AED Foundation & SkillsUSA Illinois Support Skilled Trades
Jessica Schwartz
Always Keep Your Promises, Cameras or No Cameras
Many of us baby boomers fondly remember Allen Funt’s “Candid Camera” television show. The half-hour program ran through the 1960s and 1970s, and was followed by several specials in the following decades. For you “kids,” Funt devised stunts, two of his most memorable being a talking sidewalk mailbox and an attractive lady turning up in a service station asking for help with a car missing its engine. Then, using a hidden camera, he captured and shared unsuspecting peoples’ humorous reactions to the pranks. “Candid Camera” was innocent fun, and the folks who got pranked ended up laughing along with the viewing audience when Funt, instantly recognizable, made his appearance with a huge grin. Today’s candid cameras (aka security cameras) capture a lot of funny stuff, too. But a lot of it isn’t so ha-ha funny. It can be incriminating or, at the very least, embarrassing, which is not so funny to the person caught on camera. With security cameras practically everywhere, just about everyone’s phone is capable of being used as a camera. Anything that anyone does in public can be shared via social media. If it goes viral, millions of people may eventually see it. Needless to say, none of us want to end up being recorded doing something we shouldn’t be doing—or not doing something we should be doing. Phantom fertilization Consider the TruGreen employee caught on a security camera this past July posting a treatment sign on a Florida homeowner’s property and leaving a door hanger without ...
TruGreen files $1 million permit for new headquarters
A $1 million permit has been filed to renovate the new TruGreen headquarters in East Memphis into a space that reflects the company motto—”Live life outside.” In May, TruGreen inked a lease for the top three floors of Forum II at 1790 Kirby Parkway, owned by Hertz Investment Group of California, giving the lawn-care service 65,000 square feet. The Memphis-based company had been looking to establish a separate corporate headquarters for its 300-plus employees since spinning off from ServiceMaster Co. last January. The move solidified the company’s commitment to Memphis, David Alexander, TruGreen president and CEO, said at the time. The new office is being designed as an open-work concept with open corner balconies to allow associates to “feel as if they are working in their backyard,” said Amy Simpson, TruGreen senior director of corporate communications. The office will also include conference rooms, training facilities and workspaces with a landscaped courtyard. Simpson said TruGreen anticipates moving in by mid-December, with renovations expected to be complete in the first quarter 2016. Originally posted at Memphis Business Journal.
TruGreen Acquires Noon Turf Care
BOSTON, Mass. — Noon Turf Care has joined forces with TruGreen. By combining the resources of both companies, Noon Turf Care customers will continue to receive the same excellence in programs, and will experience no change in the cost of their services or the number of visits they’re scheduled to receive. For more information, click here.
Bayer CropScience Names New Lawn & Landscape Key Account Manager
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – Environmental Science, a division of Bayer CropScience LP, announces the appointment of Mike Dzurenko as the newest key account manager for the North American turf and ornamentals (T&O) business. In his new role, key account manager for the lawn & landscape division at Bayer, Dzurenko is responsible for developing and building relationships with national accounts in the lawn care and landscape industry. Dzurenko most recently served as director of strategic parternships at U.S. Lawns in Orlando, Florida, where he managed innovative solutions for business development, strategic selling to national accounts, process improvement and customer service operations. Prior to U.S. Lawns, Dzurenko worked with TruGreen Companies out of Atlanta, Georgia, where he led major account business development for TruGreen Landcare and was responsible for prospecting and developing multiproperty and national account sales for its landscape division nationwide. “Bayer is a professional organization and a great company from both a product and a relationships perspective,” Dzurenko said. “I’m looking forward to getting out into the field, meeting customers and developing multi-tiered relationships with customers ranging from headquarters to local sales teams.” Dzurenko has a diverse educational background with professional experience in advanced sales training, professional selling, selling to federal government, relationship selling, Six Sigma, CRM (customer relationship management), sales management leadership as well as interviewing, recruitment and selection. He completed undergraduate courses at Youngstown State University.
TruGreen Joins Save the Bees Bandwagon
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — Experts agree that a major health factor facing honeybees is a lack of forage, as they are unable to access the food they need to survive even as they work to pollinate crops to feed the world. With the human population expected to grow to over 9 billion, 70 percent more food will be needed by 2050, meaning bees will need more food to help them meet this demand. To help address this issue, Bayer CropScience donated 40,000 wildflower seed packets to TruGreen, totaling 8 million wildflowers, to increase forage area for pollinators. TruGreen will distribute the seed packets to its customers during National Pollinator Week (June 15-19). This collaboration is part of Feed a Bee, a Bayer CropScience initiative to grow 50 million flowers and expand forage habitat for bees and other pollinators. TruGreen has made a commitment to pollinator stewardship by collaborating with Feed a Bee to distribute seed packets by hand to clients in Massachusetts and New York. This effort also aligns with the recently announced White House Million Pollinator Garden Challenge, an initiative to establish 1 million gardens with the goal of providing forage for honeybees and other pollinators, and will result in hundreds of gardens to help feed bees. Bayer’s collaboration with TruGreen is one of several collaborations Bayer has launched as part of the Feed a Bee initiative to increase bee forage areas. The campaign had an initial goal of growing 50 million flowers and providing additional forage acreage ...
TruGreen LandCare Changes Name to LandCare
IJAMSVILLE, Md. – TruGreen LandCare says it will now operate as LandCare. The brand was developed with input from branch teams, who participated in an intensive discovery process aimed at uncovering the core values that drive success across the company. In a series of branch visits, new CEO, Mike Bogan, met with several hundred team members across all 50 branches, who collectively articulated a set of core values that are at the heart of the new brand. LandCare was spun off from ServiceMaster in 2011, and immediately focused on building infrastructure to support a stand-alone business. With restructuring complete and a stronger culture emerging, LandCare continues on a trajectory to be a trusted partner to its customers, and a premier place to grow as a professional. The new brand includes the tag line, “Your Land. Our Care.” This highlights the essential promise made by every professional on the LandCare team: Care—for our customers, for our team members and for our community.
TruGreen Readies New Headquarters in East Memphis
EAST MEMPHIS, Tenn. — After considering several East Memphis options, TruGreen has leased 65,000 square feet of the top three floors of Forum II at 1790 Kirby Parkway, said Amy Simpson, TruGreen senior director of corporate communications. “We are excited about solidifying our presence in the Memphis community,” David Alexander, TruGreen president and CEO, said in a news release. “We want our headquarters to represent who we are as a company, and the Forum II is the ideal location. Our associates will be right at home in East Memphis, and our partners did an incredible job of executing our vision.” The Memphis-based lawn care service has been looking to establish a separate corporate headquarters for its 300-plus employees since spinning off from ServiceMaster Co. last January. The new offices can accommodate up to 400 employees for future growth, Simpson said, adding that TruGreen anticipates moving in by mid-December, with renovations expected to be complete in the first quarter 2016, reports the Memphis Business Journal.
TruGreen Launches First Scottish Franchise
EDINBURGH, Scotland – Local resident David Inglis, 34, has launched his own business and the first Scottish, TruGreen Professional LawnCare franchise, as the gardening season moves into full swing. Inglis, who previously held a career in training and development with HSBC, invested in the franchise after developing a passion for outdoors work and a desire to run his own business. TruGreen operates across the UK, helping customers create beautiful lawns by using the latest technology and expertise in grass growing. He will serve a potential 115,000 customers to the west of Edinburgh. “I’ve spent many years helping my colleagues develop in their careers and I felt the time was right to look at my own options and make an investment into my future. TruGreen affords me the opportunity to manage my own business, work closely with customers, all with the support of a national company behind me,” Inglis said. “I have big plans for the business, with both apprenticeships and ex-forces recruitment a major part of the company’s development. I’m armed with expert training, lawn care knowledge and the professional equipment to start creating stunning, healthy lawns for customers and I’m looking forward to the new challenge before me.“ TruGreen is a franchise of Leicestershire-based ServiceMaster Limited, which has been established in the UK since 1959. Each new TruGreen franchisee undertakes a two-week, intensive training academy at ServiceMaster’s head office, during which time they achieve their qualification in pesticide application from the National Proficiency Council and full technical training from ...
TruGreen Inches Closer to New Memphis Headquarters
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – TruGreen will move its 300 Memphis-area employees to a new corporate headquarters by the end of 2015, a move that will solidify the company’s spot in the Memphis business landscape. “We are very close,” said Amy Simpson, spokesperson for TruGreen, adding that the company has “narrowed it down to a few places. Our plan is to move by the end of the year, after our peak season. There isn’t any impetus except for our own people to feel that separation (from ServiceMaster) and feel we’re truly our own company.” The “separation” Simpson refers to is the company’s spinning off from The ServiceMaster Co. at the beginning of 2014. Click here for the full article.
TruGreen Hooks Up with the PGA of America
ORLANDO, Fla. – The PGA of America and TruGreen announced a multi-year partnership, with TruGreen becoming the “Official Lawn Care Provider of the PGA of America and the PGA Championship.” The relationship will not only bring shared benefits and education to PGA Professionals and TruGreen associates but also combined support for community-based open space initiatives. The announcement was made at the 62nd PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Florida. For the full article, click here.
