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This year marks the fourth year in which Chipco Professional Products and Lawn & Landscape magazine have partnered to recognize those professionals in the industry whose personal contributions have contributed to the industry’s development. These individuals will be honored at a reception to be held at this year’s Green Industry Expo in Nashville, Tenn. A new member of the 2002 Leadership Class will be announced at Lawn & Landscape Online every Monday and Thursday between now at then.
Barry Troutman has worked long, hard hours at many companies throughout his 25-year career. And he’s enjoying his most recent stop, ValleyCrest Cos. “It’s the first time in my career that I worked for a company that controlled the whole operation of landscaping with commercial clients,” he pointed out. “With homeowners, they can screw it up even if you do the best job you can. But here, we do everything and have more control of the final outcome.”
Troutman admits his typical week can cover the gamut of horticulture issues since he answers technical questions for ValleyCrest offices from as far west as San Antonio, Texas, to the East Coast in Boston, Mass., and from the northern U.S. in Chicago, Ill., to the southern tip of Miami, Fla. For instance, on this typical day, Troutman was in Washington, D.C. when his cell phone rang. Someone from Texas called who needed advice on managing dodder, also known as strangle weed, which is a parasitic seed plant that attaches to susceptible plants and twines around the stems. “There’s not much you can do about [dodder], but in this instance, it was growing in front of the Anheuser Busch Brewery headquarters, and we didn’t want anything to get in between people and their beer,” Troutman jokes. “I ended up calling an expert at Texas A&M University and she told me all she knew about dodder. Then I passed the information along to the folks in Texas who needed help. Next week, I have to go to upstate New York to oversee the delivery and installation of 700 blue spruce trees. Each day is always different – I’m always learning something new.”
These daily adventures will continue for Troutman, who says his plans for the foreseeable future include continuing his work with ValleyCrest and trying to improve his skills. “I don’t see retirement in my near future,” Troutman says. “There was a time in my life when I bought a lottery ticket every Friday. Now, I don’t mess with it unless it’s more than $25 million. Even if I won all the money in the world, I’m not sure I would chose to lead my life a whole lot differently.”
Though Troutman admits that his years of experience in the industry have served him well, he’s still slow to accept the fact that he’s truly become an industry leader. “I don’t know if I’ve been as much of a leader,” he says. “I think of myself more as a supporting actor.”