Landscape Management, December 2015

49 56 75 80 85 25 25 19 16 11 26 19 6 4 4 1 Methodology For the 2015 Industry Pulse report Landscape Management surveyed subscribers online in October and November garnering 523 responses Respondents were o ered the chance to win one of three 100 gift cards as an incentive Based on the number of responses we assume a 5 percent margin of error Unless otherwise noted all charts and figures in this report come from this survey DECEMBER 2015 LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET 43 Even in low growth areas of the country contractors are hopeful Lowes Landscaping in Cuba Mo which sits on Route 66 about 90 miles southwest of St Louis is growing although the region is not says President Erik Lowes Still he says the state of the landscape industry is good for reputable companies I dont think our economy is great but I know company owners are realizing how to get smart he says Its one of the easiest businesses to get into so there are a lot of people who are around for a few years and then get out The full service company will do about 450000 in revenue this year a 30 percent bump over 2014 In 2015 the company added tree care to move toward services with a higher perceived value than mowing Im hoping at the end of next year that well have 20 percent of our revenue coming from tree care Lowes says But overall he plans to put the brakes on growth next year to focus on internal systems and determine if he should add management to help manage the crews and add capacity Near Dayton Ohio Andrew Ziehler is seeing a comeback The president of Ziehler Lawn Tree Care a 19 million company with about 31 employees says client spending is steady again The bulk of Ziehlers business is in the residential turf care market I think its strong he says Were seeing people spend more money take additional services and were seeing a renewed demand for quality service The company which added pest control expects to be up more than 30 percent over 2014 and hed like to maintain that level of growth next year Reliable Property Services a Minneapolis commercial maintenance and snow management company with branches in Iowa and Wisconsin is also seeing an uptick In the three states were in our customers are starting to spend more money again says Tom Hougnon president and CEO Occupancies are up so there are fewer ownership groups paying the landscaping or Steady improvement How landscape professionals describe the state of the market 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Very healthy or relatively healthy Flat Slightly down or down significantly Whats your 2016 business outlook 49 40 9 Very optimistic Somewhat optimistic Uncertain Somewhat pessimistic Very pessimistic 0 Percentages dont equal 100 due to rounding Erik Lowes Housing Near normal According to the National Association of Home Builders economic and housing recoveries continue at a slow steady pace In particular the Leading Markets Index which uses single family housing permits employment and home prices to measure proximity to a normal economic and housing market rose to 93 in the third quarter of 2015 A value of 10 means the market is back to normal The level was 89 a year ago Andrew Ziehler