The next generation: Evolution of the green industry

Editor’s note: Jim Huston passed away on April 3, 2025. As a tribute to him, we will run his past columns throughout the rest of 2025. This column was originally published in our March 2011 issue.

The green industry, like any industry, is constantly evolving. Whether it’s because of new technologies, better processes and systems or smarter workers, industries naturally progress. That means you have to be careful not to get left behind. While your competition is studying up and implementing the latest marketing methods or rolling out a fresh, new brand, you don’t want to be the company that is still using a type writer for work orders or unfolding a map when you could be using a GPS to get to a jobsite.

If you are stuck in your way of doing things, it may affect your ability to recruit the best new talent. No one wants to work for someone who fears change. The green industry has “arrived,” or matured to the extent that colleges have incorporated landscape disciplines into their curriculums, equipment manufacturers are creating landscape specific equipment and environmental issues have pushed the landscape industry to the forefront of the green movement. In addition, state and federal legislatures recognize the value of green industry input into legislative issues and technology in the form of GPS, software, PDAs, etc., has been embraced by the industry.

All of this adds up to a green industry that is more technical and savvy. Hence the need for green industry professionals who are much more trained than they were just 10 years ago. This creates an excellent opportunity for the individual who is trained to meet the technological and professional requirements of the new green industry.

To adapt to this new generation of green industry prospects, you have to be able to take advantage of the skillset provided by the new generation. You must provide an atmosphere where these prospects can employ and utilize what they bring to the table, and company owners and staff need to study this skillset and make a conscious effort to incorporate it. That means listening and studying what is going on. You need to network and read trade publications.

If you provide viable economic opportunities for prospects, and if you are supportive and in tune with what they bring to the table, then you will be fine.

And while advances in technology are normally the most recognizable when an industry progresses, you as a business owner don’t have to be a tech-wizard. Get to know the basics, but use your skills in running a company to find people who stay in touch with what is cutting edge in technology and build a team with those people. It’s all going to get more complex, and it will be more important than ever for leaders to learn how to be leaders and not get mired in the minutia of it all. As Peter Drucker said, “Managers make sure things get done right. Leaders make sure the right things get done.”