The Edge June/July/August 2026

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE LEADING BLAND LANDSCAPING?

In my personal philosophy, businesses have a relationship with the communi ties they serve and it can be one-sided or two-sided, depending on how it is built. I believe it has to be two-sided. We need talent, so we owe it to ourselves to get involved with educators and students. We need strong communities to attract and retain good talent to live here, so we should invest back into our communities through volunteerism and support. We want safe roads, and therefore, we should invest in a safe fleet and operations. Not everything we do for our community is a donation. Operating a responsible business that does things responsibly is, in my opinion, the greatest gift that we have to offer any communi ty, and I take this very seriously. WHAT CHANGES WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE IN THE INDUSTRY? I continue to lobby and work for a more predictable and reliable solution to our guest worker visa shortage. What advice would you give to others trying to grow a successful business? Right now, our industry is experienc ing unprecedented change, growth, and development, but it is not without its challenges and pitfalls. Tried and true norms are changing as we experience a different political climate and the influences of a maturing industry that is drawing a lot of outside attention from investors and profit seekers. Those of us who have lived and led through the last few decades tend to see things differently than those who are new to the industry and trying to figure it all out. Scarce labor, expensive fuel and inflated commodity prices are not first-time phenomena, but for some folks these are first-time experiences that can be unnerving. Stay focused on what you are building and be adaptable as conditions change. Spend more time on talent develop ment and less time on systems. Spend more time on execution and less time on strategy. Spend less time talking with peer groups about what you are fixing to go do, and just do it. Avoid the plethora of shiny objects along the way and focus on actions that drive results. Don’t be afraid to have your own thoughts and avoid groupthink; not every business owner needs a coach. Find balance in all of these things and tune out the noise that is being generated by the cacoph ony of consultants, coaches, software companies, manufacturers, and events. TE

year’s results. We were young, and I was hungry, and at times it was very much about me doing what I had to do to make sure we did well to provide for our families. Nowadays, my role is much less about me and my individual achievements or success. The business is no longer a pass-through entity, and we no longer view it as our family’s purse, therefore success is defined differently. This probably sounds counterintuitive to some readers because working with private equity certainly puts plenty of attention on the results, but how I define success is much more about the bigger picture of how we are developing lead ers and talent and what I need to do as a coach to prepare them to take the busi ness to the next level beyond my tenure at some future date. I am in the latter half of my career, and there is a finite amount of time for me to make the impact I want to make on others. I am very proud of what we have built, and even more proud of what we are building. Today, I define my own success in how well I can help others become more successful, whether that is through coaching them as leaders or by helping them achieve their next goal in life through the sale of their company to Bland Landscaping. WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF WHEN YOU LOOK BACK AT YOUR CAREER AND THE COMPANY’S JOURNEY? I am most proud of the fact that while we haven’t been the fastest, we have built something incredibly durable and with a commitment to excellence in ev erything we do. We haven’t cut corners to get here, and we have done our best to lead by example and inspire others. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR LEADERSHIP STYLE? Firm but fair. I believe in humility as a leader and a servant style of leadership, in which we remember as leaders that our job is to meet the needs of the teams we are stewarding. WHAT’S A STRONGLY HELD BELIEF YOU’VE CHANGED YOUR MIND ON OVER THE YEARS? I have learned to be wrong and to be okay with being wrong, whereas at a much earlier stage of my career, I was always right and couldn’t stand being wrong. With that has come the willingness not to try to have the last word on things. You get more power by making others feel powerful.

Staying focused. I have been clinically diagnosed with ADHD, and I am easily distracted. I get bored quickly, and I like lots of stimulation. Harnessing this has allowed me to lead multiple initiatives to grow the company simultaneously in different directions, but that is only possible because of the incredible peo ple whom I rely on, who don’t have the same challenge with distractedness as I do. My brother Matt and my right-hand man Joe Ritchie are both excellent at execution and follow-through. Without them, I don’t think I could have been as successful as we have been as a team. They put up with a lot of crazy ideas and keep me on track. WHERE DO YOU SEE BLAND LANDSCAPING IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS? In five years, Bland Landscaping will be twice its current size, operating in more Southeastern states, still focused on commercial landscape management and aquatics. WHAT PROMPTED YOU TO REQUIRE YOUR UPPER MANAGEMENT AND OFFICE EMPLOYEES TO VOLUNTEER AT LEAST 16 HOURS A YEAR? Twenty years ago, when we lost our mother, Nancy Bland, to cancer, I was searching for ways to engage and give back. I started participating as a board member in not-for-profits and chal lenged my brother to do the same. We both joined boards and realized it wasn’t reasonable to get all of our managers involved in volunteer board work, but we could get them involved in volunteer ism. We started doing events as leaders, sometimes in a formalized fashion, and others less structured. Nowadays, it is something that has become ingrained in our leaders, and we let them take on a local flavor. Each region or branch will identify and initiate their own opportunities to make a positive impact through in-kind work a couple of days each year. We always involve managers and administrators, and sometimes include crew leaders and technicians. It makes for great team building while giving back to the com munities in which we do business. WHY IS GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY SO IMPORTANT TO YOU?

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