'Tis the season at KEI

Potential clients can see KEI's holiday installations at the company's warehouse.

It’s always Christmas at KEI in Oak Creek, WI. Glittering Christmas trees, singing carolers and piles of presents started off the tour we took there recently as part of the Professional Landcare Network’s (PLANET) Specialty Symposium in Milwaukee. The company sets up this “winter wonderland” every year to showcase its holiday decorating business to prospective clients.

We half expected Santa Claus on a gold throne to greet us at the end of the stroll through this holiday showcase, but it was business as usual on a hot July day at this company, which expects more than $9 million in 2006 revenues.

Many corporate buildings in downtown Milwaukee are decorated by KEI.

KEI's on-site maintenance shop takes care of fleet problems right away.

KEI has several recycled storage units on its property to hold landscaping materials.

KEI is a real family business, started by Ron Kujawa in 1964. The family still leads the business today, dividing its services into design/build, maintenance, snow and ice, interiorscaping and seasonal decorating. Forty full-timers and 100 part-time crew members get business done at headquarters and in the field, where the company’s service area stretches both to Madison, WI and the Chicago border to the south. Principals Ron and Chris Kujawa hold multiple professional certifications and industry leadership roles, and President Sally Kujawa has helmed the company for 24 years as a woman-owned enterprise and member of the Women’s Business Exchange.

“We built this headquarters as an investment property,” says Ron Kujawa, of the company’s new digs, completed in 2003. “This place is solid. We built it for energy efficiency, low maintenance and adaptability.”

Every square foot of the company’s nearly seven-acre footprint is used. With the exception of 60-80 tons of salt and some annuals for mid-season refreshers, long-term storage doesn’t take up a lot of space on the property. The company takes delivery of 15 semitruck loads annually of flowers, which it uses to build and maintain giant seasonal pots and hanging baskets for clients in downtown Milwaukee. Commercial business makes up 70% of KEI’s breakdown, with 20% going to municipalities and schools and 10% going to residential work.

“We have stuff,” says Ron Kujawa of the company’s equipment fleet of about 100 riding mowers, 40 walk-behinds and 80 vehicles. “Lots of stuff."

The company’s commitment to excellence is displayed on posters and T-shirts everywhere that bear the Latin word “Magis,” a traditional Jesuit term signifying more — going above and beyond, working for the greater good.

Crews pile into the building every morning for stretches before taking off. Most of KEI’s trucks are equipped with GPS, which is “great for snow and ice season,” according to Jason, our tour leader and a KEI client services representative. Uniforms get cleaned and pressed for employees, and training is serious business. Once a week employees attend morning training at headquarters, and those sessions lengthen during slower winter days.

KEI boasts a working safety committee. Representatives from all segments of the business meet monthly and the group’s first project was an overhaul of the company’s safety manual, which it completed by reviewing, condensing and re-printing all materials in English and Spanish. The group recognizes safety enforcement goals with incentives and recognition awards. In the three and a half years since the safety committee’s inception, the company has reduced safety-related incidents company-wide by 83%.

PLANET Specialty Symposium participants also were treated to a behind-the-scenes tour of Milwaukee’s Brewer Park. For more details on the grounds maintenance, landscaping and internship programs there visit www.athleticturf.net.