Weed Man, Turfbot name new COOs

Weed Man has named Mike Richard, the company's former national marketing director, as chief operating officer.

Mike Richard

Over the last 15 years, Richard has helped franchisees grow exponentially in their marketing pursuits through the National Sales Analysis Program, which includes weekly conference calls, regular macro sales summaries and franchise system benchmarks.

Prior to his role at head office, Richard has seen the brand through a variety of positions from lawn care technician, sales manager to eventually shareholder and general manager. He also ran a large multi-unit operation in Canada for nearly 10 years.

“Mike’s grown alongside Weed Man, and has always given his all to franchisees and the people within the company,” said Jennifer Lemcke, CEO of Weed Man. “Due to his tenure, experience, and high-level performance, it’s evident that he is the perfect fit for the COO role.”

In addition to Richard’s promotion, Erica Knapp, Weed Man’s digital & communications director, has been named the COO of TurfBot, a robotic mowing concept and sub-brand of Weed Man. Knapp has over 10 years of communications and digital marketing experience.

Erica Knapp

Weed Man has also restructured its digital marketing and communications department, promoting Tawnya Pappin to digital marketing and events manager and Crystal Shane to digital marketing strategist. The company will continue to add additional team members to accommodate the accelerated growth.

“As an organization, we’ve always focused on growth and opportunity for our people and believe in the power of promoting within,” Richard said. “Our franchisees do the same within their businesses, as they’re committed to expansion to keep upward mobility available for their existing team members, while acquiring new talent who want to grow with them.”