When Phil Steinhauer started Designscapes Colorado in 1992, he had one goal top of mind as he crafted the company’s first mission statement. As much as he was getting into the landscaping business, he was equally focused on making sure his new endeavor was in the relationship business, as well.
Based on the company’s track record, consider that mission accomplished. “We’re actually doing a renovation job right now for one of the first customers we worked with 32 years ago,” says Steinhauer, the company’s CEO and lead landscape architect.
“I’m really proud of those long-term relationships we’ve built and how we’ve stayed true to our mission. We have a lot of those kind of stories, where customers call back 10 or 15 years later, and we’re at the point now where we’re doing work for the kids of clients.”
And when you take a quick look at the final numbers from the 2024 LM150 list, it’s clear that focus on relationships benefits not only the business and the customer, but also the bottom line. Designscapes Colorado checks in at No. 79 on this year’s list, up five spots from the 2023 list, with total revenue of $45 million. That represents a year-over-year increase of 16 percent, and continues a decades-long trend of steady revenue growth.
While that kind of growth has always been a part of the plan for Steinhauer and Designscapes, he admits that it’s not necessarily been a part of a plan.
“This is going to sound a little weird, but we don’t do a ton of strategic planning,” Steinhauer says. “Growth is always the goal, and we’ve done a good job of that pretty much every year over the past 10 years. But in reality, I view our growth as something more organic as opposed to the result of any sort of formal plan.”
Peak efficiency
No. 79 on the 2024 LM150 list. (Photo courtesy of Designscapes Colorado)
A graduate of Colorado State University with a degree in landscape design and contracting, Steinhauer started his career with a firm in Connecticut focused on high-end residential clients. The Rocky Mountains were never far from his thoughts, though, so after three-and-a-half years out east, he returned to Colorado to work for a small design-build company and immerse himself in the Denver market. After three years in that role, he decided it was time to go his own way, and Designscapes Colorado was born.
“I can’t think of a better place to have a business,” Steinhauer says of his home state. “We get the change of seasons … and have the natural beauty of the Rocky Mountains, which is a big inspiration for what we do.”
Designscapes offers a wide range of services to its clients on the residential, commercial and municipal government fronts, with the latter accounting for half of the company’s revenues in 2023. While design/build projects make up a big chunk of the company’s total workload (80 percent), Steinhauer says it’s the overall diversity of the company’s offerings that has been the key component to its growth over the long haul.
“I think that diversity has really been beneficial to our success and growth,” he says. “We have our residential team that is all design/build … and then our commercial team that does a lot of municipal work, parks, playgrounds, city medians, things like that. Add in the maintenance we do for both residential and commercial, we touch pretty much anything to do with landscaping. I think that’s pretty unique.”
Community centered
Designscapes Colorado’s customers aren’t the only ones to benefit from a focus on forging partnerships and long-term relationships. It extends to the places where the company’s employees work, live and play, and an emphasis on charitable giving and community action has become an important part of the company’s culture.
Steinhauer credits his parents with instilling in him a desire to give back whenever possible.
“I feel like to be a good leader, you need to be able to give back and help those that might not be as fortunate as you are. I’ve tried to stress to my team and leadership that we’ve had a community supporting us for 35 years and that it’s important that we give back to the community that’s supported our business for all these years.”
The charitable initiatives Designscapes Colorado has involved itself in over the years are many, and not surprisingly, most involve helping children. It partnered with Make-A-Wish Colorado and built a large, Victorian-style playhouse to grant the wish of a young girl who wanted a special space to spend more time with friends and family. Along with Wagner Equipment, it worked to improve the landscaping around the Colorado Freedom Memorial, which honors the state’s fallen servicemen and women. And it has taken part in the Angels Among Us holiday gift exchange for many years.
Two other efforts stand out as particular favorites to Steinhauer. The first is a partnership with the Clayton Early Learning school to maintain 18 vegetable gardens and an orchard of fruit trees on school grounds. The literal fruits of those labors are used in the school cafeteria and also go to families who otherwise wouldn’t have access to fresh fruits and vegetables.
“The whole concept has been great for us and for the school, teaching children about healthy eating and teaching the parents about healthy cooking,” Steinhauer says. “Helping the children grow their own food so they can see where it comes from has been really rewarding.”
The second was a bit of a holiday surprise Steinhauer sprung on Designscapes’ leadership team. In a partnership with Giant bicycles, the company’s top brass worked together to build 18 new bikes that were given to local children in need.
A look ahead
While continued expansion of Designscapes Colorado’s customer base and the steady revenue growth that would come with it remain top priorities, Steinhauer says there are other boxes to check as the company looks at the remainder of 2024 and beyond.
Chief among those is securing a skilled and reliable workforce, a challenge that Steinhauer admits is not unique to his company. Designscapes Colorado has been an active player in the H-2B visa program for nearly two decades, and this year secured 136 temporary workers through the program. To augment those efforts, the company began work on a permanent residency program in 2018 to transition between 8 and 12 workers each year to full-time residency in the U.S. To date, 10 workers have received full-time residency with another 58 still in the process of receiving a green card.
Designcapes is also diving into technology in order to improve the customer experience as well as the experience of the company’s workforce. It is currently in the process of introducing Aspire Software’s solutions into its business management processes, and will utilize the tool to improve accounting, invoicing and estimating, among other things.
Steinhauer is also excited about a pair of new autonomous mowers that have been added to the company’s fleet. “We’re just getting them dialed in, but I’m excited about the possibilities.”
The same can be said about the veteran team at Designscapes Colorado as they look ahead.
“Like most thriving companies, the real key to our success is the team that we have in place,” Steinhauer says. “We have so many key people with 15, 20, 30 years in the same position. When you have that kind of loyalty … you really can achieve some great things.”
Editor’s Note: The 2024 LM150 list is sponsored by Aspire Software, John Deere and Weathermatic.
Read more LM150:
- LM150 2024 rankings: The industry’s top 150 revenue-generating firms
- LM150: 2024 Top 25
- LM150: 2024 list by region
- 2024 LM150: Onward and upward
- 2024 LM150: Ready for liftoff, this year’s biggest risers
- 2024 LM150: How Ethoscapes is rocketing up the list
- 2024 LM150: From bishops to Cardinals and beyond with Focal Pointe
To view the complete list, breakdowns and company profiles, check out a PDF version here.
