Landscape Entrepreneurs Luse, Hanson Buy Back Arteka

Two high-school acquaintances from Minnetonka who’ve been in the landscaping and lawn care business for more than 30 years bought back, last month, a business they ran together up until seven years ago.

The purchase of Arteka, from ValleyCrest Landscape Development, brings David Luse and Stewart Hanson full circle. Hanson started working with Arteka in 1973 – a company that designed and installed landscaping for residential and commercial owners. Luse started in the business as a kid mowing neighbors’ lawns, built a commercial landscaping business, then became a commercial developer. In 1990 Luse bought Arteka. Hanson stayed with company, becoming President in 1991. Luse and Hanson, along with a great staff, grew the company, and then took it public, along with six other companies as Landcare USA in 1998. In 1999 Landcare USA was acquired by ServiceMaster’s TruGreen LandCare division. Landcare USA’s construction operations were sold to ValleyCrest Landscape Development in 2001.

Hanson rejoined Luse again in 2003, and now the two own Organicare, based in Eden Prairie. Organicare franchises organic lawn, tree and shrub-care services, doing business in Minnesota, Texas, New Jersey and Connecticut. Luse and Hanson also own controlling interest in a product distribution company called EcoOrganics, acquired in 2003. EcoOrganics products provide microbial stimulants for soil and plant health. Hanson and Luse share a passion for green space and clean water, and see these businesses as a way of doing their part to preserve the environment they’ve loved since they were kids mowing lawns and digging holes for trees and shrubs.

 “I have always loved this business since I first saw the quality and creativity of Arteka, 32 years ago,” Hanson said. “I knew at that very moment I wanted to be a part of Arteka and its unique business philosophy. It’s exciting to bring the business back under local ownership and control and work with great clients and employees.”

Hanson will run Shakopee, Minn-based Arteka. Most of the original staff is still in place. Along with Arteka’s current commercial service offerings, the company will be pursuing the residential work that Arteka has been known for.

In the meantime, Luse is planning a national sales force to market and sell the EcoOrganics product business along with developing commercial real estate. “I’ll get it up and running and Stew will take from there,” he said. “It’s unusual to sell a company to a larger organization and then be able to buy it back still in great condition. We built a loyal and dedicated workforce that was customer driven, and that tradition has been strengthened in the years since we sold the company. Many of the current employees remain from when we owned Arteka, and they’ve grown and benefited from the business systems and professional leadership of Valley Crest Landscape Development.”

Luse and Hanson, with the reacquisition of Arteka, now have more ways to keep growing their business and green spaces in Minnesota. Legislation limiting the use of synthetic fertilizers, along with consumer preference for organic lawn-care products, has increased demand for the services of companies like Organicare. Organicare uses organic-based fertilizers, and its sister company is developing soy-based pesticides as well.