Updated June 2, 2020
Getting back to work in Michigan
In this episode of Landscape Management: At Home Edition, Editor Christina Herrick interviews Joel DeVisser, president of DeVisser Landscape Service in Kalamazoo, Mich., who shares what it was like to be deemed nonessential for a few weeks and how his operation is getting back to work.
Click here to view the latest episode.
2020 Irrigation Show canceled
The 2020 Irrigation Show and Education Week, scheduled for Nov. 30-Dec. 4 in San Antonio, Texas, has been canceled. Irrigation Association (IA) announced the cancellation in a statement from IA President Jon Topham.
“After thoroughly examining our options, the IA Board of Directors determined that we just cannot guarantee the positive and rewarding experience that our attendees and exhibitors have come to enjoy each year,” said Topham. “A successful Irrigation Show relies on in-person networking, face-to-face business meetings and hands-on instruction that will simply not be possible, given the continued social distancing measures that we anticipate will still be in place through the remainder of this year.”
Click here to learn more about the decision.
BrightView says snow contracts, COVID-19 hit revenue
BrightView released its results for the quarter ended March 31. See the tables below. In its public filings and remarks, the company made the following comments about COVID-19:
- 67 COVID-19 infections out of 21,000 employees
- 1,000 employees quarantined who had been exposed
- Q3 2020 overall revenue is trending down approximately 5 percent due to COVID-19 related impacts
- Contract base maintenance revenue levels remain steady at 97 percent of pre-COVID-19 levels with softness in the hospitality and retail verticals and stability in HOA and commercial sectors
- Experiencing softness in ancillary maintenance services
Briggs & Stratton helps develop filtration for reusable face masks
Briggs & Stratton is a part of a MaskForce consortium that has designed, developed and produced a reusable face mask with disposable filters to protect individuals.
The MaskForce face mask — which is temporarily authorized by the FDA under an emergency use authorization for use by healthcare professionals to help prevent the spread of infection or illness during the COVID-19 pandemic — can be sanitized and reused, unlike most face masks which are designed to be discarded after a single use. Its filters, however, are intended to be disposed of after every eight hours of wear, further extending the life of the mask.
Updated May 27, 2020
Virginia Green Lawn Care donates to COVID-19 relief fund
Virginia Green Lawn Care donated $25,000 to the COVID-19 relief funds of five regional community foundations in each of the markets the company serves: Richmond, Williamsburg, Charlottesville, Fredericksburg and northern Virginia.
Each foundation receives $5,000, but Virginia Green is committed to donating up to another $5,000 through a social media campaign.
Read more about Virginia Green’s contributions.
Growing Your Business with Jeffrey Scott: The Economic Impact of COVID-19
Jeffrey Scott discusses the economic impact of COVID-19 and how landscape businesses can lead their own recoveries out of the pandemic. Watch Jeffrey’s video here.
Updated May 26, 2020
Michigan landscaping company pitches in for health care system
For D&B Landscaping, COVID-19 became personal because the Henry Ford Health System is a major client of the company, whose headquarters are in Livonia, Mich., a large western suburb of Detroit.
“You have to consider that customer as part of your family,” says Dan Bywalec, president of D&B Landscaping. “What would you do if that was your family — how would you help them out?”
D&B Landscaping performs design and build services for a completely residential clientele and provides horticultural and snow removal services for a 90 percent commercial and 10 percent residential clientele.
When an executive order from Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer deemed landscaping companies as nonessential, D&B Landscaping played a key role for the hospital system in unexpected ways. It started with pitching in by driving a truck to pick up critical medical supplies that were in limited supply.
Read more about how D&B Landscaping pitched in.
Updated May 21, 2020
Drost Landscape in Michigan prepares for reopening
LM Associate Editor Sarah Webb interviews Drost Landscape Owner Bob Drost and General Manager Dale Drier who describe the long shutdown period in Michigan and share their plans for reopening the Petoskey, Mich.-based company in our latest Landscape Management from Home episode
Updated May 20, 2020
Industry leaders share what business is like during COVID-19 in a Jain webinar
Jain Irrigation recently presented a webinar entitled The State Of The Landscape Industry During COVID-19, in which industry leaders described what business is like during COVID-19.
Richard Restuccia, vice president of water management solutions for Jain Irrigation, was joined by Chris Sabbarese, digital marketing and communications manager for Corona Tools, Jerry DeJournett, vice president of West Coast for Landscapes USA, and Shawn Connors general manager of south division for Horizon Distributors.
