With more municipalities receiving government funding, Mountain View Landscapes has capitalized on the additional projects in their area, landing the company at No. 117 on the 2024 LM150 list.
With a customer base that is 95 percent commercial, along with a few residential properties, the company raked in a 2023 revenue of $28,000,000.
Mountain View, headquartered in Chicopee, Mass., experienced a 60-percent increase in revenue from 2022 to 2023, which Steve Corrigan, president and owner, attributes to winning more bids from their local municipalities. He says many of these clients received American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding from the federal government and used the money on recreational facilities.
Where Mountain View normally sees two or three playground contracts a year, Corrigan says his company won contracts with the city of Waterbury, Conn., for playgrounds at nine schools and three parks that exceeded $7 million. The company also won bids for 12 school playgrounds in another city.
“What helped us is that we had the capacity to do that additional work, whereas some of our competitors might not have the capacity to take them on,” Corrigan says. “These last couple of years have been very positive to be able to take advantage of.”
Looking ahead two to three years, Corrigan says he’s concerned the number of government projects could start to decline. If that happens, he says they will focus on bidding on more projects.
“In the last couple of years, you might see three to five people submitting bids,” Corrigan says. “When times get a little tougher, you’ll see eight to 12 people putting prices on the same project. Your margins drop, too, when things get competitive. You have to throw more darts at the board.”
Their commercial grounds division has also seen organic growth of about five to 10 percent yearly. He attributes some of that increase to institutions having more money to spend.
Another important aspect of Mountain View’s growth has been its team members. Corrigan says the company focuses on attracting and retaining good employees by offering competitive compensation and benefits packages.
“People are our most important asset,” he says. “We’re always looking for good people who are willing to learn and put the time in to get the job done.”
Mountain View has roughly 100 employees, and 30 of those are year-round. The annual employees’ average years of service is more than a decade, Corrigan says.
“If we have a person who makes it a year, they end up being a long-term employee,” he says.
Beyond its team, the company also turns to experts and educational offerings to continue improving. Corrigan encourages others to attend industry events and work with professionals like bankers and accountants to cover all of their bases. Corrigan says it’s important for companies to prepare financial statements monthly or at least quarterly so they know if they’re making or losing money.
“Over the years, we’ve definitely utilized consultants and professionals in our industry to grow our business,” Corrigan says. “We’ve been at this for more than 40 years. We’ve seen the ups and downs.”
He adds that implementing good technology and estimating systems are important aspects of managing his business. The company uses software such as QuickBooks, Bluebeam and B2W (formerly Bid2Win). It also uses Landscape Management Network to track its man-hours and schedules for its commercial grounds maintenance.
“Hold the course on how you price and estimate work. Man-hours are the biggest component of whether you’ll make or lose money,” Corrigan says. “You have to make a margin on it to make it work.”
