The National Association of Landscape Professionals revealed its newly appointed board of directors for the 2025-2026 term.
“We are thrilled to have these talented individuals on the NALP board of directors,” said Britt Wood, CEO of NALP. “Their diverse experiences and deep understanding of the landscape industry will help us continue to advance our mission of protecting the industry and driving it forward.”
Officers:
- Chair: Pam Dooley, Plants Creative Landscapes
- Vice Chair: Roscoe Klausing, Klausing Group
Directors-at-large:
- Beth Berry, Advanced Turf Solutions
- Steve Bromell, Pro Cutters Lawnscapes
- Nick Brummel, Landscape Workshop
- Jennifer Burnett, LandCare
- Dan Carrothers, SiteOne Landscape Supply
- Ivan Giraldo, Clean Scapes LP
- Claire Goldman, R&R Landscaping
- Warren Gorowitz, Hunter Industries
- David Hanny, Virginia Green
- Angela Hieronimus, Blades of Green
- Jennifer Jorge, King Green
- Chris Lee, Earthworks, Inc.
- Doug McDuff, Landscape America
- Will Pereira
- Tim Portland, Yellowstone Landscape
- J.T. Price, Landscape Workshop
- Teddy Russell, Russell Landscape Group
- Brandon Sheppard, Weed Man
Simpro Group appoints new chairman of the board and CEO
Simpro Group, a producer of AI-powered field service solutions for commercial and residential trades, appointed Fred Voccola as chairman of the board and chief executive officer. Voccola most recently transformed Kaseya into a $15 billion global leader by helping SMB-focused managed service providers unlock new levels of profitability, fueling Kaseya’s explosive growth. He now turns his focus to those of the residential and commercial trades.
“Commercial and residential trades — representing more than $150 billion in global economic activity — are the backbone of modern society,” Voccola said. “They build our homes and schools, maintain our hospitals, protect our businesses, keep air, water and energy flowing; even the future of AI — the data centers, the servers, the cooling systems — relies on them. The trades build our world and keep us moving forward. Simpro builds the platform that pays them back.”
Trusted by 450,000 business owners, administrators and field technicians globally, Simpro’s unified AI-powered field service management software helps commercial and residential trades simplify workflows and improve profitability, according to the company.
“Before Simpro, we were stuck with disconnected tools that slowed us down and hurt profitability. With Simpro’s unified platform, invoicing is faster, admin time is down, and our profits doubled,” said Amy Carnrick, former CEO of Foster Plumbing. “This platform doesn’t replace my work — it makes sure I get rewarded for it.”
Voccola succeeds Gary Specter, who has led Simpro Group since 2023. Specter will remain with Simpro to work with Voccola through Nov. 15 to ensure a smooth transition, then step up onto the board — staying fully invested in Simpro Group’s future.
“We’ve built something powerful together,” Specter said. “This transition lets Fred take the wheel, but I am still all in as a board member, a shareholder and someone who believes in what this team can achieve.”
Davey Tree promotes new vice president of mergers and acquisitions
The Davey Tree Expert Company recently promoted Jim Tuttle to vice president of mergers and acquisitions.
“Jim has worked tirelessly to strategically lead our mergers and acquisitions team within Davey,” said Pat Covey, chairman, president and CEO at Davey. “His personalized approach to bringing new employees into Davey stands out, and I know Jim will be outstanding as he continues to drive this growing team.”
Tuttle started at Davey in 2009 and soon after joined Davey’s mergers and acquisitions team. In 2015, he was promoted to manager of internal audit, and in 2018, he was promoted to director, mergers and acquisitions.
Tuttle holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Kent State University.
Landscape Workshop appoints two key company leaders
Landscape Workshop, a provider of commercial landscaping services, recently made two key appointments to better serve the growth of the company.
Birte von Schwarzenfeld
The company appointed Birte von Schwarzenfeld as chief commercial officer (CCO) to oversee all sales and marketing functions company-wide. She will report to CEO J.T. Price.
“It’s a pleasure to welcome Birte to our C-Suite,” said Price. “Her proven success in building high-performing sales and marketing engines in related industries makes her the ideal leader to help drive our next chapter of growth. This move underscores our determination to establish Landscape Workshop as the leading commercial landscape company in the country.”
Von Schwarzenfeld brings more than two decades of commercial leadership spanning industrials, building materials and services. Her background includes revenue and gross margin growth, brand and digital strategy and customer-experience-led go-to-market optimization. Most recently, as senior vice president, Commercial Solutions for a $2.6 billion commercial roofing business, she led GTM, marketing and product strategy, and she launched services and private-label products that outperformed sales expectations and delivered significantly higher gross margins, according to the company.
Von Schwarzenfeld holds an Master of Business Administration with High Distinction (Baker Scholar) from Harvard Business School and a Master of Science in physics from Technical University Berlin.
“I’m honored to join the Landscape Workshop team,” said von Schwarzenfeld. “I’m thrilled about the opportunity to contribute my experience in sales and marketing to improve the customer experience even more and push organic growth to the next level.”
Jennifer Harris
Landscape Workshop also announced the appointment of Jennifer Harris as marketing manager.
In this role, Harris will oversee integrated marketing campaigns, drive brand strategy and messaging and manage the company’s digital presence across social media, web and email platforms. She will also support sales growth while ensuring consistent branding and communications across all channels. In addition, Harris will coordinate trade shows, industry partnerships and vendor relationships to maximize marketing effectiveness.
Harris brings more than 15 years of experience leading innovative marketing strategies across healthcare, financial services, home services and media. She has managed multi-million-dollar campaigns, overseen rebrands, launched multi-state marketing initiatives and partnered with media and community organizations to expand brand presence.
She is a graduate of the University of Alabama with a bachelor’s in communications and public relations and was a member of the track team. She is also a recent alum of the Chief Marketing Officer Institute. Harris is active in several professional organizations, including the American Marketing Association, Women in Business and local chambers of commerce.
