Jim Martin, owner of James A. Martin Co. Inc. in Burlington, Massachusetts, is celebrating his 30th year in business. He makes no bones about it either. He attributes his success and longevity to people—from wife, Sue, and childhood friend, Steve Archibald, to each and every one of his 14 employees, not to mention his dealer, PRO Equipment.
“You can talk about the ups and downs over the years, the individual successes and growth, but everything comes back to building relationships,” relates Martin, who likes to say he still attends the University of Hard Knocks in the School of Continuing Education. “Sue is great and keeps me on track. Steve, who has been with me from day one, keeps our equipment running in top shape, and the rest of our employees make up the heart of the company. Our suppliers like PRO Equipment have been an additional resource and have given us a wealth of information over the years.”
It has been a steep learning curve, Martin admits. He and Steve started mowing lawns in 1978 with two Sears push mowers, which, he claims, they literally ran behind to mow. They grew residential accounts until one day Martin says he got up enough nerve to make a cold call on a commercial account, New England Telephone, right in town. The call paid dividends, and the small company started to transition to the commercial marketplace.
Today, James A. Martin Co. Inc. hangs its hat on providing year-round maintenance for commercial clients in the Boston suburb of Burlington and surrounding communities. In addition to mowing, the company does landscape installation, bark mulch application, parking lot sweeping, snowplowing and light excavation.
“We’ve been fortunate to be in the right place at the right time,” says Martin. “Our company has grown with this community. As new businesses came in, including many hightech companies, we were able to get and keep their business.” Retention, he adds, is key to growth, and he’s not just talking customer retention.
“Employee retention is critical to success, and very difficult to achieve in northern markets,” Martin points out. “We’ve been able to keep all our employees on our payroll year-round, in large part by being creative in the winter. We plow snow for all of our commercial accounts, repair equipment for contractors and keep our people busy with other tasks around the shop.”
James A. Martin Co. Inc. offers health insurance and a retirement program for associates. The combination of year-round employment and benefits—and treating employees fairly—engenders a high degree of loyalty. “As a business owner, you have choices,” Martin notes. “You can look solely at the bottom line and try to squeeze as much money out of your company as you can, or take the long view and settle for a little less.” In his mind, retaining employees, finding ways to keep them employed year-round and offering benefits is another way of investing in his company and future.
Hardware, Too
This owner takes the same thoughtful approach when it comes to his equipment purchases. He purchased his first Walker Mower in 1993, despite the fact that the price tag was a bit steeper than other riders. At one time, he operated 11 of them, but that number has since been pared back to six.
“Our business has evolved and we do less mowing than we once did,” Martin explains. “We also discovered that Walker Mowers, although expensive, were so efficient that we didn’t need as many as we first thought.”
He goes on to say that all his mowers have diesel engines and feature 48-inch GHS decks. “We’ve been using the diesel engines for 10 years,” Martin points out. “They last longer than gas engines, and are more fuel-efficient. A diesel, for example, will burn one tank of fuel compared to two for its gas counterpart. Even with the high price of diesel fuel, we still save money.”
When asked what he likes about his Walker Mowers, Martin replies, “They are highly maneuverable, comfortable and operator-friendly. They are also versatile and have a great collection system. “The mowers are so helpful in the fall,” Martin continues. “It’s like having an extra man in the field. There’s no raking. We just collect the leaves with our mowers and vacuum them into our truck. Here, we have such a small window of opportunity to pick up leaves that we have to be efficient.”
Throughout his career, Martin has often reflected on a friend’s advice to work smarter and not harder. That’s one reason he has three broom attachments for his Walker Mowers. “The rotary broom attachment is incredible,” he adds. “During the winter we use tons of sand to keep parking lots clear of ice. The sand gets into the turf, and crews used to rake out the sand by hand in the spring. Now, we just move the sand into the parking lot with the broom attachment and pick it up with our larger street sweepers. Let me tell you, the broom is a life saver.”
The Burlington native is always looking for ways to be productive and efficient. Crews occasionally have to mow in the rain with their Walker Mowers, another reason Martin purchased them. He touts his long-time friend, Steve, as a mechanical wizard, while adding, “Full-service companies like ours have a huge investment in equipment. It is imperative to make the best use of all our equipment.”
Martin steps outside the shop to give an example. “Notice the hinges and the hydraulic cylinder on the truck’s box. Steve installed a mechanism that allows us to use the truck with our Giant-Vac for debris collection, but the driver can also hinge up the top for hauling mulch. Pretty slick, and it saves us a truck.” Martin says it also pays to assign employees to their own mowers. They not only become familiar with their operation, but take ownership, as well.
The owner looks around and says, “There’s no secret to this business. You have to operate efficiently, and we’ve found that there’s an advantage to being diversified. As an example, at one time our company contracted out parking lot sweeping. We now have four street sweepers. Property managers like to deal with one company, and keeping the work in-house makes more work for our employees.”
Again, he re-emphasizes, his success is built on retention—retaining customers and employees—aka, taking the long view.
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