One way to grow is to offer a standard service to all customers, one that saves both time and money. This strategy, however, holds little appeal to Brad Paton, owner of Shades of Summer Landscaping in Hamilton, ON, Canada. In business for only five years, his approach is to adapt service offerings to properties.

Dennis Jontos, owner of Cutzgras, Inc., in Port Charlotte, Florida, says: “Our philosophy is relatively simple. We’re dedicated to providing quality work, period.”

When newly retired Deputy Sheriff John Munk took off his badge, he didn’t have plans to replace it with a fishing pole— not by a long shot. Instead, he jumped on his Walker Mower and took what he’s been doing in his spare time to a different level.

Follow Route 27 south out of Amarillo, Texas for 20 miles and you will pass through Canyon, home of West Texas A&M. Situated on a beautiful 176-acre residential campus, the university has nearly 8,000 students, 252 full-time faculty, and 569 full-time staff members. Working behind the scenes to keep the campus in top shape are Grounds Manager, Larry Bedwell, and Transportation Manager, Bruce Bassett.

What do Vida, Oregon, neighbors John Farkus, Biff Owen, Ted West, Gene Jones, Jim Goodpasture, Kameron Maxwell and David Cousineau have in common? For one thing, on any given Saturday they can be found using Walker Mowers to manicure their landscapes.

Young people going into business often dream of making it big one day. Dreams are drivers, but few entrepreneurs have the drive that Garrett Faulkner had when he launched Down to Earth Landscaping right out of high school. Now, four years later, the 21-year-old owner says he would like to be one of the biggest landscape contracting companies in the country.