In Walker Talk Volume 4, Randy Ingenito was featured in an advertisement mowing the Stanley Works headquarters in New Britain, Connecticut. The owner of Ingenito Landscape and Construction, LLC is still there, mowing with the same Walker Mowers and providing the same excellent service demanded by his client.
“Every day is your first day on the job even if you’ve been there 20 years,” Ingenito says. “No matter who you are or who your customers are, this is a relationship business. But you also have to perform. Stanley Black & Decker (a name change after the company’s acquisition of Black & Decker in 2010) has very high standards, and that means I have to be at the top of my game every day.”
The day Walker Talk visited, the entire East Coast was experiencing a winter monsoon. Connecticut didn’t have the snow, but it had ice—and Ingenito was already on the property by 4 a.m., deicing the drives and walks. “That’s what I do,” he shrugs, referring to the long days. “Listen, this company has locations all over the world, and there are employees here who start at 5 a.m. and others who leave at 10 p.m. You need to have a presence.”
Long history
Ingenito’s presence at the Stanley Black & Decker World Headquarters actually dates back more than 20 years, to a time when he was working in the family business. “We had a garden center, nursery and installation business right in New Britain,” Ingenito tells. “In the early 1980s, our maintenance business started to take off and we eventually won the Stanley maintenance account. At the time, we purchased two Walker Mower gas models to do the mowing.
“I left the family business in 1995 and seriously considered doing something entirely different,” Ingenito continues. “That thought changed when I informed Stanley’s facilities manager of my situation. He wanted me to continue to take care of the grounds. So I purchased some new equipment, including two Walker diesel models, and the rest is history.”
Today, Stanley Black & Decker accounts for the lion’s share of Ingenito’s work. He’s on site virtually every day and works closely with James Vesci, director of corporate facilities management, the same individual who originally talked him into staying on in 1995.
“We believe in forming relationships with our vendors and are loyal to them as long as they perform,” says Vesci, a 37-year veteran with Stanley Black & Decker. “Randy (Ingenito) understood from the very beginning that we have very high standards and expect our property to always be presentable. Our expectations haven’t changed in 20 years, and neither has Randy’s dedication and performance.”
As a publicly held Fortune 500 company, the image of its corporate headquarters is important to Stanley Black & Decker. Safe passage of its nearly 600 employees on site is even more important. That’s why Ingenito was there at 4 a.m. one wintry morning and was there at the same time the following morning to check out the walks and drives.
Ingenito’s two Walker Mowers are just as much a part of the winter maintenance regimen as they are for mowing during the growing season. A broom, snowblower or blade attachment replaces the mower decks, and instead of hauling around leaves and debris in the winter, the catchers hold one-gallon containers of ice melt to be spread by hand on the walks. Ingenito keeps a loader fitted with a large pusher blade on site all winter to handle the big snows, and his one-ton dump/sander truck, also equipped with a blade, does yeoman’s work on the drives.
Change of season
Stanley Black & Decker’s headquarters features 54 acres, approximately 100,000 square feet of which is mowed weekly during the growing season. “We start mowing around April 1 and continue through the end of October for a total of 35 or so mowings a year,” Ingenito explains. “The Walker Mowers leave a nice manicured look and do an excellent job cleaning up leaves in the fall. There’s plenty of them here thanks to a large number of birch, beach and oak trees.
“It takes approximately three days to mow with our two Walker Mowers,” Ingenito continues. “We work in sections and finish one section entirely before moving to another one. This is the most efficient way to handle such a large and diverse acreage. In addition to mowing, we weed, edge, clean the beds, and prune the trees.”
Ingenito’s company, though, provides more than routine maintenance service. Over the years, it has reshaped the landscape, installed new hardscape features including heated walkways and a patio, updated outdoor lighting, and removed dozens of large trees. “We don’t go overboard installing extravagant landscaping,” Ingenito emphasizes. “The goal is to present a neat and natural look that blends native plant material with some annual color.
“I will do anything and everything asked of me. I know the grounds like the back of my hand, and can offer suggestions for making improvements and upgrades.”
Building and growing relationships
Tight budgets and tough competition have put loyalty to the test in virtually every market and every industry. “I know that James (Vesci) has a budget, so I strive to be as efficient as I can be to keep my costs down,” says Ingenito. “I look for the most efficient way to maintain the property and I take care of all my equipment, not just my Walker Mowers. I don’t have equipment sitting around either. If I cannot guarantee an ongoing application for a piece of equipment, I won’t buy it. Instead, I will rent or lease it like I have the big loader for snow removal.”
Ingenito also keeps most of his maintenance equipment on site, which minimizes costly windshield time and helps to ensure timely service. His base of operation is an 18-foot enclosed trailer. There he can maintain and service his equipment in relative comfort.
“I like knowing that we are Randy’s (Ingenito’s) key account and are at the top of his priority list,” adds Vesci. “The fact that he’s so familiar with the grounds and understands what we want is important too. Still, he has to perform; that’s the bottom line, and he does.”
In 1995, Ingenito wrote that the Walker Mowers’ performance helped his company gain a premiere account like the Stanley World Headquarters. Keeping it for 20 years, however, shifted the responsibility directly to his court, which meant coming to work every day like it was his first day on the job.
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