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Industry Report: Outlook Good for 1999 | 25
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Industry Report
Outlook Good for 1999
SANTA ANA, CA
 
The reports are in: 1998 was a year like no other for the professional landscape industry in some ways. Rapid fire consolidation announcements by LandCare USA, TruGreen-ChemLawn and The Brickman Group have yielded a market climate that has many veteran contractors predicting an entirely new shape to the landscape industry five years from now.
 
Conversations with landscape and irrigation contractors throughout the southwest indicate to LCM that business continues to boom in the multi-billion-dollar industry. Clean-up from El Nino and preparation for La Nina mean higher revenues-- and much more work-- for contractors in California, Arizona, Nevada and Texas. And the booming construction markets, both private and public, don't hurt either!
 
"Good construction and real estate markets continue to give us a good market," explained Allen Dinsmore of Gilroy, CA-based Alpine Landscapes. Bruce Birdsong of Precision Landscape Management in Dallas, Texas agreed, "Our focus is the commercial work and high-profile office buildings, so, as the real estate market continues to thrive-- so do we."
 
"Personal income is up for people as a function of automation," observed Tom DelConte, President of Del Conte's Landscaping in Freemont, CA. "People have more money relative to the cost of goods they're purchasing, which yields more expendable income."
 
This continued growth isn't necessarily without its headaches or concerns, however. "Our business has been a bit flat, but the problem lies in the inability of our management to handle more work," noted Malcolm Hilcove of Scottsdale, AZ-based Green N'Growing. "We're getting to the point where we need our mid-managers to have sufficient training in business management issues as well as landscaping."
 
"I try to draw people in by offering them a job outdoors in a low stress atmosphere, but I'm still starting people out a a high rate," admits Henry DeLaRosa, owner of Campbell, CA-based ProLawn.
 
Finding enough labor, too, remains a struggle throughout the southwestern states. "This is the worst that it's been for us," explained Mark Harris of M.B.C. Landscape in Houston, Texas. "We've always offered hiring incentives and we can usually hire through our current employees, but that hasn't been enough this year."
 
LCM wants to know! How was business for you personally in 1998-- and what do you anticipate for 1999? Where is the market headed as we approach the new millennium? Which industry-related services will grow and which will flounder? Email your responses to hlebus@landscapearchitect.com!
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