Industry Update

Source: www.TurfMagazine.com

News from around the Green industry

How Bobcat Unleashed Me Contest

As part of its 50th anniversary celebration, Bobcat Co. is putting on the “How Bobcat Unleashed Me” contest, which asks equipment users to share how Bobcat has helped them. Entrants need to write a brief essay and fill out an entry form at the Bobcat 50 Years Unleashed Web site, www.bobcat.com/50. The grand-prize winner will receive a $75,000 gift certificate, good for products or attachments at a designated Bobcat dealership in North America.

In addition, five second-prize winners will receive $1,000 Bobcat gift certificates, 10 third-prize winners will receive a Bobcat jacket and 50 monthly winners will receive the book “Bobcat: 50 Years of Opportunity, 1958-2008.” Weekly winners will receive a Bobcat 50th Anniversary hat. The grand-prize winner will be selected from the weekly winners.

Selected winning entries will be posted on the Web site. Entries will be judged on creativity, quality, completeness and originality of answers, as well as any supporting documents. The contest ends May 30, 2008.

Reinders Acquires Illinois Distribution Territory

Reinders, Inc. has acquired the Toro commercial equipment and golf irrigation distributorship for Chicago, northeast Illinois and Lake County, Ind., previously handled by Turf Professionals Equipment Co. Reinders will continue to operate the TPEC location in Franklin Park, Ill., joined by TPEC employees.

MJ Miller to Represent Grun

MJ Miller Combined Companies will represent the Grun Co. in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia and Wisconsin. MJ Miller offers the full line of Grun erosion control and environmental equipment to rental houses and construction equipment dealerships.

Northwest Chicago Weed Man Opens

A new franchise of Weed Man has opened in Illinois. Brandon Burns, a 15-year golf course grounds veteran, purchased the Weed Man territory covering the northwest suburbs of Chicago.

Shindaiwa Hires New Marketing Director

Shindaiwa has appointed Paul Wheatcraft as the company’s new director of marketing. Wheatcraft comes to Shindaiwa from Tyco Electronics, where he held the positions of marketing communications manager, product manager and product development engineer. Wheatcraft also worked for G.E. Medical Systems as a field service engineer and representative. He has a master’s degree in business administration from Marylhurst University, a bachelor’s in mathematics from Whitworth College and an associate’s in electronics from Portland Community College.

Jasperson Leaves Mid-Am Board, Kurth Comes Aboard

Randy Jasperson left the Mid-Am board of directors after two years as president and 12 years of service representing the Wisconsin Green Industry Federation. Jasperson began his tenure on the board in March 1996.

Terry Kurth, a current board member and past president, will now serve as president. Kurth has also served as a director and as president of LaWN and the Professional Lawn Care Association of America (now known as PLANET).

Eric Koeritz Jake Schneider

UW Turf Students Win National Recognition

Two University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate students in the turf program won national honors at the Agronomy-Crop Science-Soil Science Society of America national conference.  

Jake Schneider won first place in the oral presentations of the turfgrass division for his presentation on rain gardens, lawns and urban water infiltration. Eric Koeritz won second place in the poster session for his work on determining seeding dates for construction of football fields. Schneider is in the horticulture department and was awarded the Mid-Am Donn Sanford Scholarship at the 2008 Wisconsin Green Industry Federation Convention Awards Banquet. Koeritz is completing his master’s degree and will be going on for his doctorate.

Sycamore Professional Announces TOP Dealers

Sycamore Professional, of Louisville, Ky., has announced its TOP dealers and distributor for 2007. Each of the recipients is being recognized for their Total Overall Performance for 2007, taking into consideration sales volume, cooperation and complete product representation.

Brown and Wiser, Inc. earned the award for TOP distributor. The TOP dealers for Sycamore are Barnett Implement, Central Power Equipment, Hauer’s Lawn Care Equipment, Hostetler Feed and Farm Supply, L&D Race Tech, Laona Machine Supply, Metro Turf Outdoor Power Equipment, Midwestern OEI, Mike’s Lawn Equipment, Orsborn Power Saw Co., Race Brothers Farm and Home Supply and Rayborn Ace Hardware.

ECHO’s Spring Giveaway

Professional users who purchase ECHO products worth at least $299 before April 30, 2008, may win one of more than 850 prizes in the “Get Tough and Win Tough Stuff” Spring Giveaway.

For rules, details on how to enter and locations of participating dealers, professional users can visit www.echo-usa.com/gettough. Interested dealers may contact their ECHO distributor for participation requirements.

Steve Adamczyk Eric Denoyer

Tri-Turf News

Tri-Turf, a Traverse City, Mich.-based supplier of turfgrass maintenance products, recently donated more than $15,000 to the Michigan Turf Foundation. The monies will be directed to The Gordon LaFontaine Endowment for Turfgrass Research, which was created to fund the field of turfgrass science research through Michigan State University in East Lansing. Funds were raised through the Tri-Turf winterization sales program.

Tri-Turf employees Steve Adamczyk and Eric Denoyer were recently recognized as the top two salespersons in the world for sales of Nature Safe fertilizer.

Symbiot Partners With Simplot Partners

Symbiot has formed a new partnership with Simplot Partners, which is an alliance of Simplot, Estes and Harrell’s. This relationship establishes Simplot Partners as the preferred fertilizer and chemical provider of Symbiot’s registered service providers. The announcement marks the end of a three-year relationship with Lesco.

Simplot Partners distributes proprietary chemicals, fertilizers and turf maintenance products for the J.R. Simplot Co.

Deanna Duke

Jacobsen News

Jacobsen has expanded the territories of three existing equipment dealerships and added one new dealer. Kansas Golf & Turf, Wichita, Kan., will now serve the northeast corner of Kansas and the western half of Missouri. Luber Brothers, Inc., Dallas, Texas, will now serve customers in southeast Texas. Midwest Golf & Turf, Cincinnati, Ohio, will now serve Michigan and the northwest corner of Ohio. Tri-State Pump & Controls, Inc., Liberty, S.C., became the newest dealer in North and South Carolina.

Deanna Duke has joined Jacobsen as its new product manager for the fairway product category. Duke has held management positions with Curtiss-Wright Controls, Nissan Motor Corp., Sea-Land Service and, most recently, Goodrich Corp. as the company’s marketing communications manager. She earned a bachelor’s degree in human factors engineering from the United States Air Force Academy and a master’s of business administration from the University of South Carolina.

Rain Bird’s Water Summit Brings Together Water Conservation Leaders

Conservation experts and green industry professionals convened in Pasadena, Calif., for The Intelligent Use of Water Summit VIII, A Look at Global Conservation Initiatives and Strategies: Leading By Example.

Hosted by Rain Bird Corp., the summit included a panel composed of members chosen for their water conservation expertise in the areas of academia, research, media and landscape design. The panelists were Mike Binns, Roger Cook, Marty Eberhardt and David Zoldoske. Rain Bird presented a check for $10,000 to Eberhardt, executive director of The Water Conservation Garden in El Cajon, Calif., for winning the 2007 Intelligent Use of Water Award.

In addition to calling for irrigation and landscaping professionals to assist in the development and implementation of water conservation initiatives and management, the panel emphasized the need to question accepted trade practices. They also acknowledged the role that industry professionals can play by influencing individuals and organizations to adopt water-conserving practices.

The next summit is scheduled for June 2008 in Zaragoza, Spain.

Homan & Fletcher Join Wood Bay

Derek Homan has joined Wood Bay Turf Technologies as a regional sales manager. Homan is a former golf course superintendent with 19 years’ experience in the turf industry. Nicole Fletcher has joined the firm as an administrative assistant.

National Golf Products Adds Sales Reps

National Golf Products has hired Tom Conway, Gregg Gersen, John Jenkins and Kregg Moyer as sales representatives.

Conway, who has taught at the Indiana Golf Academy and the United States Golf Academy, will handle key accounts in Indiana. Responsible for the Idaho, Oregon and Washington region, Gersen has nearly 10 years’ golf industry experience. With more than 17 years’ experience as a sales representative, Jenkins, a former golf professional, will serve the Michigan territory. Moyer will handle key accounts in Connecticut and New York.

E-Z-GO News

Ronald L. Otten has joined E-Z-GO as vice president of engineering. Otten has more than 25 years of experience in the global agricultural, construction equipment, material handling and transportation industries. He joins E-Z-GO from Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America, Inc., where he served as director of product development and corporate quality and led the company’s engineering function. Otten holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering from the University of Minnesota and a master’s from Benedictine University.

Michael Parkhurst has been promoted to vice president of global sales. Formerly vice president of golf channel and branch operations, Parkhurst will oversee the sales and service organizations. He joined E-Z-GO in 2000 and has held the positions of Northeast regional manager, director of northern sales and director of golf sales. Parkhurst has also served as vice president of sales for the Bruedan Corp.

Northern Wire Named Supplier of the Year

Northern Wire, LLC has earned recognition as a partner-level supplier for 2007 and was also named C & CE Division Supplier of the Year in the John Deere Achieving Excellence Program. The Merrill, Wis.-based company was selected for the honor in recognition of its dedication to providing products and service of outstanding quality as well as its commitment to continuous improvement.

Northern Wire is a supplier of wire forms and products to John Deere operations in several states and Canada.

LawnGrips Names Fellabaum Sales Manager

LawnGrips, LLC has appointed Zac Fellabaum to the new position of sales manager in the United States and Latin America.

Fellabaum joins LawnGrips after serving three years with public accounting firm KPMG in Austin, Texas. He holds bachelor’s degrees in both accounting and Spanish from Ft. Lewis College in Durango, Colo.

Blume Joins Ewing

Ewing has appointed Mike Blume as national sales manager. He will contribute to the development of the turf and erosion control products division and assume management of the turf products sales team.

Blume has been active in the distribution of chemicals, fertilizer and seed to the turf and ornamental industry for more than 25 years. His experience includes roles in sales management, marketing and technical advising for United Horticultural Supply, Horizon and Quali-Pro. Blume holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Sonoma State University, a master’s in plant science from Fresno State University and a California Pest Control Adviser’s license.

Congress 2008—35 Successful Years

Canada’s Congress 2008 hosted 12,781 green trade professionals. The concurrent Congress Conference offered over 35 hours of in-depth seminars with strong business and design/landscaping themes.

Awards were given to Leedle Landscaping, employer of the year; International Landscaping, Inc., Dunington Grubb Award for excellence in construction; Markville Landscaping and Nurseries, Casey van Maris Award for most innovative and unique design; and Evergreen Landscaping and Lawn Maintenance, LO Grounds Management Award. Best booth awards went to Lucerix, Aquascape, Stone-Link Corp., Stihl and Thomas Equipment.

Profile Purchases Canfor Assets

Profile Products LLC has purchased the hydraulic mulch manufacturing assets and EcoFibre brands from Canadian Forest Products Ltd. Profile is adding new warehouse space in Sumner, Wash., to accommodate increased inventory of product on the West Coast. Expansion of manufacturing facilities in Sanger, Calif., is now online and Profile is evaluating options for additional distribution centers in the western United States. A new distribution center located in Hickory, N.C., has already been opened to support Profile’s Conover, N.C., manufacturing facilities.

Profile’s West Coast sales and technical team also grew with the recent addition of Doug Graham as a regional sales manager and Becky Gauthier as a technical services assistant. Graham was previously a regional sales manager with Fiber Marketing International, a national distributor of mulch products. Gauthier worked for Fiber Marketing International/Canfor and has been in the hydraulic mulch industry since beginning her career with Weyerhaeuser in 1991.

Lennon Joins Irrometer

Brian Lennon has joined Irrometer Co. as director of sales. He will be responsible for all sales and marketing activities for the Riverside, Calif.-based company. Lennon’s background includes over 25 years’ experience in sales, marketing and management in the industrial sales market. Most recently he served in strategic sales development for an international manufacturer of construction products.

BASF to Supply Triticonazole to Bayer

BASF Crop Protection has agreed to provide limited access to triticonazole fungicide to Bayer Environmental Science for United States and Canadian turf and landscape ornamental uses. The supply agreement is for certain uses including professional sports turf, golf, landscaping and professional lawn care. BASF maintains all the rights to the active ingredient to sell the compound in all the markets where it is registered.

Lindsay Completes Acquisition of Watertronics

Lindsay Corp. has acquired all outstanding shares of stock of  Watertronics, Inc., based in Hartland, Wis. Watertronics designs, manufactures and services water pumping stations and controls for the golf, landscape and municipal markets.

2008 GIE+EXPO Web Site Launched

Dealers, retailers and lawn and landscape professionals can go online for updates on events and features planned for the 2008 Green Industry & Equipment Expo. Online registration for the October 23-25 trade show in Louisville, Ky., is available at www.gie-expo.com .

GIE+EXPO is sponsored by the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute, Inc., Professional Landcare Network and Professional Grounds Management Society.