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,

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“organic”growth that focuses on clients with whom he has forged strong relation ships rather than chasing new ones with only the occasional and usually smaller projects. “I’d rather work with people who know who we are and the quality we can produce.” PIVOTING TO BATTERY POWER The hardscape industry, like many others, is undergoing a significant shift as part of a rapidly growing movement from gas-pow ered to battery-powered equipment. Driven by multiple factors, professionals are quickly recognizing the advantages of this transition, from the ease of use on job sites to the reduced maintenance required back at the shop. In 2020, the storage shed that Gassib maintains in nearby Little Ferry, New Jersey, was broken into overnight, and all his smaller power tools were taken. It was a nasty surprise, but Gassib quickly saw this unfortunate moment as an opportunity to pivot his business to battery power. “I was like — Okay, I’m cutting the cord,” he recalls. “I’m finally getting rid of all this corded and gas-powered stuff and going full throttle into battery-powered Milwau kee Tool to replenish what we lost.” Not that Gassib was a newcomer to the brand, having long been an avid user of Milwaukee’s M18™ cordless drills, grinders, and chop saws, among other items. “A Milwaukee tool is just a better tool overall,”he explains. “Once Milwaukee began introducing all these more powerful batteries, including MX FUEL™ batteries to run larger equipment and the super-fast charging ports, I had to switch. It just became so much easier to work with this new, battery-powered equipment.” Besides running longer and charging faster than previous generations of cordless equipment, the new battery technologies benefit from two critical parallel trends. The first is the ongoing and widespread problem of high and frequently spiking gasoline costs.

“It’s crazy how much our company now spends on fuel in a year,”Gassib notes. Just as important, a growing number of states and municipalities are restricting the use of gas-powered outdoor equipment while offering tax breaks and other incen tives to encourage the move to electric alternatives. According to Gassib, speaking from personal experience, some of those locales are in New Jersey. “A firm like mine has to adjust to stay one step ahead of the game,”he continues. “That’s why I’m investing more in the new battery-powered equipment Milwaukee is producing.” GASSIB’S INITIAL MX FUEL™ CHOICES Gassib Landscape Design has invested in a number of Milwaukee Tool’s large, heavy-duty solutions within the MX FUEL™ system, powered by MX FUEL™ REDLITHI UM™ FORGE™ batteries, currently Milwau kee’s most powerful, fastest-charging, and longest-lasting batteries. The first solution was the MX FUEL™ 14” Cut Off Saw w/ RAPIDSTOP™. When pow ered by the new MX FUEL™ REDLITHIUM™ FORGE™ XC8.0 Battery Pack, this saw can cut up to 14 feet fully plunged in concrete, or up to 39 cuts in 8”cinder block. Because it is battery-powered, the saw is safe to use indoors as well as outdoors, eliminating the headaches of engine maintenance and starts up at the push of a button. Its

20 The Edge // July/August 2025