Industry Update

Source: www.TurfMagazine.com

Swingle Acquires LawnCare

Swingle Lawn, Tree & Landscape Care announced the acquisition of LawnCare Aeration Plus to strengthen its market position in Colorado’s Northern Front Range communities. Former owner Larry Torrez provided lawn care services to his customers for 27 years. This newest acquisition will be supported by Swingle’s Fort Collins branch.

New Landscape Design Partnership

The recently formed Lindeman/Stevens Landscape Design, Los Angeles, Calif., unites landscape designer Dennis Stevens and business partner Karla Lindeman. The two have worked together in the past and decided to create the new firm, which pairs Stevens’ vast experience in landscape design and artistic vision toward exteriors with Lindeman’s strong horticultural knowledge and business experience. Visit www.lindemanstevens.com to learn more.


One of the prizes in the BigDog Days of Spring Promotion is a mower.

BigDog Offers Promotion

BigDog Mowers is conducting its BigDog Days of Spring Promotion through May 31, 2011. Customers who test-drive a BigDog mower at participating dealers will receive a “Bite This” T-shirt and qualify to win one of several prizes, including a BigDog C-142 mower, Visa gift cards, GPS, flip video camera, Apple iPod and Apple iPad. Visit www.bigdogmowers.com for more information.

Rain Bird Announces New Partnership

Rain Bird announced that it has partnered with The Greenwater Foundation in support of its Groundwater Guardian Green Site program, an initiative that encourages the sustained use of groundwater-friendly practices and recognizes green space managers for their groundwater stewardship. As a program partner, Rain Bird will work with the foundation to raise awareness of the importance of groundwater protection and help green space managers identify and implement groundwater-friendly practices.


Rick Thomas, left, and Nathan Antons.

SourceOne Names Dealer of the Year

Nathan Antons, national sales manager for SourceOne OPE, presented Virginia Outdoor Power Equipment Co., Fairfax, Va., with the Dealer of the Year award. Rick Thomas, general manager, accepted the award.

Featherlite Dealers Honored

Featherlite Trailers honored members of its dealer network at its 2011 Dealer Awards Banquet, held during the annual two-day Featherlite Dealer Meeting in Rochester, Minn. Boespflug Trailers of Dickinson, N.D., received the Top Gun Award as the top trailer dealer in 2010. Other award recipients included American Trailers, LLC, Mineral Wells, W.Va.; Allan Dale Industries Ltd., Red Deer, Alb.; Belore Trailer Sales, Mount Elgin, Ont.; Central Iowa Featherlite Trailer Sales, LLC, Bondurant, Iowa; Circle Diamond Ranch Supply, Mandan, N.D.; Gold Medal Trailer Sales, Merrill, Wis.; Golden Gait Trailers LLC, Concord, N.C.; Roeder Bros., Inc., Bellevue, Iowa; and Twin Cities Featherlite, Elko, Minn.

CNH Hosts Trade Fair

CNH Parts & Service held its 2011 Trade Fair at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tenn. The event brought together nearly 2,500 agricultural and construction equipment dealers from across the U.S. and Canada. The event gave dealers and their employees a chance to see the latest products from CNH Parts & Service, and to meet with the sales, marketing, training, engineering and supplier teams who support the dealerships that represent the CNH family of brands: New Holland Agriculture, New Holland Construction, Kobelco, Case IH and Case Construction.

Sod Solutions Hires Tweedy

Sod Solutions, Inc., Charleston, S.C., has hired Bryden Tweedy to head up its website development and creative design division. He will construct and manage websites for customers and will oversee Sod Solutions graphic design enterprises. A 2008 graduate of Appalachian State University, Tweedy spent the last two years as a software quality assurance analyst at Blackbaud.

Exmark Forms Alliance

Exmark has entered into a partnership with Innovative Equine Marketing, LLC and its Equine Savings program. Based in Georgetown, Ky., Innovative Equine Marketing provides product support to equine facilities and tracks in North America. Through this new relationship, individuals in the equine industry will have access to preferred pricing on Exmark mowing equipment, as well as Toro turf and landscape maintenance products and precision irrigation solutions.

W.R. Meadows Website Relaunched

W.R. Meadows launched its new construction company website at www.wrmeadows.com The website has been redesigned to give it a more contemporary feel, including more project photos, a product spotlight for new products and new social media features. All the content over the years is still available, including access to product data sheets, material safety data sheets, project profiles and more.


Bison formed a new company to offer landscape furnishings.

Bison Acquires BRP Line

Bison, Inc. acquired the BRP Enterprises product line. The new company, brp by bison LLC, will continue to provide the landscape furnishings BRP was known for over the past decade. The product line includes bench seating, chairs, tables, bike racks and trash receptacles.

New Agreement for Torotrak & MTD

A new agreement between Torotrak plc and outdoor power equipment manufacturer MTD replaces their joint venture, Infinitrak, with restructured license agreements that will allow Torotrak to offer variable drive technology to other companies in the outdoor power equipment and compact tractor sectors. Torotrak develops full toroidal traction drive technology, with customers in Europe, North America, India and Japan.

Bobcat Features New Equipment

Bobcat Co. used CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2011 to launch four new M-Series loaders and three M-Series excavators, and showcase a variety of interactive displays. The new equipment models included the S750 and S770 skid steer loaders, T750 and T770 compact track loaders, A770 all-wheel steer loader, E32 and E35 extendable-arm excavators and E55 excavator. Bobcat also debuted new “Bobcat Advantage” competitive comparison videos, and the host of the videos, Perry Rust, was on-site to assist customers as they accessed the videos with the popular JAGTAG mobile marketing platform.

Stone Joins Jacobsen

Ric Stone has joined Jacobsen as vice president of sales. He will be responsible for leading sales efforts in North, Central and South America, as well as customer service and parts support. Stone previously served as senior vice president and general manager of operations for Textron Financial. He earned a BBA in finance from Georgia State University and an MBA from Emory University.

News from Terex

Terex Aerial Work Platforms, a business segment of Terex Corp., announced that Tom Saxelby has been appointed to the position of vice president of North American sales. Saxelby joined then-Genie Industries in 1998 as a sales representative and also served as regional vice president. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire.

Terex exhibited more than 50 machines at CONEXPO 2011. Visitors to the Terex booth saw new product launches, significant equipment improvements and demonstrations from the company’s Aerial Work Platforms, Construction, Cranes and Materials Processing segments.

LiveRoof Showcases Green Roof Solution

LiveRoof, LLC exhibited its solution for modular green roof design at the International Roofing Expo. Compatible with many different roof systems and single-ply flat roofing membranes, LiveRoof modules are made with 100 percent recycled plastics. Using Soil Elevator technology, the modules create an uninterrupted layer of soil and vegetative surface extending above, and across, all modules. This unifies the soil over the entire roof and conceals the modules, unseen under the soil and plants even during dormancy. Moisture Portals establish soil-to-soil contact between modules.

News from Stihl

Stihl, Inc. announced that Kris Williams has been promoted to the position of product information manager. He has been with Stihl since 2003, most recently serving as a product information specialist. Williams holds a bachelor’s degree in managerial business from Virginia Wesleyan College.

Distributor Bryan Equipment Sales, Inc. celebrated a milestone in its history as its 5 millionth unit, a BG 55 hand-held blower, was sold to Stihl dealer Bair’s, Inc. The dealership will receive a BR 600 Stihl Magnum backpack blower signed by Fred Whyte, president of Stihl, and Rick Bryan IV, president of Bryan Equipment.

United Rentals Named Official Rental Partner of PGA

United Rentals, Inc. announced that the company has been named the official equipment rental partner of the PGA of America through 2014. About 10,000 golf facilities nationwide that are staffed by PGA professionals will now be able to benefit from expert advice and a national account relationship with United Rentals for quality equipment services. The new licensing agreement also features United Rentals serving as co-presenting sponsor of the PGA Winter Championships and as a supporting sponsor of Golf Retirement Plus.


Pro-Tech sponsored a documentary about snow removal contractors.

Pro-Tech Sponsors Sno Fighter Documentary

Pro-Tech sponsored a new documentary titled “Project Sno Fighter,” which will highlight the lives and jobs of snow removal contractors. The documentary will debut at the Snow & Ice Management Association Symposium. It will feature five snow removal contractors: Kyle Stevens, Stonewood & Waters Landscape Craftsmen, Rush, N.Y.; Mike Merrill, North Country Snow & Ice Management, Glens Falls, N.Y.; Collin Corso, Terra Lawns Landscaping, Newburyport, Mass.; Nicholas Staloch, Smithco, Inc., Fargo, N.D.; and Paul Vanderzon, Am_nagements Paysagers Vanderzon, Inc., Saint-Bruno, Que.

Turf Revolution Announces Contest Winners

Turf Revolution announced the three winners of its $10,000 Big Green Giveaway contest in support of the green industry across North America. The winners were drawn from thousands of entries from Canada and the U.S. Ted Brodie of Brodies Ltd. in Strathroy, Ont., won first prize, $5,000 in Turf Revolution granular organic product. Alan White of Turf Systems in Burlington, Ont., and Marcel Lafleche of Enviro Masters Lawn Care in Ottawa/Nepean, Ont., received $3,000 and $2,000 in organic product, respectively.

News from Netafim

Netafim USA announced that Diane Noecker has been named director of sales and marketing for the landscape division. She will oversee strategic direction and manage the field sales force. Noecker most recently worked for AT&T and previously held senior marketing roles in the irrigation manufacturing industry for 11 years.

Netafim’s new Techline EZ drip tubing was featured in a segment of “Designing Spaces,” a Women’s Entertainment Network program that offers solutions for a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle. Techline EZ was selected for the show because it helps conserve water and is made from recycled material.

New Holland Construction Sponsoring Extreme Dream 2011 Contest

New Holland Construction is sponsoring the Extreme Dream 2011 contest, and the winning entry will be provided with a free L218 skid steer loader. Simply tell us about your biggest, best and/or most challenging landscape project, and three winners will be selected to receive a trip to the GIE+EXPO trade show in Louisville, Ky., where the grand prize winner will be announced in the New Holland Construction booth. Enter your project today at www.newholland.com.

Swingle Acquires LawnCare

Swingle Lawn, Tree & Landscape Care announced the acquisition of LawnCare Aeration Plus to strengthen its market position in Colorado’s Northern Front Range communities. Former owner Larry Torrez provided lawn care services to his customers for 27 years. This newest acquisition will be supported by Swingle’s Fort Collins branch.

New Landscape Design Partnership

The recently formed Lindeman/Stevens Landscape Design, Los Angeles, Calif., unites landscape designer Dennis Stevens and business partner Karla Lindeman. The two have worked together in the past and decided to create the new firm, which pairs Stevens’ vast experience in landscape design and artistic vision toward exteriors with Lindeman’s strong horticultural knowledge and business experience. Visit www.lindemanstevens.com to learn more.

BigDog Offers Promotion

BigDog Mowers is conducting its BigDog Days of Spring Promotion through May 31, 2011. Customers who test-drive a BigDog mower at participating dealers will receive a “Bite This” T-shirt and qualify to win one of several prizes, including a BigDog C-142 mower, Visa gift cards, GPS, flip video camera, Apple iPod and Apple iPad. Visit www.bigdogmowers.com for more information.

Rain Bird Announces New Partnership

Rain Bird announced that it has partnered with The Greenwater Foundation in support of its Groundwater Guardian Green Site program, an initiative that encourages the sustained use of groundwater-friendly practices and recognizes green space managers for their groundwater stewardship. As a program partner, Rain Bird will work with the foundation to raise awareness of the importance of groundwater protection and help green space managers identify and implement groundwater-friendly practices.

SourceOne Names Dealer of the Year

Nathan Antons, national sales manager for SourceOne OPE, presented Virginia Outdoor Power Equipment Co., Fairfax, Va., with the Dealer of the Year award. Rick Thomas, general manager, accepted the award.

Featherlite Dealers Honored

Featherlite Trailers honored members of its dealer network at its 2011 Dealer Awards Banquet, held during the annual two-day Featherlite Dealer Meeting in Rochester, Minn. Boespflug Trailers of Dickinson, N.D., received the Top Gun Award as the top trailer dealer in 2010. Other award recipients included American Trailers, LLC, Mineral Wells, W.Va.; Allan Dale Industries Ltd., Red Deer, Alb.; Belore Trailer Sales, Mount Elgin, Ont.; Central Iowa Featherlite Trailer Sales, LLC, Bondurant, Iowa; Circle Diamond Ranch Supply, Mandan, N.D.; Gold Medal Trailer Sales, Merrill, Wis.; Golden Gait Trailers LLC, Concord, N.C.; Roeder Bros., Inc., Bellevue, Iowa; and Twin Cities Featherlite, Elko, Minn.

CNH Hosts Trade Fair

CNH Parts & Service held its 2011 Trade Fair at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tenn. The event brought together nearly 2,500 agricultural and construction equipment dealers from across the U.S. and Canada. The event gave dealers and their employees a chance to see the latest products from CNH Parts & Service, and to meet with the sales, marketing, training, engineering and supplier teams who support the dealerships that represent the CNH family of brands: New Holland Agriculture, New Holland Construction, Kobelco, Case IH and Case Construction.

Sod Solutions Hires Tweedy

Sod Solutions, Inc., Charleston, S.C., has hired Bryden Tweedy to head up its website development and creative design division. He will construct and manage websites for customers and will oversee Sod Solutions graphic design enterprises. A 2008 graduate of Appalachian State University, Tweedy spent the last two years as a software quality assurance analyst at Blackbaud.

Exmark Forms Alliance

Exmark has entered into a partnership with Innovative Equine Marketing, LLC and its Equine Savings program. Based in Georgetown, Ky., Innovative Equine Marketing provides product support to equine facilities and tracks in North America. Through this new relationship, individuals in the equine industry will have access to preferred pricing on Exmark mowing equipment, as well as Toro turf and landscape maintenance products and precision irrigation solutions.

W.R. Meadows Website Relaunched

W.R. Meadows launched its new construction company website at www.wrmeadows.com The website has been redesigned to give it a more contemporary feel, including more project photos, a product spotlight for new products and new social media features. All the content over the years is still available, including access to product data sheets, material safety data sheets, project profiles and more.

Bison Acquires BRP Line

Bison, Inc. acquired the BRP Enterprises product line. The new company, brp by bison LLC, will continue to provide the landscape furnishings BRP was known for over the past decade. The product line includes bench seating, chairs, tables, bike racks and trash receptacles.

New Agreement for Torotrak & MTD

A new agreement between Torotrak plc and outdoor power equipment manufacturer MTD replaces their joint venture, Infinitrak, with restructured license agreements that will allow Torotrak to offer variable drive technology to other companies in the outdoor power equipment and compact tractor sectors. Torotrak develops full toroidal traction drive technology, with customers in Europe, North America, India and Japan.

Bobcat Features New Equipment

Bobcat Co. used CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2011 to launch four new M-Series loaders and three M-Series excavators, and showcase a variety of interactive displays. The new equipment models included the S750 and S770 skid steer loaders, T750 and T770 compact track loaders, A770 all-wheel steer loader, E32 and E35 extendable-arm excavators and E55 excavator. Bobcat also debuted new “Bobcat Advantage” competitive comparison videos, and the host of the videos, Perry Rust, was on-site to assist customers as they accessed the videos with the popular JAGTAG mobile marketing platform.

Stone Joins Jacobsen

Ric Stone has joined Jacobsen as vice president of sales. He will be responsible for leading sales efforts in North, Central and South America, as well as customer service and parts support. Stone previously served as senior vice president and general manager of operations for Textron Financial. He earned a BBA in finance from Georgia State University and an MBA from Emory University.

News from Terex

Terex Aerial Work Platforms, a business segment of Terex Corp., announced that Tom Saxelby has been appointed to the position of vice president of North American sales. Saxelby joined then-Genie Industries in 1998 as a sales representative and also served as regional vice president. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire.

Terex exhibited more than 50 machines at CONEXPO 2011. Visitors to the Terex booth saw new product launches, significant equipment improvements and demonstrations from the company’s Aerial Work Platforms, Construction, Cranes and Materials Processing segments.

LiveRoof Showcases Green Roof Solution

LiveRoof, LLC exhibited its solution for modular green roof design at the International Roofing Expo. Compatible with many different roof systems and single-ply flat roofing membranes, LiveRoof modules are made with 100 percent recycled plastics. Using Soil Elevator technology, the modules create an uninterrupted layer of soil and vegetative surface extending above, and across, all modules. This unifies the soil over the entire roof and conceals the modules, unseen under the soil and plants even during dormancy. Moisture Portals establish soil-to-soil contact between modules.

News from Stihl

Stihl, Inc. announced that Kris Williams has been promoted to the position of product information manager. He has been with Stihl since 2003, most recently serving as a product information specialist. Williams holds a bachelor’s degree in managerial business from Virginia Wesleyan College.

Distributor Bryan Equipment Sales, Inc. celebrated a milestone in its history as its 5 millionth unit, a BG 55 hand-held blower, was sold to Stihl dealer Bair’s, Inc. The dealership will receive a BR 600 Stihl Magnum backpack blower signed by Fred Whyte, president of Stihl, and Rick Bryan IV, president of Bryan Equipment.

United Rentals Named Official Rental Partner of PGA

United Rentals, Inc. announced that the company has been named the official equipment rental partner of the PGA of America through 2014. About 10,000 golf facilities nationwide that are staffed by PGA professionals will now be able to benefit from expert advice and a national account relationship with United Rentals for quality equipment services. The new licensing agreement also features United Rentals serving as co-presenting sponsor of the PGA Winter Championships and as a supporting sponsor of Golf Retirement Plus.

Pro-Tech Sponsors Sno Fighter Documentary

Pro-Tech sponsored a new documentary titled “Project Sno Fighter,” which will highlight the lives and jobs of snow removal contractors. The documentary will debut at the Snow & Ice Management Association Symposium. It will feature five snow removal contractors: Kyle Stevens, Stonewood & Waters Landscape Craftsmen, Rush, N.Y.; Mike Merrill, North Country Snow & Ice Management, Glens Falls, N.Y.; Collin Corso, Terra Lawns Landscaping, Newburyport, Mass.; Nicholas Staloch, Smithco, Inc., Fargo, N.D.; and Paul Vanderzon, Am_nagements Paysagers Vanderzon, Inc., Saint-Bruno, Que.

Turf Revolution Announces Contest Winners

Turf Revolution announced the three winners of its $10,000 Big Green Giveaway contest in support of the green industry across North America. The winners were drawn from thousands of entries from Canada and the U.S. Ted Brodie of Brodies Ltd. in Strathroy, Ont., won first prize, $5,000 in Turf Revolution granular organic product. Alan White of Turf Systems in Burlington, Ont., and Marcel Lafleche of Enviro Masters Lawn Care in Ottawa/Nepean, Ont., received $3,000 and $2,000 in organic product, respectively.

News from Netafim

Netafim USA announced that Diane Noecker has been named director of sales and marketing for the landscape division. She will oversee strategic direction and manage the field sales force. Noecker most recently worked for AT&T and previously held senior marketing roles in the irrigation manufacturing industry for 11 years.

Netafim’s new Techline EZ drip tubing was featured in a segment of “Designing Spaces,” a Women’s Entertainment Network program that offers solutions for a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle. Techline EZ was selected for the show because it helps conserve water and is made from recycled material.