February 6th, 2020
In January, Columbus, OH-based GreenScapes Landscape Company became the latest landscaping firm to make the transition to employee ownership.
Founded in 1977 by Bill Gerhardt, who intends to stay on as president for at least five more years, Greenscapes began as a traditional landscaping business and has expanded into a full-service landscape design firm serving both residential and commercial properties. They also provide snow and ice management services in the winter.
Ohio-based GreenScapes Landscape Company is proud to transition to employee ownership
“I’ve been looking for a way to pass the company along to the people here,” Gerhardt said in an interview with Columbus Business First. “I’ve been approached by buyers over the years, but it didn’t seem like a good fit for the employees, or I was worried they’d want to change the culture here. This way the employees will be able to take the ball, and they can run with it.”
GreenScapes is far from the first Ohio landscape business to become an ESOP company. In Q3 2019, Menke & Associates was proud to assist another Columbus-based landscape architecture firm, MKSK, with their successful transition to 100% employee ownership.
Landscape design companies are strong candidates for ESOPs because they exist in a highly reputational industry. Landscape businesses succeed by building long-term relationships with clients who know that they will deliver on their promises and that they will provide an exceptional level of service time after time.
With that said, landscape design can be a seasonal business in much of the country. Extreme seasonal fluctuations in revenue can be a challenge for ESOPs, so the companies that see the best results are those that, like GreenScapes and MKSK, provide additional services that allow them to do steady business throughout the year.
ESOPs have become so prevalent in the landscaping world that industry magazine Total Landscape Care recently published a lengthy article explaining the essentials of ESOPs, featuring extensive contributions from Menke’s managing director of investment banking Philip DeDominicis.
Asked about the impact that becoming an owner has on an employee, DeDominicis put it in straightforward terms: “It’s a pretty simple thing; if you own it, you treat it better than if you rent it. A car, a home, a business, if I have a long-term interest in the value, a person’s behavior changes a little bit. I think the primary thing that happens for employees is they just look at the definition of their job differently, more broadly.”
Contact Menke & Associates today to learn more about the impact an ESOP can have on your business, your employees, and your future.
Menke & Associates, Inc. has helped over 3,500 companies successfully transition to employee ownership. Our holistic ESOP approach enables a positive outcome for the company, its employees and its shareholders. We believe ownership is powerful.
