Landscape Management, January 2019
Needtoknow NEWS ISSUES Dan Eichenlaub owner of Eichenlaub Inc explains to Penn State agribusiness management students how his company is evaluating autonomous mower technology to service lawn maintenance customers EMBRACING ROBOTS WITH OPEN ARMS H ow do you feel about robotic mowers This is the question Penn State University students recently asked customers of Eichenlaub Inc a full service landscape firm based in Pittsburgh Nearly 100 students took part in the field day hosted at Eichenlaub Inc s headquarters The event included a live case study where students called and spoke directly with Eichenlaub Inc s customers to get feedback on having their property serviced with a robotic mower Dan Eichenlaub owner of Eichenlaub Inc which is a LandOpt contractor hosted the event alongside Husqvarnas Brian Luzier and Penn States Dean Richard Roush During the field day students learned discussed and brainstormed how to bring innovation to existing businesses and to an industry Existing companies must innovate or they die Eichenlaub says Husqvarnas Automower was demonstrated to the students who are minoring in entrepreneurship and innovation as part of their degree from Penn State The students that are taking this minor arent necessarily in agriculture This is an opportunity to expose them to the landscaping industry says Eichenlaub a Penn State alumnus If we want to be able to recruit in this industry people need to know about it from the current perspective Luzier commercial sales manager at Husqvarna says that out of all of the customers the students interviewed more than 80 percent are willing to let a professional landscaping company maintain their lawn autonomously Most property owners have said that they trust the professional landscapers judgement when it comes to what is best for their property he says The Automower is the future and by future I dont mean three years from now I mean the 2019 cutting season PHOTO ANGELA BARR COURTESY OF EICHENLAUB NALP NAMES NEWEST CLASS OF TRAILBLAZERS The National Association of Landscape Professionals NALP named six industry professionals as its newest Trailblazers These individuals were nominated by their peers for making significant and long term contributions to the landscape industry and are committed to giving back to the industry through mentoring other industry professionals The following are the new Trailblazers Barry Schneider president Surrounds Sterling Va John Puryear president Puryear Farms Gallatin Tenn Michael Prokopchak president Walnut Hill Landscape Co Annapolis Md Alan Richmond vice president Southern Botanical Dallas Brian Edwards manager Color Burst Landscapes Brentwood Tenn and Marc Funderburk president LandPatterns Dallas 8 LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET JANUARY 2019
You must have JavaScript enabled to view digital editions.
