Disaster ResponseFeaturedIndustry NewsLawn Mowing Maintenance and Lawn CareLoaders, Excavators & TractorsMaintenanceManufacturer/Supplier UpdatesProductsProducts and EquipmentThe Latest
Bobcat Introduces TL623 Telehandler
Jessica Schwartz
16th Annual Snow & Ice Symposium Preview
Minneapolis, Minn., June 19-22 Visit www.sima.org/show for full and updated information on registration, special offers, exhibitors, speakers, special events, educational sessions and more. SIMA heads west of the Mississippi River this year and brings the 16th Annual Snow & Ice Symposium to Minnesota, June 19-22, 2013, in the state-of-the-art Minneapolis Convention Center and newly remodeled Hyatt. The four-day event joins snow and ice professionals from all over the United States and Canada, and features a trade show, industry-specific education, networking events and more. Check out the following events happening at the show: Preconference Workshop & Hands-on Equipment Demo: This three-part workshop on June 19 will provide an overview of snow-specific safety training, a facility tour of a Caterpillar dealership and a hands-on equipment demonstration. Two Keynote Speakers: Join Dave Horsager, author, business strategist and speaker, on June 20 for the opening Keynote, “The Trust Edge: 4 Keys to create, build and enjoy lasting momentum.” Judy Guido, executive strategist and marketing expert, will present the second Keynote, “Building a Profitable Sales Strategy & Team”, on June 21. Educational Sessions: Twenty sessions will cover topic areas such as sales & marketing, management & leadership, operations & equipment and returning track from last year, CEO to CEO. Saturday will also feature a longer, more in-depth session on sales techniques called “Stop Wasting Time and Improve Your Close Ratio.” Snow & Ice Trade Show: The trade show will be held on June 20 from 1-5 p.m. and on June 21 from 9:15 1:15 p.m. ...
Hands-On Leader
From a local start to a national leader, Crystal Arlington knows the industry Click image to enlarge. Whether running a business meeting or a hydroseeder, Crystal Arlington, president and CEO of Affiliated Grounds Maintenance Group, Inc., Lake City, Pa., is right at home in the largely male landscape industry.PHOTOS COURTESY OF AGMG. Crystal Arlington’s first trailer was a red wagon that she hitched behind her bike. After loading an old push mower she would peddle her bike to neighbors’ properties and mow their yards. Over the last few decades, Arlington’s fleet of equipment has grown – as has her service territory. Today, she is president and CEO of Affiliated Grounds Maintenance Group, Inc., which provides property owners and facility managers with full service exterior maintenance using a network of some 7,000 contractor partners across the country. One thing hasn’t changed, though: Arlington still loves to be hands-on. “My crew will tell you that I’ll still get in a truck and go out to plow if we’re in a bind. I can still jump in a skid steer. I can still get behind a mower,” she laughs. “And I think my guys respect me because of that.” Like her introduction to lawn care, Arlington got started in the snow removal business when she was young, helping her father plow driveways in an old Scout. “He was a farmhand and we did it just to have a few extra dollars in our pockets,” she recalls. “My job was to get out in ...
Snow Obsessed
Collin Corso credits his boyhood fascination with turning him into a respected snow fighter Click image to enlarge. Collin Corso at 16 started by plowing residential driveways and a small family-owned parking lot. Now 25, Corso’s Terra Snow is a recognized leader in its Massachusetts market.IMAGES COURTESY OF COLLIN CORSO. Collin Corso freely admits it: he’s obsessed with snow and has been since he was a child. In first grade, while other kids were out playing in snow, he was out clearing it with the single-stage snowblower his mom gave him for Christmas. “I remember as a kid being filled with excitement, waiting for the city plow trucks to drive by. Some parents criticized her for giving me such a tool; little did anyone know what it would lead to,” says Corso, who launched Terra Snow in 2006. “When it would snow she would supervise me as I would make my best attempt to push the tiny snowblower through the snow to clear the driveway. I can’t explain the thrill this gave me!” Corso, now 25, and his Newyburyport, Mass., business has grown up and he is fast becoming a shining star in the snow and ice management industry. He started with residential driveways and a small family-owned parking lot. “My route was horrible – each driveway was separated by a 15- to 30-minute drive – but I had to get my foot in the door so I could build relationships and references for my jump into the commercial markets.” ...
In the Fast Lane
Andrew’s Lawn & Landscaping grows at a record rate In 2001 Andrew Gabries was a typical 15-year-old looking for spending money and something to do. Still too young to drive, he enlisted his mom to chauffeur him around his neighborhood and nearby communities to start a mowing business. Twelve years later, he’s in the driver’s seat and Andrew’s Lawn & Landscaping is in the fast lane. Andrew’s Lawn & Landscaping & Go Green Lawn and Pest Control (formerly Go Green Lawn Services) Owner: Andrew Gabries Founded: 2001 Headquarters: Thornton, Pa. Markets: West Chester, Pa., including Chester and Delaware countiesServices: Lawn mowing and landscape enhancements, including spring/fall cleanup, mulch, edging, pruning, lighting, fertilizing, weed control, pest/disease control, core aeration and overseeding Clientele: High-end residential and commercial sites Community Service: Andrew’s Lawn & Landscaping honors one of its employees by taking care of the landscaping at the local firehouse. Gabries also has participated in fundraising and awareness for Lyme Disease and is building relationships with community youth-oriented organizations to help them raise funds for programming. Website: www.andrewslawnandlandscaping.com www.gogreenlawnservices.com “I was naturally self-driven and motivated to succeed,” says Gabries, who worked after school and weekends through high school and graduated in three years from Penn State University with a degree in landscape contracting. Along the way he also earned the Eagle Scout award from the Boy Scouts of America. All those experiences, he says, have helped him build a successful company in a relatively short period of time. “‘Be prepared’ would be the ...
Planning for More Growth
North Carolina firm sees diversification as driving its success Click image to enlarge. Michael Dickey standardizes his equipment (including mowers) so that employees get adept at using it and the company mechanic becomes very familiar with maintaining and repairing it. It also helps build win-win relationships with vendors. A disagreement with a former employer over whether he could take a day off to tend to family business led to Michael Dickey being fired – and to the decision to start a business of his own. Dickey is owner of Color Landscapes, a successful company that he founded in Burlington, N.C., in 1994. Color Landscapes Owner: Michael DickeyFounded: 1994Headquarters: Burlington, N.C.Markets: Piedmont/Triangle areaServices: Commercial maintenance,commercial installation andresidential constructionEmployees: 50Website: www.colorlandscapes.com “Something happened and they needed me to work that day,” Dickey recalls. “We already had plans with the kids. I put the family first and they didn’t. So we ended up parting company.” The next day, he put $500 down (Dickey’s house payment for the month) on a $1,000 pick-up truck. “I went out and started doing jobs and that week ended up making enough money to make the house payment and the truck payment. And we’ve been rolling ever since,” he says. What started off with that one truck and a part-time employee has grown to two dozen trucks and 50 employees that provide commercial clients with the entire package of property management services, maintenance and chemical. The company also offers landscape design/build, landscape renovations, water features and pool decks, ...
Tooling Around in the Snow
Editors put two new Bobcat utility vehicles through their paces in Lake Tahoe QuickLook: Bobcat 3600 Utility Vehicle Transmission: Hydrostatic Drive system: 4X4 and AWD Horsepower: 24.8 hp diesel Integrated attachment: Bobcat snow blade Accessories: Spreader, sprayer Vehicle towing capacity: 2,000 pounds Cargo Box load capacity: 1,250 pounds Maximum travel speed: 30 mph Operating weight: 1,955 pounds (without cab) The life of most business press editors these days consists mostly of sitting behind a computer reading, editing and pounding out articles. Those of you that started a landscape business because you like to be out in the field doing production and talking up prospects and clients may now also find ourself nailed too often and too long an office chair. But, fortunately, from time to time, even desk-bound editors (hopefully like many of you) break from routine and get to do something in the field – something that gets your blood flowing again. So it was when I was invited to participate in the rollout of several exciting new utility vehicles by Bobcat Company earlier this winter. Bobcat Company is the North Dakota-based company of manufacturer of skid steers, compact track loaders a broad range of other rugged compact equipment. Specifically, I got the opportunity to drive and operate Bobcat Company’s two newest work-saving products: the 3600 and 3650 hydrostatic drive utility vehicles. What editor (or landscaper for that matter) wouldn’t jump at the chance to put some shiny new utility vehicles through their paces? And at beautiful Lake Tahoe ...
Get in Step with This Mobile World
On March 30, 1973, the United States, complying with the Paris Peace Accord, removes all combat troops from Vietnam. More than a month later and unrelated, President Richard Nixon’s top White House staffers, H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichmann, and Attorney General Richard Kleindienst resign. House Counsel John Dean is fired. The Watergate Scandal is erupting and a U.S. presidency is just months from disintegrating. Largely ignored at the time among those momentous events, Martin Cooper, then the general manager of Motorola’s Communication Systems Division, in what must have been very gratifying, calls his rivals at at AT&T Bell Labs in New York City. On April 3, 1973, he makes the first ever cell phone call. Widely credited as the inventor of the cell phone, Cooper, a Chicago native and electrical engineer, had joined Motorola in 1954 and had made several important discoveries in wireless two-way communication previous to perfecting that first cell phone. In a sense, that call changed how all of us communicate and run our businesses. But that wasn’t apparent then. Three Neat Mobile Business Apps Here are three apps that I’ve found useful in working away from a main office. You may find them useful in working away from your office, too, or with corresponding with field crews or customers. 1. Skype is a free download that allows users to communicate by voice using a microphone, video by using a webcam and instant messaging over the Internet. 2. Dropbox is another free app that allows you to ...
Time to Ditch Your Handwritten Systems
In fixing his irrigation business, David Crary unleashed his entrepreneurial spirit HindSite Sofware CEO: David Crary Founded: 2002 Headquarters: St. Paul, Minn. Employees: 12 Revenues: About $1 million Website: www.hindsitesoftware.com Running a business, even a small family field service business, with paper and pencil these days doesn’t cut it. The competition is too keen and margins are too tight for any owner to rely on yesterday’s business management systems and technology. Irrigation company owner and entrepreneur David Crary figured that out 15 years ago. He decided to do something about it, something that owners of other field service businesses can do, too. He streamlined his systems with software, field service management software that he developed himself. Over a period of several years, Crary developed and fine-tuned software that made his company’s systems and field operations significantly more efficient and profitable. By 2002, with the launch of HindSite Software, he was ready to offer it to other owners. Small business owners in the green industry and a growing number of other industries now use this software, too. A visit from a Sears repairman to repair a dryer was the inspiration David Crary needed to begin building a successful software system. “I knew that my company was leaving money on the table,” says Crary, who came up with HindSite after realizing that the systems he was using in his irrigation company, LMS Irrigation Systems, most of them relying upon handwritten documents (work orders, instructions, invoices, etc.) were inefficient and wasteful. Crary knew ...
