Total Landscape Care Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/423413
Total Landscape Care is a proud supporter of... totallandscapecare.com /TotalLandscapeCare @TLCmagazine Editorial Editor-At-Large: Lauren Heartsill Dowdle Editorial Director: Marcia Gruver Doyle Online Managing Editor: Patty Vaughan editorial@totallandscapecare.com Design & Production Art Director: Richard Street Graphic Designer: Timothy Smith Advertising Production Manager: Linda Hapner production@totallandscapecare.com Construction Media VP of Sales, Construction Media: Joe Donald sales@randallreillyconstruction.com Corporate Chairman/CEO: Mike Reilly President: Brent Reilly Chief Process Offi cer: Shane Elmore Chief Administration Offi cer: David Wright Senior Vice President, Sales: Scott Miller Senior Vice President, Editorial and Research: Linda Longton Vice President of Events: Stacy McCants Vice President, Audience Development: Prescott Shibles Vice President, Digital Services: Nick Reid Director of Marketing: Julie Arsenault 3200 Rice Mine Rd NE Tuscaloosa, AL 35406 800-633-5953 randallreilly.com For subscription information/inquiries, please email: totalland- scapecare@halldata.com. Total Landscape Care (ISSN # 1932-8303) is published monthly by Randall-Reilly Publishing Co. LLC, 3200 Rice Mine Road NE, Tuscaloosa, AL 35406. Single copy price: US $6, Canada/Mexico $9, Foreign $12. For subscriptions, call (800) 517-4979 in the U.S. or (847) 763-9610 outside the U.S. U.S. Periodicals Postage Paid at Tuscaloosa, AL and at additional mailing of- fices. POSTMASTER: POSTMASTER: Send all UAA to CFS. (See DMM 507.1.5.2); NON-POSTAL AND MILITARY FACILITIES: send address corrections to Total Landscape Care, PO Box 2196, Skokie, IL 60076-9852. All contributions in the form of unsolicited letters, manuscripts, stories, materials, photographs or art are welcome, addressed to the editor. These submissions cannot be returned except where the sender provides a postage-paid, addressed, stamped envelope. Randall- Reilly Publishing Company, LLC cannot assume responsibility for unintentional loss or damage to submitted materials. All advertisements for Total Landscape Care magazine are accepted and published by Randall-Reilly Publishing Company, LLC on the representation that the advertiser and/or advertising agency are authorized to publish the entire contents and subject matter thereof. The advertiser and/ or advertising agency will defend, indemnify and hold Randall-Reilly Publishing Company, LLC harmless from and against any loss, expenses or other liability resulting from any claims or suits for libel violations of right of privacy or publicity, plagiarisms, copyright or trademark infringement and any other claims or suits that may arise out of publication of such advertisement. Copyright ©2014 Randall- Reilly Publishing Company, LLC All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Total Landscape Care is a trademark of Randall-Reilly Publishing Company, LLC Randall-Reilly Publishing Company, LLC neither endorses nor makes any representation or guarantee regarding the quality of goods and services advertised herein. For change of address and other subscription inquiries, please contact: totallandscapecare@halldata.com No matter your level of success, there are always going to be issues that challenge your business. On TLC's Landscaper of the Year cruise, the Top 12 landscapers in the country shared some of their struggles. Something everyone agreed upon was how hard it was to fi nd and keep the best employees. "It's enough to pull your hair out," says Jason Tebben, co-owner of Arborscapes in Pineville, North Carolina. "Other companies are pulling for them to offer them bigger payment packages. If I could hire 20 people today, I would. But the people you fi nd now, their work ethic is pathetic." To combat the employee issue, they all look for ways to keep good workers when they fi nd them. "I talk with the employees, tell them what they do good and pay them whatever I need to pay them to make them stay," says Mark Brotton, owner of Living Water Irrigation and Landscape in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Others, like Ken Schuster, owner of Greenleaf Landscaping & Gar- dens in Greenleaf, Wisconsin, started recognition programs. Schus- ter's employees vote each week on the top employee, and he gives that person a gift card. "It generates a lot of fellowship among the crews," he says. "They get excited about seeing who the winner is." OSHA and the Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations have also caused problems for several of the landscapers. "This is the area that is going to kill our industry," says Russ Irvin, TDH Landscaping in Monkton, Maryland. To stay compliant, they all have the proper insurance and certifi cations — but that can be costly, as well. "Insur- ance goes up for every little thing," says Deborah Munoz-Chacon, Sonoran Oasis Landscaping in Tucson, Arizona. "How do we keep the cost down for the clients?" They say it's important to show clients what makes them different from the competition and that they abide by the law. Lauren Heartsill Dowdle Editor-At-Large @LHDowdle breaking ground Top Landscaper Concerns D E C E M B E R 2 014 To t a l L a n d s c a p e C a r e . c o m 5