As long as Phil Burkart has his way, the grass will always be greener even in a state that faces drought and water cutbacks.
The 47-year-old vice president of irrigation businesses for the Toro Co. in Riverside, Calif., expects sprinklers linked to weather satellites to be as standard as low-flush toilets and energy-efficient light bulbs in California homes by 2012.
Lawns, golf courses and crops will still be watered, just in a smarter way, he said. And all of the tract homes built during the housing boom will likely have their sprinkler systems uprooted and rebuilt, Burkart said.
"The last thing people were concerned about were irrigation systems, so they just slapped some heads in," he said.
The Toro Co. came to Riverside in 1962 when it bought Moist-O-Matic. The company mulled a move in 2002 but reconsidered, instead investing $6 million in renovating its offices off Jurupa Avenue and Jasmine Street.
Q: What do you see the company doing, especially this division, in the next five years?
A: There's no doubt, water is a precious resource, especially here in California.
How we use water is critical and just like automobiles, we have technology today that is so much better and more progressive than we had 10 or 15 years ago. We think that, just like you saw in the low-flush toilet industry years ago, there's technology that can help save people anywhere from 20 to 35 to 40 percent of the water they use just by giving them the right tools and educating them. You'd be surprised how many people see brown in their lawn and they think it's a matter of putting more water on it.
Q: What affects the company more -- the current economic recession or the water shortages?
A: I think the economy and recession is affecting everyone. One of the things we've seen in the last several years is our blossoming international division has done very well. That being said, things are getting tougher there.
We view the water issues as an opportunity. Years ago, it was the old statement of Wayne Gretzky -- why are you the greatest hockey player in America. He used to always say it wasn't because he knew where the puck was, but where the puck was going to be. We've been investing in water management now for several years. We were one of the first ones to come out with a smart (irrigation) controller. We have over 200 patents as a company in this business. I think abstinence isn't the answer. I think precisely and efficiently using water is the right answer.
Q: What's a piece of advice that you live by as an executive?
A: I think you've got to be behind your people in good times and you've got to be behind your people in bad times. They have to have a security that you're going to support them, otherwise you won't get risk-takers. You'll get cookie-cutter type employees.
Q: (For Toro) what was advantageous about Riverside and remains advantageous about Riverside?
A: Our major competitors are in California. So when you're in California you can test year round and do a lot of things that you couldn't do, say, in Minnesota when it's zero or 10 (degrees) below. But we obviously had a core employee base that really understood irrigation, understood the customers (and) had contact with the customers.