Landscape Management, October 2012

ThE iNDuSTry PuLSE Cast your ballot W ho will win the 2012 presidential election is anyones guess But according to our 2012 Industry Pulse survey 57 percent of landscape professionals say the election is affecting their 2013 business outlook The election is still up for grabs but its less of a mystery which candidate landscape contractors are overwhelmingly behind Mitt Romney Green Industry support for Romney stems less from him and more from his politics Brad Johnson founder and president of Brad Johnsons LawnAmerica in Tulsa Okla says hes concerned not just from a business regulation and tax standpoint although those are pretty huge But just the overall direction of the country There are some big concerns of how thats been going Many others in the industry are likewise anxious about what lies ahead For Dave Reed vice president of Meadows Farms Landscape in Chantilly Va the upshot of the election will hit close to home The company has many clients who work in the Washington D C metro area The election is a big deal for us Reed says A good number of our customers work for the government either directly or indirectly When we start talking about government cutbacks those are pretty important considerations for us Reed says overall theres a lot of stability in government related work and being near the Beltway is a lucrative place to be no matter whos sitting in the White House But many of Reeds clients work in defense If the government cuts defense spending by say 20 percent he says it would make an impact Because lets face it The defense clients are the big spenders LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET october 2012 S8 The health care factor Landscape contractors also worry about the impact an Obama win would have on health care costs Dan Sohovecky vice president of finance at San Diego based New Way Landscape Tree Services says his No 1 election concern is Obamacare specifically its mandate that businesses with more than 50 employees must provide health insurance Thats because New Way is just 30 miles from the Mexico border Many of its workers live in Mexico and have alternative sources of health care A number of them arent interested in insurance says Sohovecky It makes it more painful for everyone Our employees are being forced to have it and were being forced as an employer to provide it and pay for it Keeping a level head Some say things will be better no matter who wins the election because well know what to expect Ricardo Baldi president and owner of Baldi Gardens Landscape in Arlington Texas says the economic situation is improving there and hes getting more calls and more business I have a lot of hope he says of the election Im not too worried about it In my opinion both parties are the same pretty much They complain about each other but theyre pretty much the same in the end If Obama wins Johnson worries the capital gains tax will be raised to help pay for changes in health care But hes been here before Johnson says his company will still grow no matter who wins Were not going to cry about it he says But I sure would rather have policies in place that are more friendly to business owners LM by Beth Geraci Senior editor The uncertainty of an election year weighs on landscape contractors