As a child, Laurie Broccolo never dreamed of starting her own lawn care business or becoming the go-to environmental consultant in Rochester, New York. She just knew she wanted to be outside.
Her passion for nature led her to study ornamental horticulture at nearby Finger Lakes Community College. After graduation, she was recruited by a local company, Ted Collins Tree & Landscape, as a tree and shrub technician. As lawn care companies sprouted up during the ’70s, Broccolo spotted opportunity in lawn care and worked with Collins to launch a program.
"I not only started the lawn care program, but I also changed the attitudes of customers and the sales staff by only doing integrated pest management,” Broccolo says. “It was perfect timing, because there was an explosion about pesticide concerns in the mid-80s.”
Broccolo began establishing her reputation around IPM, which her website defines as “combining chemical treatments, cultural practices, and biological controls to manage pests.” She got involved in what was then the Professional Lawn Care Association of America and served as the first president of the New York State Lawn Care Association. As she worked her way up the company to vice president, she leveraged her position in the industry to educate people about more sustainable ways of managing lawns and landscapes.
When Collins sold the business, Broccolo decided to apply what he taught her by starting her own company, Broccolo Tree and Lawn Care, in 1990. With IPM lawn and tree care as its focus, the company added new staff and capabilities as clients requested more services. As environmental consciousness has continued expanding, so has Broccolo’s business.
Read the full story from the February issue here.