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Author: Marisa Palmieri

Marisa Palmieri

Marisa Palmieri

Marisa Palmieri is an experienced Green Industry editor who's won numerous awards for her coverage of the landscape and golf course markets from the Turf & Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA), the Press Club of Cleveland and the American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE). In 2007, ASBPE named her a Young Leader. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism, cum laude, from Ohio University’s Scripps School of Journalism.

The Financial Times: ValleyCrest, Brickman may merge

The investment firm that owns ValleyCrest Cos. may sell it to the Brickman Group’s ownership, The Financial Times (FT) reports. Such a deal would create the largest landscape firm in the U.S. with annual revenue approaching $2 billion. Brickman, which private equity firm KKR purchased in November for $1.6 billion, reported 2013 annual revenue of […]

What I’m Reading Wednesday: Twitter updates

It can be tough for anyone to keep up with constant changes to social media platforms, let alone someone who doesn’t outsource this function and whose role also entails, you know, running a business. Just when I think we’ve hit our stride here at LM on our Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ pages, someone changes […]

Schill, LM and others team up for PLANET Day of Service

In honor of the Professional Landcare Network’s (PLANET’s) Day of Service, which is celebrated every Earth Day, yours truly and two of my Landscape Management cohorts joined up with the pros from Schill Grounds Management and other volunteers at McGregor, a nonprofit assisted living and retirement facility located on a 32-acre historic estate on Cleveland’s […]

IA launches interest group to support pond industry

The Irrigation Association (IA) launched the Water Features and Lake Management Common Interest Group (CIG). Created to support the growing pond industry, this CIG will provide a forum for IA members to discuss new technologies, identify training and certification opportunities, collect best practices and brainstorm ways to help pond professionals grow their businesses. “We are […]

Deere adds product selector tool online, Mulch On Demand to QuikTraks

John Deere Commercial Mowing customers and prospects have a few new things to consider when making mower purchases. The equipment manufacturer rolled out a new online Product Selector Tool and expanded its Mulch On Demand (MOD) mower deck offering to its 2014 QuikTrak stand-on commercial mowers. It also made a few updates to its GreenFleet […]

What I’m Reading Wednesday: Great management questions

I like a good question. After all, I get paid to ask questions and report on the answers. That’s probably why this Inc. article grabbed my attention. “100 Great Questions Every Entrepreneur Should Ask” Inc. Last year we published the October Business Planner issue of Landscape Management around a similar inquisitive theme. We commissioned a […]

JDL buys Eljay Irrigation, expects more acquisitions in ’14

Alpharetta, Ga.-based John Deere Landscapes (JDL) agreed to purchase Eljay Irrigation, based in Calgary, Alberta. The companies plan for an immediate integration. Terms weren’t disclosed. The deal was a long time in the making, JDL President Dave Werning told Landscape Management. “We’ve known the owners of Eljay for a long time,” he said. “They’re recognized […]

What I’m Reading Wednesday: Should you take only right turns?

Would you like your technicians or crews to drive their routes more efficiently? Save on fuel? Get in fewer accidents? Then you may want to consider implementing something like UPS’s decade-old policy of avoiding left-hand turns. “Why UPS Trucks Don’t Turn Left” Priceonomics blog I’ve long been aware of the storied UPS mandate to favor […]

April 2014 Web Extra: Goldenberg on big companies, industry challenges

Norman Goldenberg, retired senior vice president of government affairs and industry relations for TruGreen, is featured in the April 2014 “1-Minute Mentor.” Here are two additional questions from our interview that didn’t make it into print. Big companies in the Green Industry sometimes get a bad rap. As someone who worked for one for many […]

April 2014 Web Extra: $1 million company role, salary guidelines

In “When to add” from the April 2014 issue of Landscape Management, we interviewed LandOpt CEO Tim Smith, among other Green Industry experts, about how to know when it’s time to ramp up personnel. Smith shared tips about hiring your first office manager, why to outsource the bookkeeping role and when to add an in-house […]

1-Minute Mentor: Norman Goldenberg

Retired senior vice president of government affairs and industry relations for TruGreen Who’s your mentor? A guy by the name of Charlie Hromada. He was a senior vice president at Terminix. He passed away about 6 years ago. When he retired, I took over his responsibilities in 1997. He was an entomologist and I learned […]

Green Industry experts advise when to add employees

How do you know when it’s the right to time to ramp up personnel? We asked a few Green Industry experts for their advice.  Knowing who to hire and when can be a challenge for landscape business owners. Can you justify a bookkeeper? How about another technician or crew? Or should you bring on a […]

Managing those ‘that’s not my job’ employees

This column’s headline is a phrase I’ve cringed at since my first experience as a manager. For several years, starting at age 17, I supervised a staff of about 10 other teenagers at a time as a Dairy Queen shift manager. I’d started working there three years earlier. It was my first job and, as […]

What I’m Reading Wednesday: Tips for raising prices

Pricing is a perennial pain point for landscape business owners. Even if you’re comfortable with your current pricing levels, how do you feel when it comes time to raise prices? On edge, I’d bet. Who wouldn’t be? That’s why this article piqued my interest this week. “The Art of Raising Prices: Lessons from Amazon Prime” […]

What I’m Reading Wednesday: What color is your logo?

Are you thinking about rebranding or spiffing up your company’s logo? Here’s a good reminder to consider more than what color you like or what merely looks good on paper. What Does the Color of Your Logo Say About Your Business? Entrepreneur When you started your business you probably didn’t put too much thought into […]

March 2014 Web Extra: Stranger than fiction?

  Roscoe and Brook Klausing, the subjects of the Landscape Management March 2014 cover story, met Jim Paluch in the late 1990s, around the time they became involved in the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET, it was ALCA at the time). He had just started his consulting business, J.P. Horizons.   Paluch recalls their meeting: “Roscoe […]

PLANET/LM immigration survey shows support for citizenship “road map”

With some signs in Congress that immigration reform may happen this year, Landscape Management and the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET) partnered on an immigration sentiments survey among members of the landscape and lawn care industry. The survey was fielded online in February and March, garnering 536 responses with a +/-5 percent margin of error and […]

3 tips for hiring, retaining across generations

When Cam Marston spoke about “Four Generations: Workplace & Marketplace” last month at the Professional Landcare Network’s (PLANET’s) Great Escape in Anaheim, Calif., much of the talk skewed toward selling to multiple generations. When he discussed the workplace, however, some of the information transcended generational-specific tips to include a few good ideas regarding hiring and […]

Selling to multiple gens, beware this customer type

Most people in business today understand there are four generations in the workplace, and this state of affairs can be challenging from both a customer and employee standpoint. Cam Marston, an author and expert on the generations with Generational Insights, shared background information and tips for landscape and lawn care businesses owners during “Four Generations: […]

What I’m Reading Wednesday: Potential overtime changes, speed reading

After a week on hiatus, I’m back with a few links of note. What have you been reading lately? Or are you bogged down already by the 2014 season? Still plowing snow? We’d like to know. Email me at mpalmieri@northcoastmedia.net or share with us on social media. “Obama Will Seek Broad Expansion of Overtime Pay”New […]

Difference makers

What makes the difference between you and your competitors? You may think you know, and you may have an answer you give to customers and prospects who ask, but do you really know? Of course, this is a rhetorical question because no one could actually account for all the variances. It was interesting, though, to hear […]

Same tree, different branches

Talking to the Klausing brothers is like addressing two sides of the same brain. On the left is the oldest, Roscoe Klausing, 37, president and CEO of Klausing Group, a $2.8 million commercial grounds maintenance firm in Lexington, Ky. He’s genuine. Logical. A planner. On the right side younger brother Brook Klausing, 36, owner of […]

The green infrastructure opportunity

Irrigation and landscape pros can brighten their futures by acting as resources to water quality managers. The green infrastructure movement is growing in communities throughout the U.S. as a way to manage stormwater in urban environments while having a positive impact on the ecosystem. To be more specific about what green infrastructure is, the Irrigation […]

TruGreen will acquire again in 2015

TruGreen President David Alexander gave a glimpse of how the company plans to make a turnaround after spinning off from ServiceMaster when he spoke with the Memphis Business Journal last week. Here are some points Alexander revealed in the interview: • TruGreen will spend most of this year focusing on improving internal operations. • The […]

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