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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.

Let this be the year…

… the terms “fiscal cliff,” “mini cliffs” and “debt ceiling” are eliminated from our vernacular thanks to sensible solutions in Congress that include spending cuts and not merely raising taxes on job creators. And let’s hope it happens even before this magazine hits your desk. ◾ … the winter makes rather than breaks the year […]

1-Minute Mentor: Dina Dwyer-Owens

Who’s your mentor? Jesus Christ, first and foremost. My faith drives everything in my life. Also, my father, Don Dwyer, the founder of our company. I look to every relationship I have as a learning experience. Other people I constantly learn from are Mary Thompson, the president of Mr. Rooter. She’d say I’m her boss, […]

Getting more than you give

PLANET Community Stewardship Award Winner Category: Medium Green Industry Service Provider ($1 million to $5 million in annual revenue) Drake’s 7 Dees focuses on helping neighbors—in its own backyard and abroad. For Drake Snodgrass, owner and CEO of Drake’s 7 Dees, corporate giving has three vital components: employees, community and self-improvement. It’s his vision to […]

From left, LandOpt Director of Success David Gallagher; Eichenlaub sales professionals Ryan Johnson, Anthony Smith and Kevin Prall; Dan Eichenlaub; and LandOpt Success Coach Steven Bach accept their Contractor of the Year award in 2012.

Eichenlaub Inc. nabs back-to-back honors

Three tips for success from LandOpt’s two-time Contractor of the Year.  As Dan Eichenlaub can attest, it’s always possible for a solid company to run a tighter ship. He’s the president of Eichenlaub Inc., a design/build and maintenance firm based in Pittsburgh with just under $5 million in annual revenue. In January the company was […]

About us

This column isn’t about us, as in Landscape Management. It’s about you. Rather, it’s about your website’s About Us page and why you probably need to spruce it up. Marketing experts say About Us pages are some of the most frequently visited pages by potential customers; they’re also some of the most poorly written. I […]

Small business confidence drags

Small-business owner confidence continues to drag, according to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Small Business Optimism Index. The Index gained 0.9 points, rising to 88.9, failing to regain the losses caused by last month’s “fiscal cliff” scare. Expectations for improved business conditions increased by five points, but remain overwhelmingly low—negative 30 percent—the fourth […]

Call for entries: LM150

It’s LM150 time! Landscape Management is accepting submissions for its annual list of largest Green Industry firms, ranked by annual revenue. Based on your firm’s 2012 performance, you may have a chance to be ranked among the top 150 companies in the industry. Will you make this year’s list? To complete the entry form, CLICK […]

Feburary 2013 Web Extra: Marketing mistakes to avoid

Andrew Pototschnik, founder of LawnCareMarketingExpert.com, shared “6 ways to make your website sell” in the February issue of Landscape Management. Follow this link to download his free guide, “10 Absolutely Critical Lawn Care Marketing Mistakes to Avoid.”

The Bruce Co., Reliable form strategic alliance

MIDDLETON, WIS. — The Bruce Co., based here, and Reliable Property Services of Eagan, Minn., have formed a strategic alliance designed to help both companies expand as the economy begins to grow again. Terms were not disclosed. Reliable, which is a portfolio company of Private Capital Management of St. Paul, Minn., will acquire The Bruce Co.’s lawn […]

Let the immigration debate begin

It appears that the Great Immigration Debate of 2013 is about to begin in Washington, no doubt leaving many in the landscape industry on the edge of their seats until a bill is signed into law. A bipartisan group of eight senators said it has drafted a deal that would lead to a chance at […]

logo: OPEI

Court denies E15 challenge

WASHINGTON—A federal appeals court has upheld a decision to keep an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule that permits the sale of E15, or gasoline with up to 15 percent ethanol, The Hill reports. The Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI) and other trade groups sued the EPA in 2010, saying E15 would harm engines. In August […]

January 2013 Web Extra: The Dwyer Group’s Code of Values

The debut of Landscape Management’s new department, One-Minute Mentor, features Dina Dwyer-Owens, president and CEO of The Dwyer Group, parent company of landscape franchise The Grounds Guys. She talks about the importance of the company’s Code of Values, and she suggests others use them as a baseline in developing their own company’s value statements. The […]

Nufarm acquires Cleary Chemical Corp.

Burr Ridge, Ill., and Dayton, N.J. – Nufarm Americas acquired Cleary Chemical Corp., a marketer of fungicides, insecticides and plant growth regulators to the turf and ornamental horticulture industries. Terms were not disclosed for the acquisition, which closed Dec. 31. “We are excited about the synergy and opportunity this move will bring,” said Darryl Matthews, […]

BASF reorganizes, merging Professional Turf & Ornamental with Pest Control Solutions

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C–BASF is merging its U.S. non-crop market segments. The primary businesses known as Pest Control Solutions (PCS) and Professional Turf & Ornamentals (T&O), and secondary businesses including Professional Vegetation Management and Market Business Development, will now collectively be known as the BASF Specialty Products Department (SPD). Jan Buberl will lead the unit […]

A landscape company game changer

Inbound marketing has transformed the way Weed Pro does business. If 2012 WERE A BASKETBALL SEASON for Weed Pro, it would have been a rebuilding year. But not a typical rebuilding year—when losing is the norm and the team’s pinning its hopes on landing a star in next year’s draft. It would be more like […]

In the know: Irrigation Show 2012

Contractors should take note of potential WaterSense program changes, state affairs updates and innovative new products. At the 2012 Irrigation Show and Education Conference in Orlando last month, more than 4,200 contractors, distributors and suppliers convened to learn about best practices and new products. For landscape and irrigation contractors, there are a few government affairs […]

headshot: Jimmy Torres

Training day

Quarterly educational “rodeos” keep the team at Green Lawn Fertilizing on the same page. You can’t grow if you’re not investing in your employees, says Matt Jesson, president and owner of Green Lawn Fertilizing in West Chester, Pa. When you learn he’s focused on growing his firm 15 percent to 20 percent a year, you […]

A tip from the tech world to the Green Industry

Have you heard of a hack day? How about a hackathon or hackfest? These are different names for the same thing: an event where computer programmers collaborate intensively on software development projects for as short as a day or as long as week. Sometimes there’s a specific goal, like finding new uses for a single […]

December 2012 Web Extra: Weed Pro campaigns

In the December 2012 cover story, “Game changer,” we outlined Sheffield Village, Ohio-based Weed Pro’s steps to inbound marketing success. Here are two specific inbound campaigns the company launched to generate additional revenue and their results. Water less campaign Goal: Up sell John Deere Landscape’s Moisture Manager product in June and July Tactics: Emails, Tweets […]

December 2012 Web Extra: Top 20 inbound marketing books

Inbound marketing consultant Keith Gutierrez helped Sheffield Village, Ohio-based Weed Pro increase its 2012 lawn care program sales by more than 300 percent using inbound marketing tactics. (Read the December cover story here.) We asked him to supply Landscape Management readers with a list of inbound marketing “recommended reading” for those interested in studying up […]

Obituary: LESCO’s Herbert Cole

Herbert Cole, 82, of Avon Lake, Ohio, died earlier this month. Cole joined Green Industry supplier LESCO, now part of John Deere Landscapes, in 1963 as its first salesman. He was promoted in 1977 to midwest area manager, responsible for four LESCO “stores on wheels.” When he retired in 1995 as vice president of sales, […]

Importance of first impressions in the Landscape Industry

Knowing full well that you get what you pay for, I occasionally dabble in Groupon-purchasing. Who doesn’t like a good deal? Plus, as someone who writes about small businesses, I’m intrigued with the process. The draw for most daily deal merchants is less about making money from the deal itself and more about exposure to […]

November 2012 Web Extra: NastyClient.com offer

Former landscape contractor Matt Stachel founded NastyClient.com to give service businesses the same leverage consumers have when reviewing companies on Angie’s List, Yelp and other business review sites. The website’s members anonymously file reports about troublesome clients, so other members can be warned. An annual subscription is $15.99, but Landscape Management readers can join free […]

On the road with a mobile design studio

Andrew Cole-Tyson designs landscapes for middle-class clients with his mobile design studio. Eschewing the high overhead of bricks and mortar, entrepreneurs nationwide are hopping on the mobile business bandwagon, launching food trucks, beauty shops and retail stores on wheels. One landscape professional in Birmingham, Ala., has joined their ranks with his mobile landscape design studio. […]

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