Landscape Management, December 2015

Industry Pulse snow removal bill because they have tenants now In general the spend is up and the industry is in a better place than it was three or four years ago Despite all the positive feelings about the industry and the economy and some bright spots like a dip in fuel prices there are challenges For example many costs are increasing an election year brings uncertainty and of course there are concerns about the labor market Our biggest issue is fnding great people Ziehler says We work really hard at having a great place to work but just making sure you have enough people and theyre there every day is very diffcult Reliable a 32 million company expects to grow about 12 15 percent next year Some growth will be organic but Hougnon says acquisitions are also on the table Its a great time to buy companies right now he says noting there appears to be a crop of middle aged owner operators who are looking for exit strategies With acquisitions often come great employees he says I think thats an important area to look at and I think its going to help people grow over the next couple years Additional reporting by Dillon Stewart 44 LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET December 2015 BY THE NUMBERS 6 Less than 1 22 Customer mix 11 Single family residential Multifamily residential Commercial industrial Government institutional Other 16 3 4 1 Service mix 61 44 16 10 6 Full service landscape contractor maintenance lawn care design build and irrigation Landscape maintenance contractor mowing trimming etc Landscape design build contractor design installation Chemical lawn care company excluding mowing Irrigation contractor Tree and shrub care company Landscape architect Other Tom Hougnon Playing politics With less than 12 months to go until the 2016 presidential election there will be many issues important to the landscape industry bantered about minimum wage immigration taxes and more Unfortunately theres little chance the government will act on those issues during the election year or the year following regardless of whom moves into the White House Any fxes or changes to immigration or environmental regulations or interest rates are unlikely says LM Editorial Advisory Board member Kevin Kehoe That is probably good news Right now dysfunctional politics dominates everything This is a drag and will continue to be a drag on growth as consumer confdence will continue to decline Bureaucratic uncertainty is a concern for Andrew Ziehler What I worry about is that our government isnt exactly making it easier for a small business to operate or to get bigger he says There are some policies put in place that just seem to hamper growth Ziehler is concerned about proposed mandates for wage hikes and unfavorable tax provisions such as the Section 179 tax deduction on equipment and software being reduced to 25000 from 500000 Some of that stuf really helps fuel growth he says To me if you make it easy for small businesses to grow then youre going to help the economy Hes also concerned about reaching the 50 employee level and the requirements that kick in under the Afordable Care Act Were trying to look at how we plan for our growth to optimize it he says I dont want to hit the threshold of having 50 employees until were ready to go way past it Were trying to forecast out a few years ahead What do we have to do to make sure were ahead of the curve