Built to Last: Recognizing the companies shaping the future of our industry

To the Visionaries Shaping the Future of the Green Industry,

The 2025 Lawn & Landscape Top 100 List is more than a ranking. It’s a mirror — a reflection of the best our industry has to offer. It doesn’t just celebrate revenue. It celebrates intent. It celebrates design. It celebrates those building something that works, without compromise.

To those who’ve earned a place on this list: you are rethinking what it means to run a landscape company. You are proving that with the right people, the right systems, and the right purpose, anything is possible. And to those still on the climb, don’t chase the number. Chase excellence.

Here’s what I know after building a Top 100 business from the ground up:

People are everything.

The trucks, the software, the gear — they don’t matter if your people don’t believe. If they don’t grow. If they don’t win.

Scaling isn’t about getting bigger. It’s about getting better. Better training. Better systems. Better thinking.

The companies that last are built with intention.

They invest in training and skills the same way other companies invest in marketing. They don’t treat labor as a line item — they treat it as an asset. They design career development plans that turn laborers into leaders, foremen into managers, and apprentices into artists of the trade.

They use incentive plans — not to bribe, but to align. To remind people that what they build, they own. When the company wins, everyone wins.

They build operating systems that remove guesswork. Simplicity is powerful. A great system doesn’t just improve results, it reduces stress. Everyone knows what’s expected. Everyone sees what’s next. Accountability becomes a byproduct of clarity.

But there’s something else. Something deeper.

They understand that the homeowner who hires us isn’t buying mulch or masonry. They’re buying joy. Peace. Pride. Experience.

And the employee who shows up every morning? They’re not here to punch a clock. They’re here to belong. To build something beautiful. To become more than they were yesterday.

That’s why I believe in a balanced model, a model where profits are strong, but so are incomes, training, benefits, and family time. We don’t win when one side wins. We win when everything works together: the people, the numbers, the tools, and the purpose.

So, what gets you on this list—and more importantly, what keeps you there?

• Build a culture where learning is a system, not an event.

• Make career paths visible, and growth feel achievable.

• Use technology to amplify human excellence, not replace it.

• Design your business so people love working for it and customers love coming back.

• Keep it simple. Keep it repeatable. Keep it human.

This list isn’t the finish line. It’s the beginning. It’s proof that our industry is evolving. That we are no longer just contractors, we are creators, educators, and operators of beautifully complex organizations.

To those already on the Top 100: keep designing. Keep refining. Keep investing in your people like they’re your product — because they are.

And to those building toward it: remember, success isn’t something you chase. It’s something you architect.

Here’s to designing companies that are efficient, profitable, admired, and most of all, worth working for.

Chairman and Founder, LeanScaper