Grass Roots - Green Industry Pros

GIE+EXPO, the international landscape, outdoor living and equipment exposition, will be held as planned this year on Oct. 21-23 at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville. The Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI) is actively working with its trade show partners— the National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP) and the Professional Grounds Management Society (PGMS) - to design a...

For landscapers working mostly in dirt and on established lawns, a compact track loader or skid steer is an option to consider for a variety of tasks due to each machine’s versatility in the field for excavation, loading, trenching and more. A variety of attachments for different tasks including trenchers, boring units, stump grinders, grapple buckets, dozer blades, pallet forks and more are avail...

In existence for about 40 years, WorkWave is a software provider that offers the full life cycle of a field service business from setting up the customers with an agreement, scheduling service, dispatching and even the payment process. Small landscaping or pest control businesses are able to run nearly their entire business on the WorkWave platform. In this episode of the Grass Roots podcast, Gree...

At the 2019 GIE+EXPO Toro introduced its Horizon360 software. According to Toro, the software brings all the data for a landscape company into one place. Horizon360 is currently available via a free beta test. Final pricing is expected to be released at GIE+EXPO 2020. On this episode of the Grass Roots podcast, senior marketing manager Chris Vogtman discusses Horizon360 the anticipated growth pote...

As one of the largest suppliers of wholesale irrigation, outdoor lighting, nursery, landscape supplies, fertilizers and turf care products for green industry professionals, SiteOne Landscape Supply has taken steps to ensure customers can continue to obtain its products during the COVID-19 pandemic. Between ordering online and arranging for either delivery or curbside pick-up, the company is ensuri...

Vermeer Corp. has faced a couple years of adversity. In 2018, their Pella, Iowa facility was struck by a tornado, which impacted production levels for several months. Celebrating a return to full capacity and more in 2019, the company was looking ahead to 2020 as being a banner year, until COVID-19. While deemed an essential business, the company has had to make the appropriate healthy decisions f...

SSC Services for Education (SSC), a leading national K-12 and university facilities and grounds management provider, and Texas A&M University recently received re-accreditation and the highest 4-star accreditation rating for Best Landscape Management and Operations from the Professional Grounds Management Society (PGMS). Only five other college campuses across the country have this level of accred...

Vermeer Corp. recently announced its distribution agreement with MultiOne to supply Vermeer-branded compact articulated loaders to be sold, serviced and supported through Vermeer dealers in North America. Vermeer’s landscape market manager Brett Newendorp goes over some of the details of the new machines and how the agreement will work on this edition of the Grass Roots podcast.  

SingleOps CEO and co-founder Sean McCormick shares his perspective on the COVID-19 pandemic and how it is impacting the green industry based on what he has heard from the SingleOps customer base. He describes what sort of impact the pandemic is having and strategies his customers are using to continue operations. 

On this edition of the Grass Roots Podcast, Wally Stegall, technical fellow and director with The Morey Corporation sits down with guest host Curt Bennink of ForConstructionPros. Com to discuss the trend toward electrification of compact construction equipment and the impacts on future jobsites.

In the latest episode of the Grass Roots podcast, we talk to Johnny McDonnell, senior vice president of operations for WLE Landscape in Austin, Texas, which was recently named to Inc. magazine’s 5000 list of America’s fastest growing companies. McDonnell discusses his company’s change from gas-powered to battery-powered lawn equipment, and how it helped bring in a six-figure contract. The change d...

What are your goals as a landscaping pro? Do you simply want to keep enough work to earn a full-time income? Or do you have loftier ambitions such as becoming an industry leader in your city or state? Maybe you would like to expand into a franchise that eventually has branches across the country.  On this edition of the Grass Roots Podcast, Augusta Lawn Care Services CEO Mike Andes sits down with ...

Green Industry Pros Editor Ryan Whisner gets some insight on the Bobcat’s new small articulated loader on this episode of the Grass Roots podcast. Built to fit into backyard areas and capable of carrying small pallets of block or landscape materials, it is designed for landscaping, tree removal and other light duty applications. Product Manager Marty Miller shares some of the highlights of the new...

Green Industry Pros Editor Ryan Whisner takes a look at the Vermeer’s newest and largest mini skid steer, the CTX160. With heavy lifting capabilities and compact footprint, the CTX160 is well-suited for a landscape contractor. Brett Newendorp, landscape market manager at Vermeer was interviewed to give an overview of the new machine’s capabilities and features.

Charles Brian Quinn or CBQ as he is known, the CEO and co-founder of Greenzie, joins Green Industry Pros Editor Ryan Whisner for a look back at GIE+EXPO 2019. Greenzie’s ongoing mission is to free humans from repetitive outdoor labor. CBQ and his team are starting that process through development of a robotic kit that attaches to existing commercial mowers that allows for self-driving activity. In...

Tim Phillips, Kioti national sales manager joins Green Industry Pros Editor Ryan Whisner to discuss the final launch on the company zero turn mower line up. The line includes 12 models within four series, including the ZXR, ZXRSE, ZXC and ZXCSE. KIOTI ZTRs boast an impressive set of features to ensure the same reliability and comfortable performance for operators as tractors and UTVs within the co...

Eric Gilbey, landscape product marketing manager at Vectorworks, discusses the latest technology features added to the company's 2D 3D CAD BIM landscape architect software. Architects can more easily walk clients through project designs in 3D and instantly make changes. 

Green Industry Pros Editor Ryan Whisner takes a look at the Bobcat’s past and present as the compact equipment company reenters the compact tractor market. Compact Tractor Product Manager James Crouch was interviewed to provide details about the new line of products that includes 15 different models.

Contributing writer Sheena Ingle with Green Industry Pros takes a look at the misperceptions everyday drivers have about commercial drivers with Verizon Connect Head of Global Product Success Kevin Aries. He also shares more on transportation management, driver safety and Verizon Connect’s new Integrated Video service.

Green Industry Pros Editor Ryan Whisner talks with Joe Fahey, Echo’s Vice President of Product Service and Robotics, about what sets the ECHO's robotic TM-2000 mower apart from other commercial robot mowers in the latest edition of Grass Roots. Take a listen, this is a podcast you don't want to miss!

At ICUEE 2019, contributing editor Becky Schultz, talked with David Venable, Director of Off-highway Sub-segment with Cummins Inc. about electrification. The two dove into the topic of electrification in the off-road industry, including current trends and what Venable sees for the future of electrification in the industry.

Contributing Editor Becky Schultz speaks with Jason Andriga and Doug Hundt of Vermeer on getting hit by an F-3 tornado and unveiling new XR2 Vacuum Excavator at ICUEE 2019.

Toro Group VP, Construction Businesses Rick Rodier joins contributing editor Becky Schultz at ICUEE 2019 for the another edition of Grass Roots. He discusses the company’s February acquisition of Charles Machine Works (parent company of Ditch Witch) and what customers could expect to see as a result of the merger.

Kevin Aries of Verizon Connect, joins Green Industry Pros editor Ryan Whisner to discuss the significance of telematics and fleet management software for snow and ice contractors.

Arbor Day Foundation President Dan Lambe discusses the recently launch of the new Tree Campus Healthcare program with Green Industry Pros Editor Ryan Whisner. The program aims to transform community health and wellness and ultimately save lives through the health benefits provided by trees.