Big Get Better
It’s no secret that the big companies got bigger in the green industry in 1998. But how much was the rest of the industry growing at the same time? According to a survey of 1,000 Lawn & Landscape readers, sales went up for most of the industry in 1998, but the key number – profits – remained flat. Contractors earned a median profit of $47,760 from a median gross sales figure of $303,950 in 1998, compared to $47,250 off of $247,150 in sales in 1997.
On the upside, the survey clearly indicated growth among the smaller and less profitable contractors, with 37.2 percent of respondents indicating they would earn a profit of less than $30,000 in 1998 compared to 46.4 percent earning less than $30,000 in 1997
Swingle Tree's Dickson Dies
DENVER, Colo. – Dave Dickson, chairman of Swingle Tree Company and one-time president of the National Arborist Association, passed away after a six-month battle with cancer.
Dickson was a veteran of the tree arboriculture industry, having joined Bartlett Tree Expert Company in Connecticut in 1965.
His career at Swingle began just two years later as a tree pruner, and culminated with his appointment as company president in 1989.
A successful company’s role in its local community was always of tremendous importance to Dickson, and he took great pride in the contributions Swingle made to the Denver community in the form of donated work at the Denver Zoo, Denver Botanical Gardens, Four-Mile House and Chatfield Arboretum.
The company was also known for donating trees and Dickson’s own personal service in other areas where they could be of value to the surrounding communities.
Caterpillar Buys Into ASV.
GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. – A.S.V. announced an agreement with Caterpillar under which Caterpillar acquired 1 million shares of A.S.V. stock at $18 a share and retains the option to purchase majority ownership of the company at $21 a share.
The deal means ASV products will be available to Caterpillar’s dealer network and ASV will have access to management, financial and engineering resources from Caterpillar.
Dick Benson, a Caterpillar vice president with administrative responsibilities for its Diversified Products Division, said ASV’s rubber-tracked technology for work vehicles intrigued Caterpillar and was the primary impetus behind the deal.
“By combining ASV’s suspension system technology with Caterpillar’s legendary track know-how, ASV will be ideally positioned to develop new business and new products around the world,” Benson noted.
While the Posi-Track vehicle accounts for about 98 percent of all ASV sales, the cash infusion from this deal will enable ASV to increase production of additional products as well, according to Gary Lemke, ASV president.
Immigrant Labor Bill Killed in Congress
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The H-2A guestworker reform bill – a bill to provide legal immigrant labor to nursery growers – was removed from the Omnibus Spending Bill by Republican leadership in response to a threat from the White House to veto the entire bill if the H-2A bill was left in the proposal. The U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate had already passed the bill.
According to Bryce Quick, director of legislative affairs for the American Nursery & Landscape Association, Washington, D.C., top leadership aids in the House of Representatives and the Senate have indicated the bill was sacrificed so that the computer industry could have its own immigrant worker program provision left in the bill.
While this bill wouldn’t have helped contractors obtain labor, its primary ramifications for the green industry lie in what this move says about the climate in the nation’s capital toward immigrant laborers.
“The Social Security Administration has an account of $260 billion it has gathered from untraceable, unaccountable payroll contributions over the last decade that the government can’t touch,” noted Quick, adding that these funds all come from illegal workers. “So the SSA is now partnering with the Department of Immigration and Naturalization Services to trace illegal employees through forged social security numbers.”
Quick explained that with the SSA’s computers employers of illegal immigrants are now notified about bad social security numbers within a day of filing the appropriate forms with the government.
“And for the first time on record, SSA agents and INS agents have shown up on a worksite raid together,” Quick commented, adding that any employer who thinks he or she has illegal immigrant employees probably does. “With the SSA’s computer systems, the INS now knows exactly what employees it is after now when it goes on a raid.”
Paluch Publishes Again
CLEVELAND - Jim Paluch, owner of JP Horizons and a popular industry speaker and consultant, has followed-up the publication of his first book, 5 Important Things, with a new book described as “an inspirational guide to taking action and making a difference.” Leaving a Legacy follows seven characters through their lives in order to provide readers the wisdom necessary to leave a legacy when they have the courage to take action.
Small Businesses Find Common Problems
GROTON, Mass. – A survey published by New England Business Service found that small businesses (defined as companies with 20 or less employees) still prefer the “old-fashioned way” of running a business.
For example, despite a general willingness to embrace technology, only 35 percent of small businesses operating today use financial or accounting software when paying their bills.
NEBS’ survey also found a surprisingly high number of businesses disproving the conventional wisdom that new businesses will lose money in their first year. In fact, 49 percent of the respondents indicated they were profitable in their first year of business.
Managing accounts receivable remains an obstacle for many of these companies, however, with 16 percent of respondents either not aware of their receivables status or not having collected on at least 10 percent of their outstanding invoices.
“Many lawn and landscape firms tend to fall into that ‘less than 20 employees’ category, and I think this survey identifies common areas where business of this size need help,” noted Freddie Baytos, corporate research director for NEBS, adding that small businesses generally fit one of two categories.
“The first type is people who can do their craft in their sleep because they’re so skilled at it,” Baytos explained, “and the second type is the small business run by entrepreneurial individuals who are not as passionate about the line of business they are engaged in but really enjoy the challenge of running a business. Green industry contractors probably fit the first category more than the second.”
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Explore the January 1999 Issue
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