The Edge July/August 2025

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The official magazine of the National Association of Landscape Professionals July/August 2025

The

For Lawn Care, Landscape Maintenance, Design-Build, Tree Care, Nursery, and Irrigation Professionals

HOW LANDSCAPE PROS ARE INCREASING THEIR EFFICIENCY Trailblazers:

PLUS: Transforming the Talent Game with Digital Recruiting Strategies The Keys to Maximizing Your CRM Usage Driving True Adoption When Implementing New Technology

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*Offer valid from July 1, 2025 through September 30, 2025. Offer only available on purchases of new mini excavators, micro excavators, skid steer loaders, and compact track loaders sold by participating Cat dealers to customers in the USA or Canada. Purchases (both machine and CVA) and machine delivery must occur by September 30, 2025. Offer subject to machine availability.Offer is subject to credit approval by Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation for US customers, and Caterpillar Financial Services Limited for Canadian customers. Not all customers will qualify. The credit $500 USD for CVA purchase can only be applied toward the purchase of a qualifying Cat Customer Value Agreement (CVA). CVA must be at least 2yr/1000hr and must include 1-year Preventative Maintenance Parts Kit, TA1 annual Inspection, signed CVA contract, and Product LinkTM. Amount of CVA credit is the same for all models and cannot exceed the price of the qualifying CVA. Offer may change without prior notice and cannot be combined with any other offers. Additional terms and conditions may apply. Contact your Cat dealer for more details.

©2025 Caterpillar. All Rights Reserved. CAT, CATERPILLAR, LET’S DO THE WORK, their respective logos, “Caterpillar Corporate Yellow,” the “Power Edge” and Cat “Modern Hex” trade dress, as well as corporate and product identity used herein, are trademarks of Caterpillar and may not be used without permission.

Chair Pam Dooley , Plants Creative Landscapes Vice Chair Roscoe Klausing , LIC, Klausing Group BOARD OF DIRECTORS OFFICERS DIRECTORS-AT-LARGE

Landscape Technician Bootcamp Your complete guide to classroom and hands-on training for your crews. landscapeprofessionals.org/bootcamp

Beth Berry, Advanced Turf Solutions Nick Brummel, LIC Brummel Lawn & Landscape, LLC Jennifer Burnett, LandCare Dan Carrothers, SiteOne Landscape Supply Ivan Giraldo,

Upcoming Events FIELD TRIP ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND | SEPTEMBER 23-24, 2025

Clean Scapes LP Claire Goldman, R&R Landscaping Warren Gorowitz, Hunter Industries John Guth , LIC, Green Lawn Fertilizing, LLC Angela Hieronimus,

Go behind-the-scenes at McHale Landscape Design with an interactive facility tour and education sessions. NALP Field Trip is an event that’ll give you actionable takeaways to implement in your buisness and take it to the next level. landscapeprofessionals.org/ fieldtrip ELEVATE PHOENIX, ARIZONA | NOVEMBER 2-5, 2025 Don’t miss NALP’s annual conference and expo, ELEVATE, at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona. With education touching on all facets of industry business and the best networking and peer-learning in the industry, this is the one event you and your team members really don’t want to miss. Powered by Caterpillar. nalpelevate.org Immerse yourself in a transformative experience at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. Through compelling case studies, dynamic discussions, and insights from world renowned faculty, hone your strategic vision and sharpen leadership skills fit for the industry’s elite. landscapeprofessionals.org/Executive-Leadership-Program LEADERS FORUM SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA | FEBRUARY 4-7, 2026 Network with the industry’s most inspiring CEOs and senior executives at Leaders Forum, our annual executive-level conference. It’s a mix of leadership education, and a deep dive into industry challenges and legislative and regulatory issues, with plenty of time to build and strengthen relationships. Powered by Aspire. landscapeprofessionals.org/leadersforum NALP EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP PROGRAM CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA | JANUARY 12-15, 2026

Blades of Green Jennifer Jorge ,

King Green Chris Lee ,

Earthworks, Inc. Doug McDuff, Landscape America Will Pereira

Tim Portland , LIC, Yellowstone Landscape J.T. Price , Landscape Workshop Teddy Russell, Russell Landsape Group Brandon Sheppard, Weedman Chris Senske , Senske Services

National Association of Landscape Professionals landscapeprofessionals.org NALP is the national trade association representing the landscape and lawn care industry that continuously strives for the highest level of professionalism through education, best practices

and certification. Jill Odom, Editor Lisa Stryker, Managing Editor Shane Boyle, Advertising Rob Ghosh, Design 12500 Fair Lakes Circle, Suite 200 Fairfax, VA 22033 800-395-2522 | 703-736-9666 Fax 703-736-9668 © 2025 The Edge is published bimonthly by the National Association of Landscape Professionals expressly as a member service.

National Association of Landscape Professionals 3

The

DEPARTMENTS 6 From the CEO: Technology and Leadership for You The Agronomist: Lessons Learned by Listening to Clients 10 Faces of the Industry: Yenni Rivas 40 From the Hill: Attempts to Restrict “Non-Functional”Turf During the 2025 State Legislative Cycle BUSINESS SMARTS 14 Building Your Team: Transforming the Talent Game with Digital Recruiting Strategies 18 Building Your Team: AI Recruiting Tools to Explore 20 Innovator Series: Gassib Landscape Design Goes “Full Throttle” Into MX FUEL™ Battery Powered Equipment 30 Boosting Your Business: The Keys to Maximizing Your CRM Usage 8

Protecting Your Business: Technology Tools to Increase Safety

AI Trailblazers: How Landscape Pros Are Increasing Their Efficiency

The

THE NALP EXPERIENCE 36 Meet Jason Walker, 2025’s

Outstanding Educator of the Year 38 Francisco Garcia Named Kevin Kehoe Student Leader of the Year 41 New Members 42 ELEVATE Goes West: Unlock Your Potential with the Industry’s Best

Larry Ryan 33

Technology 26

Talking with Titans:

Peer Perspectives: Driving True Adoption When Implementing New

Advertiser Index Bartlett Tree Experts........................................................................25 Caterpillar..........................................................Inside Front Cover Colorblends.........................................................................................17 Exmark...............................................................................Back Cover First Editions...........................................................................................5 Greenworks Commercial.............................................................11

Milwaukee Tool.........................................................................20-21 NALP Bootcamp..................................................................................3 NALP ELEVATE 2025....................................Insider Back Cover NALP Business Management Series.....................................35 NALP Field Trip...................................................................................39 NALP Leaders Forum.....................................................................37

NALP Learning Hub........................................................................29 NALP & Rancho Mesa Insurance Services.........................13 Proven Winners ColorChoice.......................................................9 STIHL...........................................................................................................7 Torque Products Limited.............................................................19

4 The Edge // July/August 2025

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LETTER FROM THE CEO

Technology and Leadership for You AS YOU WILL SEE IN THE PAGES THAT FOLLOW, THIS ISSUE HAS a heavy focus on technology. As we advance and grow as an industry, technology will become more and more essential. As a member of this industry, you owe it to yourself to keep up on technology whether it be robotics, AI, routing systems, new design tech and even cybersecurity. You need to be informed. However, as many of you may be thinking, how do you keep up with it all? The answer is: you don’t keep up with it all, but you need to enable your team to help so, as an organization, you can keep up.

given us a path to earning an “A” in the future. Now I know many of you are wanting to get more detail on what I am talking about here, and all I ask is that you give us some time. We need time to develop the strategies, the tactics and the KPIs we need to make sure we are serving our membership in the best way possible. So, stay tuned; I will be updating you in the col umn for the next several months. SHAMELESS PLUGS I have two shameless plugs for two NALP programs that I need to get on your radar in 70 words or less: Our Executive Leadership program with UVA Darden School of Business recieved a five-star rating and Net Promoter Score of 100 in its first year! 26 partici pants came; 26 participants loved the program. Did I tell you that Darden is the No. 1 university for executive education? Check it out on our website. NALP’s Business Manager Training and Landscape Techni cian Training are free for NALP contractor members. Please take advantage of this great value!

attempted. It will be a process that we will work on over the six months and will lead NALP to be more in sync with what you, our members, want from NALP. The first step in this process was conducting a survey of our membership about what you think NALP is doing well, as well as how important some of the things NALP does are to you. Needless to say, we learned a lot. So, thank you to all of you who completed the survey! The good news for NALP was that the items you all thought were important for NALP to be doing, we are doing many of them well. However, there were several items you deemed highly valuable that NALP is not doing as well as we should be. In addition to those insights, we learned a few things we focus our time and energy on were not important to you. So, on the whole, the survey seemed to indicate that NALP is getting a firm “B,” maybe even a “B+” if we’re being generous. With that said, we feel like you have

It’s funny, as I was recent ly reviewing the agenda for

ELEVATE, I noticed that we had a wide assortment of sessions on technology while also having a wide assortment of sessions on leadership and empowering your team. These two go very much hand-in-hand. And that is why they are positioned with each other at ELEVATE. Because being a successful user of technology can only be accomplished if you are part of a successful team. Successful teams can be creat ed at any level of an organization; they just have to have the right leaders. And those leaders need to have an eye on technology and empower their teams to embrace it and learn more about it. And there is no better place in the in dustry to do both than at ELEVATE in Phoenix this November. STRATEGY FOR NALP Earlier this year, the first week of April to be specific, NALP embarked on the first stage of a new strategic planning effort, the likes of which NALP has never

Britt Wood

6 The Edge // July/August 2025

THE AGRONOMIST

The Agronomist: A Walk Down Memory Lane: Lessons Learned By Listening to Clients

IF YOU’VE BEEN IN THIS BUSINESS LONG ENOUGH, YOU accumulate a lot of stories, some funny, some not, while others leave an indelible impression on you. Here are a couple of mine from the same neighborhood in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

could understand, something that I will be eternally grateful for him doing. Now, what I am about to tell you happened before we had pre ventive grub control products, so you had to carefully inspect each lawn in August and September to make sure you didn’t have an infestation. One particular year, I completely blew it. I showed up for the October treatment, and the lawn was completely dead. I had completely let down this kind man who helped me so much when I needed him. Crestfallen, I knocked on the door to admit my sin and take my medicine. I was expecting the usual yelling and screaming that I got from other customers when things went wrong, but I should have known better with the good doctor. Once again, we sat down on his garden bench at the edge of his very dead lawn. What he told me then was more valuable than what I learned from all of my horticulture professors. He explained that what we are dealing with here is living tissue. He cautioned me never to lose sight of the fact that as much as we think we are in control of what happens to this living tissue, we are most assuredly not. We should always do our best, of course, but eventually, this living tissue will die, as it must. Not that I didn’t know all of this before, but he put it to me as he must have explained it to his medical students who deal with death on a daily basis and need to orient themselves with what must be done in a clear-headed way. Being a tiny lawn, it didn’t take long to scarify the old dead tissue away and reseed it for him. It was the very least I could do; he did so much more for me than I ever did for him. TE

screen, I immediately recognized her – she was Bruce Mann’s wife – Elizabeth Warren. Contrary to her firebrand persona on TV, she’s very nice in person and invited me to a meet & greet at the Capitol when I was there for Renewal & Remem brance. The second customer, well… He wasn’t a customer since I wasn’t able to close the sale, was Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. He graduated from Harvard Law School and taught there as well as at the Kennedy School of Government. As opposed to Sena tor Warren, Justice Breyer was very much the same in person as he was in public – very soft-spoken and right to the point. I spent a couple of hours talking lawn care with him on his patio, where he was reading briefs of the cases the court was hearing. I would have loved to get to know him better. The best I’ve saved for last, although you’ve doubtless never heard of Dr. Gregory Rochlin. If you close your eyes and imagine a kindly old college professor, round and bespectacled, that was Dr. Rochlin. He taught child psychia try at Harvard Medical School and had what must have been the world’s tiniest lawn, a true postage stamp. My interactions with him were much like that of Bruce Mann in that it took me two minutes to do the lawn, but I would be there talking for an hour or more. When my oldest daughter was diagnosed with a serious illness as an infant, I asked Dr. Rochlin about it. He sat me down on his garden bench and explained everything to me in a way a non-doctor

If you are aware of the kind of lawn care work that I did when I owned my own company, you’re probably thinking that Cambridge is a strange place to find me. I specialized in really big properties like sports fields, golf courses, parks, cemeteries, and stuff like that. Lawns in Cambridge are about the size of a roll of sod, so what gives? The first customer I’ll mention is a gentleman by the name of Bruce Mann (no relation to me, as far as I know). As was my routine, I would always ring the doorbell when I arrived at his house, and we would launch into long con versations about anything and ev erything. I’ll bet that none of those conversations were less than half an hour in length. Bruce explained that he was a professor at Harvard, which was just at the end of his street, and that he spent most of his time researching the Middle Ages. Apparently, I was a welcome respite in contrast to hanging out a thousand years ago. Once we finished talking, I would treat his lawn, which never took me more than five minutes as it was as tiny as can be. Occasionally, his wife would come out, say hello, and drag him off somewhere. Where am I going with this? Well, Senator Ted Kennedy had just died, and it was time to elect a new senator to represent Massa chusetts. Some of the obligatory candidates floated to the surface, but all of a sudden, and complete ly out of nowhere, the Democrat Party nominated a law school professor from Harvard University. When this new candidate’s face was flashed across the television

By Bob Mann Senior Director of Regulatory and Technical Affairs

8 The Edge // July/August 2025

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MEMBER SPOTLIGHT Faces of the Industry: Yenni Rivas

By Jill Odom

YENNI RIVAS WAS WORKING AS A JANITOR FOR A TECH COMPANY WHEN she first saw a woman taking care of the plants in the building. Curious, she asked if there were open positions for a similar role. The plant technician told her yes, and so Rivas applied. She landed the job with Ambius, a company that specializes in interior landscaping and living green walls, headquartered in Reading, Pennsylvania.

ent, and the larger they are, the more challenging they are to care for. One of the sites Rivas is responsible for is the four-story living wall at 888 Brannan in San Francisco’s SOMA district. This living wall spans 40 feet and features thousands of plants in bold color blocks. Rivas’s work caring for this installation earned her the Incredible Technician Award during the 2025 Inter national Plantscape Awards. She says she almost cried when she was presented with the award. “It was a beautiful experience to be part of the recognition for that wall,” Rivas says. Rivas says she loves bringing green ery inside. She says that she wishes the public realized the amount of hard work it takes to care for their indoor plants, as many aren’t even aware the plants they see in airports, hotels, and other buildings are real. “My favorite thing working in the industry is going outside, going to dif ferent places working, and working with my colleagues at Ambius,” Rivas says. Rivas says if she could give advice to her younger self, she’d encourage her to study more, learn more, be patient and follow her passion instead of just going to work. She plans to continue learning more, eventually moving up into another posi tion and continuing to work with plants as she supports her colleagues. TE

“My other mentor is my manager,” Ri vas says. “She gives me a lot of opportu nities to learn and take a lot of tests and supports me.” Rivas notes that at Ambius, the major ity of the technicians are women, as well as her manager. She appreciates how women offer different ideas and have various work styles. “I think it’s wonderful to see ladies working outside and inside with plants,” Rivas says. Rivas works at Ambius’s San Francisco branch as a senior plant care specialist. In her role, Rivas has a printed route of where they need to service that day. She says sometimes it’s just two or three accounts, and other days it could be 15 sites. When she visits the accounts, each could have anywhere from 300 to 400 plants that she waters, cleans and ensures are doing well. She says she also talks to the clients on site to check that they’re happy. “The key to success is learning what type of living wall it is,” Rivas says. “Learn the irrigation system and find out if it’s the correct plants for the wall and the lighting.” She says every living wall is differ

Rivas has now been working for Ambi us for six years. “My favorite thing about working for Ambius is the relationships,” Rivas says. “We work as a family. It’s my first job getting to work with a lot of people and being happy when working on the team. Another thing I like is my passion for working with the plants. I love work ing with the plants.” Initially, it was a challenge for Rivas, as she had no prior experience with plants. One of her mentors was the warehouse manager, who taught her all about the plants and how to address their various lighting needs. Little by little, she says she got it.

“We work as a family. It’s my first job getting to work with a lot of people and being happy when working on the team. Another thing I like is my passion for working with the plants. I love working with the plants.”

10 The Edge // July/August 2025

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PROTECTING YOUR BUSINESS

Technology Tools to Increase Safety By Jill Odom

TECHNOLOGY IS FREQUENTLY IMPLEMENTED TO BOOST SPEED AND efficiency, but it can also impact your team’s overall safety. Some of these tools are becoming more commonplace, while others are more recent introductions. As you consider ways to strengthen your safety measures, don’t forget to look at different ways technology can be integrated as well.

Not only can these types of mowers prevent slope-related accidents, but they can also reduce the manhours required for specific tasks. Klausing Group, based in Lexington, Kentucky, implemented remote-con trolled mowers after demoing several different brands. Since adding these ma chines, their customer base has appreciat ed their commitment to safety. “We took several years to make the decision; we knew that it was the piece of equipment we needed,”says Luke Tedder with Klausing Group. “We just wanted to make sure we were investing in the right one, and that took some time, but I would say absolutely demo these pieces of equipment.” BODY CAMS Similar to dash cams, adding body cams to your crews provides another level of protection. Instead of dealing with customer complaints that a technician didn’t treat a site, you can provide proof of service with recordings. Additionally, if clients aren’t convinced your services have made an improvement in their yards, these recordings can serve as before and after footage. GrassRoots Tree and Turf Care Inc., based in Acworth, Georgia, implemented body cameras in 2020. On the first day the cameras went out, one of their technicians came back that afternoon and a customer claimed he hadn’t treated the backyard.

AI DASH CAMS Dash cams have been around for years, but some of the newer integrations include machine vision and artificial intelligence to help identify risks, prevent collisions and protect your drivers. For example, Lytx Surfsight dash cams use AI to

alent in everyone’s daily lives,” says Paul Milano with Davey Tree. “At the end of the day, we know we will make an impact even if we help prevent just one driving incident.” Other apps that help mitigate distract ed driving include OnMyWay and Dont. OnMyWay automatically disables text and app alerts when driving faster than 10 mph and allows hands-free phone calls. Instead of blocking phone access, Dont monitors phone usage and sends alerts for rule violations. Dont features an admin dashboard where reports for each driver can be accessed. REMOTE-CONTROLLED MOWERS A lot of focus lately has been on autonomous mowers, but remote controlled mowers can be particularly useful for increasing safety. If your landscape company maintains sites that have extreme slopes or bodies of water nearby, remote-controlled mowers can protect your crew from the alternatives. Rather than risking a rollover with a ride-on mower or snake bites when string trimming overgrown areas near ponds, remote-controlled mowers eliminate these threats.

identify distracted driving behaviors proactively and then send real-time multilingual audio and visual alerts to help drivers self-correct. Lawn But ler, based in Knox ville, Tennessee,

implemented these AI-powered cameras in their fleet to help change driver habits. Seth Kehne, president of Lawn Butler, says it has even effectively altered his own driving behaviors. “One of the best things about it is that it knows when you’re distracted driving,” Kehne says. “So if you have your phone in your hand, or you’re just kind of not paying attention, or you’re eating, it’ll beep at you, which is a really annoying beep, but the camera beeps at you. Then, if you keep do ing it, we’ll send a video to your supervisor.” DRIVER SAFETY APPS Another way to address distracted driving is through apps like TRUCE. This app uses zoning intelligence to know when a user is in a hazardous environment and automatically blocks distracting apps and features. The Davey Tree Expert Company, based in Kent, Ohio, started using TRUCE in 2021. It limits cell phone capabilities and notifi cations when it detects a beacon installed in Davey vehicles. “Distracted driving has become prev

Photo: Lawn Butler

Photo: Klausing Group

12 The Edge // July/August 2025

Photo: GrassRoots Tree and Turf Care, Inc.

twists an ankle over the weekend but tries to pass it off as a work accident on a Monday. SMART SAFETY VESTS Another form of wearable technology is smart safety vests. These vests are often equipped with sensors that can be clipped on or embedded in the fabric. Smart safety vests can measure a worker’s physiological conditions, such as body temperature, pulse rate and blood pressure. These indicators can alert the wearer of potential health risks like heat stress or high blood pressure. Smart safety vests can also be connect ed to GPS and send warnings if a worker enters a danger zone, such as the drop zone when tree work is being conducted. If a worker continues to work in an unsafe manner, this information can be sent to the supervisor so they can respond in real time and provide additional safety training. ELOKON’s smart safety vest uses a proximity detection system to prevent vehicle-pedestrian collisions like when a worker and a forklift driver get too close. The vest has multiple warning methods with LED lights, acoustic alarms and vibrations.

SOUND LEVEL METER APP Hearing loss is the most common occupational disease in the United

Photo: Davey Tree Expert Company

States, and noise levels on a jobsite can often pose a threat to team members’ hearing. It’s important to reduce your employees’exposure to noise above 85 dB. Exposure to noise over this level can damage hearing over time. As the decibels increase, the safe listening time decreases. Instead of guessing or assuming that a piece of equipment isn’t too loud, take advantage of the NIOSH Sound Level Meter app to measure workplace noise and determine if workers are exposed to hazardous noise levels. This free app combines the best features of professional sound level meters and noise dosimeters into one simple tool. TE

Being able to provide footage for these situations increased employee buy-in moving forward. “If I did it over again, I just would have done it sooner,”says Josh Wise, CEO of GrassRoots. Wise says they also haven’t had any work claims since implementing the body cameras. For instance, when someone

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BUILDING YOUR TEAM

IF YOU AREN’T UTILIZING DIGITAL RECRUITING METHODS IN YOUR business, you might as well be trying to play basketball with one hand tied behind your back. In today’s competitive job market, you need to tap into every advantage available. Transforming the Talent Game with Digital Recruiting Strategies By Jill Odom

then maintain constant communication with the applicant through text and email throughout the entire recruitment process.” LEVERAGE YOUR BRANDING Your company’s branding is foundational to whether your digital recruiting efforts will be successful. Voories notes that the best candidates want to be associated with the best brands. “If you’re not really investing in it however you can, I think you’re missing an opportunity,” Caceres says. “It’s ultimately attracting better talent before you’re even posting. You’re shortening your hiring timelines instead of someone trying to figure out who you are and investigating too deeply because they see who you are all over the place. It differentiates your company from being this generic great culture to an actual great culture.” Dan Klemencic, marketing manager for David J. Frank Landscape Contracting, Inc., based in Germantown, Wisconsin, says they highlight their company’s culture by hiring a firm to produce short, high-qual ity, uplifting recruitment videos. These videos target their audience, comprising landscapers, blue-collar workers, outdoor enthusiasts, and general job seekers, through social media advertising. “Hearing them say unscripted, ‘You don’t feel like it’s a job,’ or ‘The company really takes care of you,’ is pretty powerful,” Klemencic says. Klemencic says people love their videos and often say it’s one of the main reasons they applied. “Hearing directly from employees builds trust and gives potential hires a realistic

Michigan, says they leverage everything from posting jobs on mainstream job boards like Indeed, ZipRecruiter, and Linke dIn, to their niche landscaping job board they created, GreenIndustryCareers.com. They also advertise jobs across their social media channels and on the careers page of their website. Shaffer says they also have a dedicated careers page that lists their open positions and they post on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. He says they utilize Team Engine to connect to hiring sites like ZipRecruiter and Indeed. “The most effective companies think about resumes like sales leads — they use multiple channels to source applicants, move fast, and follow up,”says Carlos del Pozo, CEO of TeamEngine, based in Boulder, Colorado. “That means posting jobs broadly across platforms like Indeed, Facebook, and their own website, then responding to applicants within hours — not days.” Tito Caceres, managing director of Bloom Talent Solutions, based in Miami, Florida, agrees you should treat your recruiting like marketing by having calls to action, consistent messaging and utilizing automations for timely follow-ups. Shaffer says applicants have comment ed on how impressive their response and follow-up are after applying. “We have automated responses that generate immediately once an applicant has submitted a resume,”Shaffer says. “We

“The days of paper applications and reliance of prospective employees walking through the door are numbered,”says Terry Shaffer, co-founder and CEO of Summit Lawn and Landscape, based in Grandview, Missouri. “Tech platforms are the future. As we move forward, we have to utilize new technology and trends within the industry without delay to be a thrive in today’s culture. Our applicants have technology at their fingertips; we need to be on the other side, ready to respond.” ADOPT A MULTICHANNEL APPROACH Just like you shouldn’t solely count on yard signs to drive new customers to pick up the phone, you need to engage your potential candidates in multiple online spaces. Mike Voories, founder and CEO of Business Resources One, based in Brighton,

Photo: Team Engine

14 The Edge // July/August 2025

picture of what it’s like to work there,” del Pozo says. “Short videos — especially ones filmed on the jobsite or in the shop — perform well on social media and career pages. Testimonials that highlight career growth, supportive leadership, or a strong team culture go a long way in convincing people to apply.” Shaffer says they outline all the benefits of working at Summit Lawn and Land scape on their website, including their perks and benefits, training and certifica tion, as well as advancement opportunities. “Your brand isn’t just your logo or web site; it’s how you’re perceived by the peo ple who’ve worked for you, applied to work for you, or know someone who has,”del Pozo says. “That perception is shaped by how you treat applicants and employees: responding quickly to new applications, not leaving candidates in limbo, offering real opportunities for growth, and listening to team feedback.” People talk, and when you consistently provide a good experience for candidates and employees, then you can build a strong employer brand. “Your online presence can help reinforce that, but it’s secondary to the reputation you earn on the ground,”del Pozo says. Caceres stresses you need to start building your employer brand now rather than only working on it when you need to hire someone. CRAFT SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS THAT RESONATE When posting recruiting-related ads, you want to make sure they truly resonate with your audience so it’s not a wasted effort. Caceres says that authenticity is king when it comes to relatable social posts. “You don’t have to go out there and be something that you’re not,”Caceres says. “You don’t have to look at your competitors and think you need to be them either. I think that’s a huge mistake. Ultimately, people want to see what’s real. People want to see what’s raw. People want to see your world.” Caceres encourages using real photos of your team in action instead of relying on stock photography. “Really take pride in your own company, your own identity, your own company culture, because people appreciate that as well,”Caceres says. “Just take a moment to snap a picture of your team working and just show that. That goes a much longer way than using stock photos, and it’s so much easier to take to take footage of your own team.”

Photos: (Left) David J. Frank Landscape Contracting, Inc. (Below) Team Engine

Videos are another powerful type of social post to tap into. “Short videos are great because it’s the type of content a lot of job seekers are used to absorbing nowadays,”Voories says. “Real employee testimonials are invaluable; social validation is huge!” Caceres says you don’t need to worry about having high-production quality vid eos. What matters is showing candidates why people joined your company and why they stay. “More people should get involved,” Caceres says. “Include your field staff; have them show some pride by recording some content of them doing their work. I promise you, if you just simply ask them, ‘Hey, can you maybe film a video of the week?’and now you’re building up a full library of videos.” Sharing posts that cover a day-in-a-life or employee stories can help candidates picture themselves working for your orga nization. Caceres says these can be more impactful than reading a job description posting. “Also, a job post doesn’t need to be a carbon copy of the job description,”Voories says. “Candidates want to see two things: tell them about the company and what’s in it for them.” Social media posts that convey profes sionalism are also important. “Candidates are looking for visual cues that tell them what kind of company you are,” del Pozo says. “Clean and well-maintained vehicles and equipment, uniforms, and real photos of your team working together all signal a strong, organized operation. Posts

that show off a team atmosphere, pride in completed work, or the quality of your job sites tend to perform really well.” ENGAGE PASSIVE CANDIDATES Voories says the most effective digital recruiting strategy for them has been targeting passive candidates. These are individuals who aren’t actively looking for a job. “We try to stay in front of green industry professionals by sharing helpful content, sending emails and text messages, and sharing actual reviews from others who’ve had an excellent candidate experience,” Voories says. “Our recruiters use several dig ital tools to research and contact passive candidates about active searches we’re conducting. In addition to our own internal database, we pay for access to third-party databases and sourcing tools.”

National Association of Landscape Professionals 15

BUILDING YOUR TEAM

Weekly Job Postings with Carousel:

Example optimized job description - (Long Form forma t) Commercial Landscape Sales Representative ● Location: 123 Lotus Ave, San Jose, CA 95112 ● Territory: San Francisco Peninsula (30-Mile Radius) ● Employment Type: Full-Time | Exempt ● Base Pay: $75,000 – $90,000/year ● Expected Total Compensation: $105,000 – $130,000+ (Base + Commission) ● Company Vehicle Provided ● Contact: Hiring Manager – recruiter@landscapingcompany.com

Make a Career Out of Making a Difference You’re not just looking for another sales job.

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At Landscape Company , we believe great landscapes start with great relationships. For over 65 years, we’ve helped commercial clients create and maintain beautiful, sustainable outdoor spaces across Northern California. This role isn’t just about hitting numbers—it’s about helping people take pride in their properties , representing a brand with integrity , and building something that lasts. If you’re a driven professional who thrives on human connection, takes pride in follow-through, and wants to sell something that actually makes communities better—we want to meet you. About Landscape Company Founded in 1975, Landscape Company is a full-service landscape company serving clients across California. With over 25 branches, more than 2,500 commercial properties under management, and a team of professionals who care deeply about quality and relationships, we’ve become one of the most trusted names in landscape services. Our culture is built on respect, ownership, integrity, and growth , and our mission is simple: create and care for the landscapes people live, work, and play in. Learn more about who we are at: ____________

longer and more comprehensive later in the process, go for it. The recruiting version of the job description is an advertisement; treat it like an advertisement. Candidates want to know about the company, the job, and what’s in it for them — in short form that can be quickly skimmed.” Del Pozo agrees that you should avoid corporate jargon and instead write the description. “A good rule of thumb is to write it like you’re explaining the company, culture and type of work to a friend who’s thinking about applying,”del Pozo says. Caceres says you should start with a strong why. Rather than just listing the job duties, cover the job’s purpose. “You have to have a why,”Caceres says. “The more purpose, the more I want to join.” Caceres also cautions against using AI too much in developing your job postings. He says it’s important to maintain the integrity of your tone of who you are as a culture and reflect that through the job de scription by highlighting key selling points. “Be very clear with benefits,” Caceres says. “People, believe it or not, actually read into that stuff because sometimes that could be the difference maker between me staying here or me even looking out elsewhere.” Keep your descriptions short, clear and mobile-friendly. Del Pozo recommends

Why Join Us? Above is an example of an optimized job description from Bloom Talent Solutions.

multiple touches from multiple methods of communication to get a response. LinkedIn, email, text messaging, and even the phone works well. Use them all!” Caceres says if you want to stand out to passive candidates, you need to develop personalized outreach campaigns. “Share stories and culture content that create FOMO (fear of missing out),”Caceres says. “Some of the industry guys and gals start podcasts. All of those things are great ways to show the marketplace and the passive talent, ‘Holy crap, they’re doing something different. Let me go check them out.’” OPTIMIZE JOB DESCRIPTIONS How you go about writing your job descriptions can greatly impact a candidate’s willingness to apply. “Avoid long and corporately rigid sound ing job descriptions for recruiting,”Voories says. “If you want to introduce something

Del Pozo notes that social media can be a powerful way to reach passive candidates if you are expanding your reach through targeted ads. “You can also tap into local community groups where potential candidates are already active, like Facebook, LinkedIn, Nex tDoor, and more,”del Pozo says. Caceres says it’s all about getting in front of people. “If I’m a candidate who is gainfully em ployed, and I’m not looking, and I might be on TikTok one day, and I had a really crappy day today, and I see this really cool reel, I might say, ‘Hey, you know what? What’s going on over there?’” Voories adds you need to have a strong employer brand in place, as passive candi dates are likely to conduct some research before deciding to respond. What will they see, hear and read about your organization? “Recruiting passive candidates is like a sales job,”Voories says. “It often takes

16 The Edge // July/August 2025

available and avoid sticking with the com fort of doing what they’ve always done. “Give digital a try,” Klemencic says. “You have less to lose. Digital recruiting is more targeted, measurable, and provides a bet ter return on investment than traditional means.” TE

confidence, and invest in leadership and skills training,” del Pozo says. “That kind of stability only happens when recruiting is proactive and consistent.” Caceres says the top-performing companies in the industry work to build year-round talent pipelines instead of hiring reactively. “Just like sales and marketing, your recruiting efforts need to run all the time — not just when you’re desperate to hire,” del Pozo says. “The companies that build a systematic approach to hiring are the ones that stay ahead.” Also, don’t forget to measure the success of your digital recruiting efforts. “The good thing about digital ads is that everything is measurable: how many peo ple they reached, how many clicked on it, how many followed the link to our website, and how many applied,”Klemencic says. Voories says you need to focus on what’s working, decrease what isn’t, and continue to explore new ways to identify, attract, hire, and retain the right talent for your organization. He encourages companies to embrace the ever-evolving technology

leading with the most compelling infor mation like competitive pay, year-round work or a sign-on bonus. Use bullet points to cover the main responsibilities and qualifications. “Err on the side of more information because job posts that leave applicants guessing about pay, benefits, or expecta tions don’t perform as well,”del Pozo says. “Plus, job boards reward more complete listings with better visibility, and candidates are more likely to apply when they know what they’re getting into.” Also, consider including keywords that job seekers frequently use in their search. For instance, if the job title is something unique to your organization but features the responsibilities of an account manager, work to include that phrase in the job description.

 KEY TAKEAWAYS ■ Treat job applicants like sales leads. Use multichannel outreach,

applicants, attracts top talent before you even post a job. ■ Job descriptions need to be short, skimmable, and purpose-driven. Start with the “why,” include benefits and pay, and treat them like marketing ads.

personalization, and fast follow-ups to stay competitive. ■ A strong employer brand, built through testimoni als, culture videos, and consistent treatment of

ADVICE FOR OTHERS Del Pozo recommends looking at recruiting as a system, not a task.

“The goal isn’t just to fill a position when someone quits — it’s to stay fully staffed so you can deliver work reliably, sell with

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National Association of Landscape Professionals 17

BUILDING YOUR TEAM

AI Recruiting Tools to Explore

INTERVIEW INTELLIGENCE & COACHING Caceres highly recommends taking advantage of AI interview recorders so it is easier to objectively review the interac tions. “I wish I could see more companies starting to use note-takers for their inter views as well,” Caceres says. “It’s a no brainer.” Fireflies.ai and Quill Meetings are two options that can provide call transcriptions with insights. “It transcribes your call, and then it gives you a summary of your call with all those questions answered,”Caceres says. “Basi cally, the AI tracks all the things that you ask specific to those questions. It spells it all out for you, and then it gives you a final summary of that candidate.” HireLogic can also provide insights that go beyond just transcripts by capturing behavioral interview summaries and hiring signals. Metaview generates interview score cards and debriefs. It can help you uncover patterns in your interviews such as how many of your candidates are in competitive interview processes with other companies. BrightHire serves as an AI copilot that measures the quality of your interviews and hiring process, helping with interview consistency. Its insights can help you un derstand what your candidates care about and where you can improve. TE

By Jill Odom

WHILE MOST PEOPLE ONLY THINK OF CHATGPT WHEN THEY THINK OF AI platforms, there are numerous AI tools that can be employed to help with your recruiting efforts. Tito Caceres, managing director of Bloom Talent Solutions, based in Miami, Florida, shares some of the various apps available.

AI AGENTS FOR SOURCING Moonhub, Tech1M, HireEZ , and SeekOut are all AI platforms that can handle some of the more tedious processes involved with recruiting. “These are AI agents that are trained to help with certain automation tasks so you don’t have to do them,”Caceres says. Essentially, these tools serve as assistants that can help you hire talent three to five times faster than normal. He says Eight fold.ai and Gem are other good talent intelligence tools. MESSAGING AND VIDEO BRANDING If you want your job posts to stand out or refine your company’s tone with leads, Claude can help recruiters. You can also boost your career pages by integrating tools like Tidio and Intercom . Tidio serves as a smart chatbot for FAQs. Caceres says Intercom is a robust engage ment tool when candidates are exploring your careers page. You can also take your messaging one step further by using platforms like Pictory and Synthesia to transform your job posts into branded videos. These tools can generate videos from the text provided,

complete with realistic AI voices and matching visuals.

RESUME RANKING & SKILL SCREENING When you’re inundated with resumes, resume rankers through ATS systems can help provide you with a shortlist of promis ing candidates to start with. TestGorilla and HiPeople are capable of testing employee skills before hiring. TestGorilla can screen for problem-solving abilities, personality traits, or role-specific expertise such as handling accounts payable. HiPeople can help gauge soft skills and it also automates reference checks. HiPeo ple’s assessments provide real-time results on candidates’ traits like attention to detail, adaptability, and collaboration.

INTERVIEW SCHEDULING AND REMINDERS

Calendly offers workflows where it will automatically remind an interviewee lead ing up to meeting as well as send a thank you message after the interview.

18 The Edge // July/August 2025

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Gassib Landscape Design Goes “Full Throttle” Into MX FUEL ™ Battery-Powered Equipment To Save Time and Costs on the Job Site

W hen Ben Gassib entered the construction business more than two decades ago, his motivation was one that a young person of any era could easily relate to. “I was a big skier,”he laughs, “and back then, you could take winters off.” Twenty-some years later, Gassib has long abandoned thoughts of open-ended winter skiing vacations. Not that he has any regrets. “Today, I’m full throttle in my business,” he says. That business is Gassib Landscape Design, based in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, a self-described professional con struction company specializing in creating patios, outdoor kitchens, pavers, plantings, and other hardscape design projects for home and small-business owners in New Jersey’s northern Bergen County. Founded in 2008 by Gassib, who worked solo, the company now has four “core” employees. During the busy summer sea son, an equal number of workers usually reinforce these regulars. “My business has always grown, and it’s completely referral,” Gassib says, adding that he does no advertising except the occasional Facebook or Instagram post. Gassib prefers this sort of internal,