With a culture that puts people first, Mainscape has tailored everything from its operating system to its ownership model to empower employees.
Headquartered in Fishers, Ind., the commercial landscape maintenance company has branches in 12 states and came in at No. 39 on Landscape Management’s 2025 LM150 list of the industry’s top revenue-generating firms with $91.32 million in 2024.
While the branches are spread out, Mainscape focuses on growth at the local level, says Mark Forsythe, CEO of Mainscape. Mainscape gives its teams in each state autonomy to make decisions based on what will help them develop the most, instead of having a single national program.
“We make sure each local team is empowered to own their business, branch, region and customer relationships,” Forsythe says. “We provide them with the tools, support and incentives they need to grow.”
Open the playbook
One way Mainscape executes this strategy is by implementing an Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), which gives the company a reliable playbook to set its vision for the business, outline steps to achieve that goal and track the progress on a weekly basis, Forsythe says.
“We started using EOS to get everyone involved with the company,” Forsythe says. “It gives us the ability at the highest level to plan and also provide the tools at the local level.”
The company trained its employees on EOS through educational video conferences and hands-on lessons, and now it’s front and center in the business.
“What I really like about it is that it allows each market to see its unique opportunities and challenges and then make their plans to address those,” Forsythe says. “The system provides more clarity on accountability and what’s expected.”
Forsythe stresses the importance of having a good system in place that everyone can use.
“Making sure you have a way to help your team set a vision, understand the steps to achieve that vision, know who’s responsible for getting those steps done and monitoring the progress is very important,” Forsythe says.
People first
Originally started as a campus ministry project in 1980, Mainscape has been owned by the original founder for the past 45 years. But during the next few years, the company will transition from an ownership structure to an employee-ownership model through a perpetual purpose trust.
“That allows employees to share in economic ownership of the company and puts the company in a position to fulfill the purpose of taking care of our employees indefinitely as long as it lasts,” Forsythe says. “We’re trying to create a culture that they think of as their own so they have control over their own career. We want them to have a good family life and good community.”
Other ways Mainscape supports its employees are by providing competitive commissions and bonuses, along with profit-sharing, safety training, programs that helps with the cost of new work boots and access to a chaplain.
“When it comes to our teams, they are our success,” Forsythe says. “If your pay is appropriate, you invest in people’s lives and take care of them, you’ll do a lot better with retention and finding employees.”
That people-first focus has earned Mainscape recognition as one of USA Today’s top workplaces for two years running. Forsythe attributes the achievement to their faith, values and dedication to supporting their teams.
“We’re trying to honor God in all that we do, and that keeps us pointed in the right direction,” Forsythe says. “Taking care of our people and team members is our highest priority, and we want to give them a great, safe work environment.”
