Aspire’s website, YourAspire.com has a whole new look. The enhanced website design is easy to navigate and provides users easier access to content on Aspire business management software solutions and industry-relevant topics.

Highlights of the new YourAspire.com include:

• An improved interface provides a seamless and easy-to-navigate user experience.
• Crew Control is now a part of the Aspire website, making it easier to learn more about Aspire’s scheduling solution for growing lawn care and landscaping companies with fewer than 10 crews.
• Fresh content educates users on the Aspire Landscape platform and its functionality.
• A new resource center brings together the relevant and useful information you’ve come to expect from Aspire, including blog posts, webinars, videos and guides, into one place. All of Aspire’s content is filterable by business function and job role.

After serving the green industry pro community for six years through its website and mobile app, Echo Means Business, a green industry brand-neutral member community, is once again changing the game by offering a slew of new features and services to help pros build their businesses faster and network with other professionals more easily.

Echo Means Business is rolling out a series of new features, starting with a new top-tier paid membership level that offers members access to exclusive savings on products and services pros use every day for business and personal use. Savings can be found on replacement parts, safety equipment, travel and entertainment, among many others. New products and services available at an exclusively discounted rated will be added each month.

Other new benefits include a Pro Networking series, which will broadcast live interviews and panel discussions a few times per month and be available for replay to Pro Members. Members of the green industry can listen to and directly engage with leading experts, product manufacturers and other pros. Topics vary from operating a lawn care business to marketing and advertising best practices to hiring and managing employees.

On May 4, 2021, the community will be launching the next big benefit for members: Pro Resources, which will include customizable and downloadable marketing materials and operational templates that will help pros grow their businesses without having to hire expensive marketing professionals or agencies.

Popular features that the community has come to rely on will continue, such as mentorship from a volunteer group of leading industry professionals (Echo User Advisory Group), engaging peer-to-peer conversations in the pro forum and weekly challenges and networking in the Echo Means Business mobile app.

Access to the new Pro Member tier, providing access to the Pro Rewards, Pro Networking playback and Pro Resources will be priced at $249.00/year; however, during the first six months, green industry pros can take advantage of a $100 introductory discount.

Vectorworks is expanding its service in the Asia Pacific region by onboarding two influential distributors in the design and production industry: Tathastu Techno Solution and Total Solution Marketing.

Tathastu Techno Solution and Total Solution Marketing will expand and grow the Vectorworks business to better serve customers in the APAC market.

Based in Mumbai, Tathastu Techno Solution joins Datalogics, an existing Vectorworks distributor, in the burgeoning Indian market. Tathastu Techno Solution, which currently distributes 3D, animation VFX and motion graphics software by sister company Maxon, will represent Vectorworks in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

As a distributor for MA Lighting, a platinum partner with Vectorworks, Total Solution Marketing joins existing distributors Softedge and Quick Solutions to represent Vectorworks in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. The experience they bring to the media and entertainment industry will expand access to product support, training and customer success in the region, including offering Vectorworks training conducted by Linesmith founder and longtime Vectorworks user Gabriel Chan.

Makita U.S.A. held a ceremonial groundbreaking to launch construction of a new 600,000-square-foot facility northeast of Atlanta in Hall County, Ga. The new facility will be constructed on 80 acres of land and is part of Makita’s planned future development to address continuing growth in the U.S.

The new facility will serve as a distribution center and will also include a sales and training center, customer service resources, and a Factory Service Center. The location has adjacent space for future expansion up to 800,000 square feet.

The groundbreaking marks another milestone in Makita’s significant investment in the U.S.A. Construction of the Atlanta-area facility follows the August 2020 opening of a new distribution, training and service facility in Reno, Nev., and the 2017 opening of a similar facility in Wilmer, Texas. Makita’s distribution chain also includes operations in Mt. Prospect, Ill., Buford, Ga., and La Mirada, Calif. Additionally, the manufacturing and assembly plant in Buford is one of ten Makita manufacturing facilities worldwide.

On Tuesday, April 13, the Baylor Bears were presented with the Ferris Mowers National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) National Championship Trophy, closing out the Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll for the 2020/2021 NCAA Men’s Basketball season.

Ferris served as the entitlement sponsor of the Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll and the trophy given to the winner of the Coaches Poll. The trophy is an iconic Waterford crystal basketball atop a base that has been awarded for thirty years.

The victorious Bears were welcomed home in Waco, Texas, with a parade through town with fans cheering them on, finally landing at the Baylor campus for a celebration, speeches and trophy presentation ceremony.

During the trophy presentation, longtime voice of the Baylor Bears John Morris spoke to the hard work, productivity and reliability that the Ferris brand exemplifies, and how these brand values are symbolized by the trophy and embodied by the Baylor Bears. Mack Rhoades, vice president and director of intercollegiate athletics at Baylor, then presented the trophy to Coach Drew on behalf of Ferris Mowers and the NABC.

Monster Tree Service launched its Plant Health Care campaign to raise awareness about the importance of proper plant maintenance and to help consumers stay informed on best practices to keep their homes and landscaping healthy.

To support the company’s focus on proper plant maintenance, Monster Tree Service has rolled out Plant Health Care services that provide customers with professional and responsible solutions for optimal plant and tree health, including fertilization, insect and disease management, root collar excavation, trunk injections, soil and tissue testing, invasive species treatments and more.

Plant Health Care offerings allow arborists and plant health care specialists to identify the root of a plant’s issue and create comprehensive plans to nurture them to health by utilizing the brand’s proprietary and highly effective fertilizers or soil amendments. The teams are expertly trained and have extensive experience with a wide range of soils, trees, climates, pests and diseases to ensure they’re equipped to care for plants in various regions across the country.

Northern Tool + Equipment, a retailer of high-quality tools and equipment, acquired Jacks Small Engines, a second-generation, family-owned company that’s a source for online replacement parts for all major brands of engines, tools and power equipment.

The move reinforces Northern Tool’s focus on driving growth while serving hard-working trades professionals and serious DIYers with the very best tools and equipment. Northern Tool’s acquisition builds on the company’s expertise in tools, equipment, engine and maintenance services by offering customers millions of parts for maintenance and repair. In addition, it delivers a new dimension of support to its Parts, Service and Repair offering across its 120 retail stores.

Jacks is an e-commerce provider of small engine parts with more than 3 million parts, 400 vendors and an online parts shopping experience. Jacks has a robust online Parts Look Up platform that allows customers to quickly and easily find what they need, and operates a company-owned warehouse space to fulfill orders through its websites including jackssmallengines.com, snowblowersatjacks.com and mowersatjacks.com.

All Jacks team members will continue to work from the Maryland operations and local retail store. Former owners John Cumberland and Adine Cumberland have joined the Northern Tool team and will remain active in the operation. The acquisition deal was finalized on March 31.

Fecon restructured its dealership program to better align it with how customers want to purchase their equipment and services through North America.

The new multitiered structure includes Associate Level dealers who maintain a minimal level of Fecon attachments and ancillary parts, Partner Level dealers who stock a more extensive level of attachments and their associated service parts, and provide some level of service, or a Signature Level dealership, which stocks Fecon attachments and tractors, as well as their corresponding service parts, have at least one on-site Fecon specialist who has passed extensive factory training and provide comprehensive in-shop or in-field service capabilities.

In addition, the new program includes Partner dealerships which provide tractors on a nonexclusive basis, as well as attachments and parts. They maintain a minimum level of attachments and parts in stock, and typically provide service as well as rental units.

The online Dealer Locator tool drives new customers to Signature and Partner dealer levels, which allows viewers to search for attachments, tractors, rental or any, within 10 to 250 miles from a desired zip code. The results are displayed on a map that shows locations of dealers who meet entered criteria, along with their contact information. A “contact this dealer” button allows users to quickly communicate their needs to Signature dealerships.

SenesTech, a developer of proprietary, next-generation technologies for managing animal pest populations through fertility control, renewed and expanded its distribution agreement with Agri-Turf Distributing for the marketing, sale and distribution of ContraPest in California. Both companies plan to launch joint marketing and sales initiatives.