Companies in the News: Plowz and Mowz raises $1.5M; more from Davey, John Deere, Morbark, Bobcat, Mean Green

Photo: Plowz and Mowz

Plowz and Mowz, an on-demand landscape and snow plow service which recently added leaf removal, raised $1.5 million from the Los Angeles-based startup incubator Science and undisclosed angel investors. Science has previously backed companies like Dollar Shave Club and Quarterly.

The National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO) named The Davey Tree Expert Co. the 13th largest employee-owned company in the U.S. Davey employs 8,600 people and has been employee-owned since 1979.  The NCEO’s 2016 Employee Ownership 100 list includes the nation’s largest companies that are at least 50 percent owned by an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) or other broad-based employee ownership plan.

John Deere’s 1025R Sub-Compact Tractor was used on the DIY Network show Blog Cabin. The 1025R was used for grading, digging holes and planting trees and shrubs at a home on the Gulf Coast in the Florida panhandle. The DIY Network is also running a sweepstakes through Sept. 26. The winner will receive the fully furnished Florida home, $50,000 from national mortgage lender Quicken Loans, a 2016 Mazda CX-5 and a John Deere 1025R Sub-Compact Utility Tractor.

Morbark expanded its Canadian dealer network. Equipment Sales & Service, located in Edmonton, became the exclusive dealer of Morbark products in Alberta. The private, family-owned company specializes in heavy equipment sales.

Bobcat, in conjunction with television show “Beyond the Hunt” on the Outdoor Channel, transformed a property in Unity, Maine, belonging to the winners of the 2016 Create & Conserve Habitat Event. A team of Bobcat operators transformed Glenn and Judy Stevens’s by creating a 43,000-square-foot pond, establishing a mile-and-a-half of access trails, re-establishing native plant species, installing an erosion control fence, creating conservation plots and constructing a fire pit. The conservation plot and pond portions of the project provide a food and water source for wildlife, including moose, black bears, deer, foxes, lynx, hares and bobcats. “The property has been in my family since the 1960s so it was important to continue this legacy by taking proper care of the land,” said Glenn Stevens.

Mean Green Mowers has recently become a member of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), an association of colleges and universities working to create a sustainable world. “Mean Green Mowers is excited to partner with AASHE by bringing our all electric mowers and equipment to colleges and universities all over the country,” said Joe Conrad, president of Mean Green Mowers. “With Mean Green’s electric advantage we are able to provide campuses with zero emissions, zero gas, low maintenance and low noise.” 

Photo: Plowz and Mowz