Author: Beth Geraci

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Beth Geraci

Geraci is a freelance writer based in Cleveland. She has worked as a professional journalist for more than 15 years, including six years as a writer for the Chicago Tribune. A graduate of Allegheny College and Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Geraci began her career as an editor at a newswire service in Washington, D.C., where she edited and distributed press releases from the White House and congressional leaders. She went on to become the community news reporter at the Jackson Hole Guide newspaper, winning two national feature writing awards. Her other experience includes working as a book editor in Chicago and as a professor of business communications at Cleveland State University.

Landscaper to the rescue

Oh how I love stories like this. Stories about landscapers who’ve got their mind on the job, until they notice something askew and leap into the role of hero. That’s what happened in Sturgeon, Mo., this week, when a vigilant landscaper showed up for work at a home and noticed three people he didn’t recognize […]

ESA at play

RISE serves up the latest on the Endangered Species Act and its impact on you. At the Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment (RISE) breakfast meeting at this year’s Golf Industry Show on Feb. 6 in San Diego, federal legislative and regulatory issues took the spotlight. In his introduction, Steve Gullickson, RISE governing board chairman, […]

The power of youth

Every Thursday at 1 p.m. Professor McCafferty sat in her office, gazing out the window. She wasn’t daydreaming. She was waiting for me. But I’d just pulled an all-nighter at the college newspaper. While Professor McCafferty was waiting for me in her office, I was halfway across campus, oversleeping my independent study in fiction writing. […]

The old college try

There’s a lot to be learned from student business owners who have found success. Wesley Chiles was young enough to have a lemonade stand. After all, he was 10 years old making $35 in cash mowing a neighbor’s yard. At age 12, he got his first riding mower. He was too young to drive a […]

April 2013 Web Extra: Back to school

10 tips from student business owners featured in our April cover story “Persevere, be afraid to quit, have a willingness to work hard and continuously focus on the dollars and cents.”—Craig Ruppert, CEO and founder of Ruppert Landscape, Laytonsville, Md. “First of all, be a man of your word. That sums it all up. If […]

The grass master

Ohio’s Applicator of the Year proves there’s more to quality lawn care than fertilizer. Matt Tyler takes out the trash. He rakes the leaves, mows the lawn, even brings in the groceries. No, that’s not life at home. Those are some of the extra steps Tyler takes for his lawn care customers on the job. […]

Water reincarnated

Use of recycled water in landscaping is slowly catching on, researchers say. When Rain Bird’s 2013 Intelligent Use of Water Summit took place in January at Michigan State University, the focus was on water conservation in the golf course and sports turf industries. But that doesn’t mean there weren’t takeaways for landscape contractors. A speaker […]

Profiting from Patel

Northwestern University professor Homi Patel shares 10 tips on how to ensure success. Homi Patel, professor of marketing at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, was a featured speaker at the peer group gathering Next Level University last November. (For more on that event, see “Raising the Bar” in our January issue.) Speaking to leaders […]

1-Minute Mentor: Maurice Dowell

Meet Maurice Dowell, President of Dowco Enterprises Inc., St. Louis. Who’s your mentor? I have an informal mentor, Bob Coulter. Through his services, he has earned my respect. Bob is a shining example of an individual who can hold up the mirror of what a coach looks like. He’s a friend, an individual who’s shown […]

An education

It was lunchtime. My plane was still on the ground in Chicago, where it would stay for a very long time. Suddenly, I had six hours to kill in a Lansing, Mich., hotel restaurant. And there’s only so much you can eat and drink in that span. As I passed hour upon hour working at […]

Snapshot: DBI Symposium

Learning from Lambert’s

The Dallas company shows design/build professional from around the country how to do it right. Less than a week before Thanksgiving, dozens of design/build business owners converged on Dallas for a tour of Lambert Landscape Co. and three of its projects, as part of the Professional Landcare Network’s DBI Symposium. They made the trip to […]

Pay for production: A case study

An incentive system that empowers employees to think like owners By Jeffrey Scott, Consultant The problem John’s labor rates were too high. John, a member of one of the Leader’s Edge peer groups (for landscape business owners), had just bought a company in in the mid-west. His labor costs were hurting profits, and he needed […]

‘Fired Up’ landscape companies

It’s been said time and again that there’s more joy to be had in life’s simple things than its big things. A mere smile, thank you or compliment can go a long way in making people feel valued and in generating positive results. And if that’s true in life, the same can be said for […]

ServiceMaster’s Brackett resigns

According to sellmygreenbusiness.com, on Friday, October 12, The ServiceMaster Company announced that Thomas G. Brackett, president of the company’s TruGreen segment, resigned, effective Oct. 9, 2012. The announcement came in a Securities & Exchange Commission filing. The company’s CEO Hank Mullany will serve as interim president of the TruGreen segment until a new president is […]

The big 5-Oh! for Landscape Management

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Here’s our list (in no particular order) of 50 people, issues, organizations and technologies that have influenced the Green Industry over the last five decades. 1 American Nursery & Landscape Association — Though it was founded 86 years before LM, ANLA has made quite an impact in the last five decades it’s been around. With […]

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