engagement. Organizations must demonstrate their dedication by conducting best in class survey research with NBRI and taking action based upon those results. NBRI commends the leadership of these organizations for their commitment to the Continuous Improvement Process and recognizes their achievements with the Circle of Excellence Award. Blue Bell, PA-based BrightView is the largest provider of commercial landscaping services in the United States. Through its team of approximately 20,000 employees, BrightView provides services ranging from landscape maintenance and enhancements to tree care and landscape development for thousands of customers’ properties, including corporate and commercial properties, HOAs, public parks, hotels and resorts, hospitals and other healthcare facilities, educational institutions, restaurants and retail, and golf courses, among others. BrightView is the Official Field Consultant to Major League Baseball (MLB). To qualify for the NBRI Circle of Excellence Award, an organization must score at or above Stretch Performance at the 75th benchmarking percentile when measured against their industry, or the organization must improve five or more benchmarking percentiles in total company score over the previous research study, a statistically significant amount. It is no small feat to move an entire company’s score of customer loyalty or employee engagement five or more percentiles, or to reach Stretch or Best in Class Performance levels. “Customer ...
BrightView Completes Renovations on Independence Mall
The National Park Service and BrightView Holdings, Inc. announced the re-opening of Philadelphia’s Independence Mall on May 17, marking the end of the first phase of the company’s in-kind donation to Independence National Historical Park. BrightView is the largest provider of commercial landscaping services in the United States. Through its team of approximately 20,000 employees, BrightView provides services ranging from landscape maintenance and enhancements to tree care and landscape development for thousands of customers’ properties. Independence National Historical Park is one of over 400 places within the National Park Service and is often referred to as the birthplace of our nation. Millions visit the park each year to see the Liberty Bell, and Independence Hall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were debated, adopted and signed. Independence Mall has been closed since work began on the project March 25. BrightView crews made significant improvements to the landscape, including the replacement of nearly 100,000 square feet of damaged sod, as well as irrigation repair, tree care and improvements to gardens along the Mall’s perimeter. “Independence Mall is one of the nation’s most important historical sites and a destination for both Philadelphia residents and visitors to our city,” said Andrew Masterman, BrightView president and chief executive officer. “Our company is headquartered here and it was our honor – in partnership with the National Park Service and our valued suppliers — to help bring the landscape back to what its designers intended more than ...
ECHO Expands Illinois Headquarters: This Week’s Industry News
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. ECHO Expands Lake Zurich Headquarters ECHO Inc. recently expanded its Lake Zurich, Illinois headquarters, adding 51,000 square feet that will house two additional business divisions, according to The Chicago Tribune. The business has an existing staff of 860 people but are not sure of how many new employees the expansion to bring. They are officially unveiling the expanded space during a grand opening Sept. 15. The added square footage increases the size of ECHO’s corporate offices in Lake Zurich to 585,000 square feet. The added room will include the company’s industrial generator division, which recently launched in North America, and also ECHO’s robotic division The expansion reflects Yamabiko Corporation’s confidence in the continued growth of ECHO, which is Yamabiko’s largest subsidiary, said ECHO President Tim Dorsey. Mean Green Welcomes New Dealer in New York Mean Green Mowers has announced their newest service dealer serving the southeast New York area. Arroway Tractor is located on 140 Bedford Rd., Katonah NY 10536. Judy Guido Plans Shark Tank Event for LANDSCAPES 2017 The National Association of Landscape Professionals is partnering with industry expert Judy Guido to present Shark Tank, The LANDSCAPES 2017 Edition! on October 19, from 9:45 a.m.–11:15 a.m. as one of the Power Sessions at GIE+EXPO in Louisville. The Shark Tank-style Power Session will bring together Judith Guido, Chairwoman of Guido & Associates; ...
STIHL Announces Huge Spring Product Launch: This Week’s Industry News
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. Cub Cadet Acquires UK-Based Advanced Turf Technology Cub Cadet recently acquired UK-based Advanced Turf Technology, which manufactures cutting reel mowers and cassettes specially designed for the sports field and golf maintenance markets. This acquisition follows the recent acquisitions of CORE Outdoor Power and Precise Path Robotics. GPS Insight’s Generosity Benefits 60 Charities GPS Insight in 2016 donated $200,496.75 to 60 local and national charities and not-for-profits chosen by their customers and employees. GPS Insight customers and employees suggested the charities that mean the most to them by posting their picks on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. The fleet tracking company had a goal to donate $175,000 for the year, and because of the incredible response, they exceeded their goal by 15 percent. Every customer or employee that participated had a minimum of $250 and up to $5,656.75 donated to the charity they requested. A few of these 60 charities included Donate Life America, Habitat for Humanity, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Honor Flight Network and Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale. BrightView’s Boosts California Presence with Purchase of Marina BrightView, the $2 billion green industry behemoth, significantly grew its presence in the California market by recently acquiring the maintenance business of Anaheim-based Marina Landscape, a company that notched more than $60 billion in sales last year. Marina’s 400 employees service about 200 properties ...
Houzz Scholarship, PremierPRO Bermudagrass for WII Memorial: This Week’s Industry News
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. SiteOne Reports Soft Third Quarter Growth, Acquisition Activity SiteOne Landscape Supply, Inc., in announcing earnings for its third quarter ending October 2, 2016, reported strong year-over-year growth in net sales, gross profit, net income and adjusted EBITDA. SiteOne third quarter results at a glance: Net sales increased by 10 percent year-over-year to $444.5 million Organic sales increased by 2 percent reflecting soft market conditions during the summer Gross profit increased by 17 percent to $138.4 million; gross margin expanded by 180 basis points to 31.1 percent Net income of $14.9 million, an increase of 31 percent year-over-year Adjusted EBITDA increased by 30 percent to $43.7 million; Adjusted EBITDA margin expanded by 150 basis points to 9.8 percent Completed the acquisitions of Bissett Nursery & Equipment Companies and Glen Allen Nursery DBi Services Tabs RogerZino as CEO DBi Services has named Roger Zino as its CEO. Zino is the former president ValleyCrest of Valley Crest Landscape Maintenance where he grew revenue from $140 million to over $650 million. He later served as the first non-family CEO of ValleyCrest. Most recently he served as vice chairman of Brickman-ValleyCrest, focusing on integrating a $2 billion landscape services company with 300 locations and 23,000 employees. DBi Services, headquartered in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, grew from a small commercial residential maintenance company to a global network of more than ...
Overheated Mower Allegedly Causes Fire, John Deere Stock Drops: This Week’s Industry News
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. Urge Congress to Pass H-2B Returning Worker Exemption Keep bugging your legislators to renew the H-2B returning worker exemption. Timing is critical, says The National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP). Congress is expected to pass a temporary spending measure that will keep the federal government running. “It is essential that the continuing resolution extend the H-2B returning worker exemption beyond September 30,” a NALP statement reads. NALP points out that it is already working with the Department of Labor (DOL), the United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) and Congress to ensure that the H2-B program works as intended next year. NALP is asking its members to call their elected officials and ask to speak with the staff member who handles H-2B issues. California Senate Lauds Toro’s Water Zone Radio Show The Water Zone radio show, sponsored by The Toro Company, is a weekly program, first launched in 2015, and has been providing listeners with tips and information on water conservation. In recognition, California State Senator Richard Roth recently presented hosts Rob Starr and Mike Baron a California State Senate Resolution commendation. The Resolution recognizes the Show’s central role in educating the public about best practices and smart irrigation technologies to help utilize outdoor watering more efficiently amid the state’s record drought. Additionally, The Water Zone was named as an IE H20 ...
Brightview CEO Steps Down, New Sessions for GIE+EXPO Announced: This Week’s Industry News
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. Neonicotinoids Affecting Male Honeybee Fertility, Study Finds A new study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B shows that two insecticides can significantly reduce male honeybees ability to reproduce. Thiamethoxam and clothianidin are two chemicals from the neonicotinoid family of insecticides. Neonicotinoids have been shown by other studies to harm the health of individual bees and the reproductive ability of female insects, according to a recent article in the New York Times. The two chemicals used in the study were banned in the Europe 2013, but have continued use in United States. The EPA plans to release risk assessments on neonicotinoids in December. Mike Hoffman Set to Retire, Took Toro to New Heights Mike Hoffman is retiring after 11 years as Toro CEO at the end of this year. Since 2005 when he was named CEO, Toro’s net income has doubled to $202 million (in 2015), on a sales increase of 40 percent to $2.4 billion. The value of the stock over the decade rose 300 percent to an all-time high of more than $91 per share recently. Hoffman, 61, joined Toro in 1977, according to a recent article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Hoffman is giving way to Richard M. Olson as president and CEO, effective Nov. 1, 2016. Andrew Kevin Steps Down as BrightView CEO Two months and two ...
