Market Trends: Sept. 1998

Lawn and landscape contractors aren’t afraid to admit that they struggle to train their employees on new equipment and efficient operations, and they often call for dealers to assume a greater role in this process. Perhaps the shopping for that type of service is what leads so many contractors to purchase equipment from multiple dealers, according to Lawn & Landscape’s survey of contractor attendees at July’s Outdoor Power Equipment Expo in Lousiville. Better than 58 percent buy from two or three dealers, with just 20 percent buying exclusively from one dealer. Meanwhile, 18.1 percent buy product from four or five dealers.

It Takes A Grassroots Effort

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Landscape contractors met their hometown Senators face to face at the Professional Lawn Care Association of America's Ninth Annual Legislative Day on the Hill.

At the two-day event, lawn care professionals shared their views on issues pertinent to the industry, including OSHA reform, compensatory time for workers, the importance of funding for the National Turfgrass Evaluation Program and consequences surrounding the Food Quality and Protection Act.

“We could lose the use of a tremendous amount of products,” said Sam Lang, owner and president of Fairway Green, Raleigh, N.C., about the Food Quality and Protection Act, which could give the Environmental Protection Agency power to eliminate certain pesticides based on their labeled uses. “We’re trying to get the EPA to go back to the pesticide manufacturers and get more data. Their decisions have been based on misconceptions.”

Daryle Johnson, president of All American Turf Beauty Inc., Van Meter, Iowa, agreed. “The EPA has to base it on science, not on a model or an estimate.”

EPA administrator Carol Browner addressed the 75 lawn care professionals in attendance at PLCAA’s “Renewal and Remembrance” project at Arlington National Cemetery, although she did not speak specifically on any of the relevant issues. “But all of her comments were very positive to the turfgrass industry,” Lang pointed out.

The Second Arlington project gave contractors the chance to volunteer their skills and time to spread lime on 45 acres and install sod on bare areas across cemetery grounds before Day on the Hill.

Political analyst Charlie Cook, editor and publisher of The Cook Political Report, a writer for the National Journal and CongressDaily AM and a regular analyst for CNN’s Inside Politics, kicked off the legislative portion of the events, speaking in front of 80 industry professionals. Other speakers included Congressmen Curt Weldon (R-Penn.) and Thomas Sawyer (D-Ohio).

For contractors, the most important part was realizing that their legislators aren’t “untouchable. They don’t sit in an ivory tower,” Lang said.

“It is important for us to take a stand on issues so our legislators don’t only hear the other side,” Lang stressed, after his first year attending the event. “It’s not an issue if they haven’t heard anything about it. In tight races, we can jump in and ask, 'What can we do to help you get reelected?' The number of votes they get is one thing, but the money they need to run their election campaign is quite another. We have to make our voices heard as members of the industry. We have to make them understand the economic impact of their decisions back home.”

To have a say in the decisions made on the Hill, contractors need to understand how the process works, said Tom Delaney, PLCAA’s executive vice president.

“It takes a grassroots effort from each of us,” he pointed out. “You can’t go one time and expect to be remembered.”

OPEI Holds Steady In Louisville

LOUSVILLE, Ky. - The fifteenth version of the Outdoor Power Equipment International Lawn, Garden and Power Equipment Exposition continued to draw big crowds and mixed reviews.

Tradition holds that many of the 613 exhibiting manufacturers display their products at the Expo because of the large crowds Expo continually draws. And, for the most part, tradition held true. However, this year’s attendance of 21,135 visitors was down about 500 people from last year’s show.

The popular outdoor demonstration, as usual, was crawling with contractors.

Other manufacturers, however, continue to stay away from the show, which has been criticized in recent years for an unwillingness to exhibit in locations other than Louisville and the presence of an increasingly diverse group of exhibitors.

Many manufacturers, however, view Expo as a key show for working with current dealers and identifying new dealers. Dealers continue to be the most populous group in attendance at 35 percent of the buying audience, but lawn and landscape contractors are the group increasing most rapidly in attendance and are now 34 percent of the same audience.