Mark Mangan previously served as the company’s COO since 2015.

Brunswick, Ohio – Turf Care Supply, a formulator and blender of coated nitrogen and other fertilizer products to the turf & ornamental market, announced has promoted Mark Mangan to president. 

Mangan has over 35 years of industry experience and has played an important role in growing the value of the Turf Care business. He has served as COO of the company since 2015, prior to which he has held multiple leadership positions at Turf Care. He has played a pivotal role in expanding commercial relationships, entering new markets and developing strategic partnerships.

William Milowitz will continue to operate in his current role as CEO.

 “Mark has been an invaluable member of the Turf Care team and has played an essential role in the growth and success achieved over the last few years. I am excited for Mark’s continued development in this new leadership role,” Milowitz said.            

To learn more about Turf Care Supply, visit turfcaresupply.com.

Business leaders shared strategies for creating an impactful culture during NALP’s Leaders Forum.

If the past two years have taught us anything, it’s that mental health can play a key component in crafting a comfortable, compassionate culture in your company.

With labor being a constant challenge, the next generation of workers is looking for an employer who prioritizes their wellbeing.

That was the message of the “Creating an Impactful and Resilient Workplace Culture” panel at the recent NALP Leaders Forum in Phoenix, Arizona.

Panelists touched on a variety of experiences they’ve encountered in their own businesses and offered advice on how attendees could institute change to boost their company culture. The panel consisted of Mike Bogan, CEO of LandCare; Pam Dooley, owner of Plants Creative Landscapes; Paul Fraynd, CEO of Sun Valley Landscaping; Doug McDuff, president and co-owner of Landscape America; and Phil Allen, professor of landscape management at Brigham Young University.

“Today’s young people don’t want to work for you, they want to work with you,” Allen said of his students and the new-age workforce. “They want positions aligned with their moral compass.”

Allen said recent college grads are part of a “care about me” movement and want to know what future employers will do for them.

Things to try. Plants Creative’s annual meeting is centralized on a specific them every year, and Dooley noted that last year’s theme was rightfully nurture.

“You could just sense the need for it,” she said.

One thing that stemmed from the meeting was establishing an EAP, or employee assistance program, to provide temporary, short-term counseling for employees in need.

“We just had to enroll three people for the entire team to qualify,” Dooley said, adding it’s been beneficial to the company.

Bogan agreed with the benefits of an EAP, adding it’s completely anonymous who utilizes the program, which is encouraging for employees.

Another foundational element of culture is flexibility. Fraynd said it’s been even more important since the COVID-19 pandemic.

When it comes to working from home, something the younger generation is quite keen on, Fraynd said being flexible and mindful can help keep employees happy.

“We had flexibility before COVID but now it’s more widespread,” he said of employees working from home.

While remaining flexible is important, Fraynd said there are some drawbacks when more and more employees are opting for remote work.

“There’s less I can do in terms of mentorship,” he said, “and sometimes it can hard to build trust.”

McDuff said Landscape America has been able to better attract and retain employees now that they are keeping them on year-round.

Instead of laying off employees at the end of the season — late December to mid-March — McDuff said his company has found a way to hold on to those workers by finding other tasks for them.

“This year we started a new program where we guaranteed them 40 hours a week through the winter,” he said. “They’re doing a lot of training. Some folks are helping our sales team…some are helping our mechanics.”

“It gives them more stability,” McDuff added.

McDuff said the response has been great so far. And added that he has clients who are incredibly supportive of it and finding additional work for crews to do.

Looking into the future, McDuff said he’d like to find charitable organizations to partner with so workers can volunteer with them, and it would go toward their 40 hours.

Additionally, Landscape America’s culture committee plays a key role in creating a happy, healthy workplace.

McDuff noted that he gives the culture committee, which is a small group of staff members who volunteered, a budgeted amount of money every year to plan parties and fun activities for employees.

“It’s been an incredible program for us,” he said.

Advice for leading. But hosting parties and providing therapy aren’t the only ways to improve culture. The panel noted there are several things that attendees could do, as leaders of their businesses, to promote a unified culture.

Fraynd suggests sharing the bottom line with everyone.

“I’m a big believer that people do better with more information,” he said.

Sun Valley Landscaping shares individualized profit & loss statements with each crew to show them exactly how their work is impacting the business. Fraynd said it’s been a big motivator.

Another thing that Fraynd learned about good leadership in the last year is the importance of making sure the bench is well stocked.

In 2021 Sun Valley lost eight of 17 crew leads in a one-month period.

“It left us with bare bones,” Fraynd said, noting that the crew leads weren’t really training the crew members below them either. “We didn’t have a good system for having backup people in place. The biggest lesson I learn is to build the bench.”

Bogan said leaders should also be cautious of excluding people when trying to promote the company’s culture.

He said he’s learned this years ago after attempting to start a bible study.

“People found it to be alienating,” he said.

Allen added that something he sees in students entering the green industry is an eagerness to advance.

“Young people today want a clear path forward and lots of feedback,” he said. “Patience is not in their vocabulary.”

That’s why Dooley said she’s been developing a program for leadership over the last two years for Plant Creative’s management team.                                 

“It’s based on key components of job skills, human skills and expanded skills,” she said. “Essentially the job skills components are training and offering certain certifications and working with NALP and local trade schools…the human skills is filled with a program called ManageMentor, and it’s through Harvard. It’s an online platform that provides 42 topics that re broken down into quadrants of leader of self, leader of others and leader of business.”

Dooley said it’s also helpful that when a new employee is hired their first five days on the job show a true picture of what an average day will be like.

So, volunteer ambassadors take the new hire and create a five-day plan for them. Then, after spending five days out in the thick of things, the training process begins.

But when it comes down to it, something everyone wants, new hire or seasoned employee, is a good work/life balance.

Bogan said that’s a term that needs to be redefined, adding that by creating a better culture, leaders and their employees can improve that balance.

“It implies work and life are on opposite sides of the scale,” he said. “But we should all be doing something that we find fulfillment in. One shouldn’t be excluded from each other. There’s that disconnect that one has to come at the other’s expense.”

The second annual, free virtual conference takes place Feb. 16.

Jobber released the full agenda for the second annual Jobber Professional Development Day, a free virtual conference for home service pros taking place on Wednesday, Feb. 16. Jocko Willink, Navy SEAL veteran, best-selling author and entrepreneur, joins a packed lineup of mall business experts including ABC's Shark Tank star Daymond John, who will kick-off the event. Sarah McAllister, founder, director and CEO of GoCleanCo and social media influencer with more than 2.2 million Instagram followers, has also been added to the roster.

Registration for the event is now open: jobberpdday.com. Jobber PD Day 2022 will feature live sessions and networking opportunities, organized into three tracks: People; Profit, presented by Visa; and Process, presented by NiceJob. Attendees will gain practical tips from industry experts and other home service professionals on how to strengthen their businesses, overcome common day-to-day challenges, and boost their leadership skills.

"Jobber PD Day is built around providing useful and actionable advice for home service business owners, regardless of their size, industry, or where they are in their entrepreneurship journey," said Sam Pillar, CEO & co-founder of Jobber. "Attendees will learn from a diverse and powerful lineup of inspiring speakers with very different backgrounds and paths that all led them to become leaders in their fields."

Willink will deliver Jobber PD Day's closing keynote session, "Lessons from a Navy SEAL," that explores the Extreme Ownership Leadership Principles every business owner and team leader can use to achieve success in business and in life. Willink is the co-author of the #1 New York Times bestseller "Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win" and "Dichotomy of Leadership." He also hosts the top-rated Jocko Podcast and co-founded Echelon Front, a premier leadership consulting company, where he serves as CEO, leadership instructor, speaker and strategic advisor. His session will draw on his 20 years of experience as a Navy SEAL and outlines the four laws of combat and how a victory mindset can help you achieve your goals.

McAllister is a serial entrepreneur committed to creating forward-thinking, female-led businesses. McAllister has been running her own businesses since she was 20 years old. As founder, director and CEO of GoCleanCo, she has invaluable real-world experience building and marketing a successful home service business from the ground up and leading the BleachPrayLove #CleaningArmy of social followers. Sarah is often featured in publications such as Business Insider, Parade, The Globe and Mail, Bustle, and more. Her Jobber PD Day session, "How to Build a Strong, Business-Winning Brand," presented by Visa, will explore the impact of brand on a service business, tips for working your brand into marketing and day-to-day operations, standing out and connecting with customers and more.

Jobber PD Day will feature 20+ speakers that include a variety of subject matter experts and entrepreneurs across an array home service industries, including:

To register for Jobber PD Day and to see full agenda, click here.

The changes follow the passing of Board Chairman Michael Kropp Sr. in December 2021.

Primera announces the death of Board Chairman Michael Kropp Sr., who passed away at 54 on Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2021. Kropp served on the Primera Board of Directors since 2014 and as Chairman since 2019.  

"Michael will be remembered as an exceptional leader, dedicated to the success of our cooperative, but most importantly, he'll be remembered by many as a friend," said Primera CEO Jeff Braun. "Michael led the Board with a tremendous passion for making Primera a leader in our industry. His forward-thinking and vision for what success could be for our Member-Owner and Supplier partners was a driving reason I chose to join Primera. Michael has left his mark on our industry, our Cooperative, and we are all grateful for his invaluable contribution. He will be genuinely missed by all who had the privilege to call him a collogue and friend." 

Leading Primera through its next chapter, Bob Windsheimer, vice president and COO of Walker Supply Inc, has been named Board Chairman. Windsheimer has served as part of the Primera Board and Executive Committee over the past eight years in different roles, most recently as vice-chair.

In conjunction with Windsheimer's appointment, Todd Griebe, director of procurement at Target Specialty Products, has been appointed vice-chair. Griebe has served on the Primera Board over the last five years and joins the Executive Committee.

"You strive for your Board of Directors to be a microcosm of your membership. You are looking for diverse experience, knowledge, and perspective when assembling the leadership team, and I believe Primera has established a best in industry Board of Directors to help oversee and elevate our Cooperative," Braun said. 

Paul Smith, president of Sigma Organics, will remain as board treasurer, while Allan Smith, owner of Atlantic Golf and Turf, will stay as board secretary. Andy Keeton, national turf product manager at Ewing Irrigation; Frank Lopes, owner of Turfnology; and Bob Hartman, turf director at Central Turf & Irrigation, will continue to serve in their respective director roles.  

These new construction product announcements lead the company’s 2022 product rollouts.

Kubota Tractor Corporation recently added two new excavators to its lineup: the K008-5 conventional tail swing excavator and the all-new U10-5 minimal tail swing excavator.

These new construction product announcements lead the company’s 2022 product rollouts, and while the K008-5 will replace the -3 model with various upgrades, the U10-5 takes an all-new spot in the U Series minimal tail swing lineup. Both new models will be available at authorized Kubota dealerships early this spring.

The K008-5 and U10-5 offer single-level maneuverability with hydraulic adjustable track widths that contract to fit through tight spaces easily like doorways, fence gates, inside buildings, hallways, elevators and more.

On the K008-5, the tracks adjust down to 2 feet and 4 inches, and the U10-5 contracts to 2 feet and 6 inches. Then, when the operator wants to widen the tracks, the tracks widen out to 2 feet and 10 inches or 3 feet and 3 inches, respectively. 

Each new compact excavator features surprisingly wide working and digging ranges for their compact frames. The K008-5 has a working range that includes a digging depth of 5 feet, 8 inches and a bucket breakout force of 2,205 pounds. The U10-5 extends to a 5-foot, 11-inch digging depth with a bucket breakout force of 2,337 pounds.

“Our new excavators are ideal for tight, confined spaces, and with the U10-5 being a minimal tail swing model and both excavators featuring retractable tracks, they are ready to work in even the narrowest spaces on the job site,” said Patrick Baker, Kubota construction equipment product manager. “With the new K008-5 and U10-5, we now have a broad offering of 13 compact excavator models across the 1-to-8-ton weight classes, and now feature more flexibility among the conventional and minimal tail swing lines. All of our -5 generation models are solidly engineered and outfitted with more customization to keep customers working efficiently and comfortably.”