TOP 100: Adapted Role (Reyburn Landscape Contractors)

Stuart Reyburn is no stranger to the struggling economy. But he also is no stranger to doing whatever it takes to keep a business strong.
 
Reyburn formed Henderson, Nev.-based Reyburn Lawn Maintenance in 1979, working during his days off from the fire department. “I started this company with a lawn mower and $800,” he says. “I never took huge salaries – just enough to live – and worked 80 to 90 hours a week.”

While the company continues to service mostly residential clients, a lot has changed since 1979. Now called Reyburn Landscape Contractors, the firm posted revenue of $22 million in 2007, and Reyburn has a lot more than a mower now.
 
But size can often create challenges, especially in tough times. Reyburn’s revenue was actually down 13 percent in 2007 from the previous year. The economy slowed, and it didn’t help that Reyburn’s service area is Las Vegas, one of the markets hardest-hit by the housing crisis.
 
“In 2007-08, with the declining market, we had to make adjustments to people and equipment,” Reyburn says.
 
As labor is always a top concern of landscape companies, Reyburn had to adapt early this year by answering the demand for union workers on the Las Vegas strip. An affiliate company, called LandPro Solutions, is comprised entirely of union laborers.
 
Even though union labor comes with its own challenges and can mean an increase in hourly wages compared to non-union workers, the company is able to get prevailing-wage work, which means it can bid the work at a price that will give the employees their wages and still allow the company to profit.
 
LandPro Solutions scored big in its first outing with a contract to install landscaping at M Resort, a $1-billion casino being built on 80 acres on the strip. Projects of this scale will take some getting used to, Reyburn says.
 
“It’s definitely a challenge having not done union work before and going into a space because customers were a little concerned about whether you can perform,” he says. “You just have to convince the customer you’re able to perform on the job. At the end of day they figure we’re capable because we have a 30-year track record.”
 
That reputation will help carry the companies out of the current slump. Reyburn is confident the housing market is on its way back up. He also has hope because the company is in the midst of a merger with a player in the market that caters to a slightly different customer base. The two companies are Nos. 3 and 4 in the market now, but the merger will bring them to the top, he says.
 
But if it wasn’t for years of hard work and discipline, Reyburn Landscape Contractors wouldn’t have gotten to this point. “You can’t have a lot of the luxuries starting out,” Reyburn says. “You have to crawl, then walk, then run.”