McManus

By Amy Byrnes Much like the Johnny Appleseed of lore, Jeff McManus – who will serve as president this year of the Professional Grounds Management Society (PGMS) – is a planter. Instead of apples though, the director of Landscape Services at the University of Mississippi grows ideas and cultivates leaders, which he then spreads to other facilities across the country. As PGMS president, McManus hopes to keep moving the organization – which represents over 1,000 industry professionals – forward. Plans include updating its anonymous salary survey for members; revising means for determining property staffing and equipment needs; and bringing its social media platforms up to speed to get information out to members and to the landscaping community at large. As an industry leader, he sees the development of technology as one of the biggest factors to impact groundskeeping, which will help increase productivity and decrease the number of staff needed maintain properties. “We are on the edge of that bubble,” he says, describing an unmanned mower that’s being developed similar to robot vacuums – like the Roomba – which could revolutionize lawn care for large properties. While only smaller versions are being developed now that would be more appropriate for residential use, McManus says these quiet, electric mowers would be able to go out in the middle of the night and be done by morning, rather than sending a crew out to work all day. Down the road, McManus – an Auburn University alum – also looks forward to having ...