After being in business 41 years, Erv Denig, a registered landscape architect, knows the people of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and they know him. In fact, prospective homeowners are so familiar with his work that many of them call him even before they buy a lot.

After I gave a little talk about the company at a business club meeting in Fort Collins several months ago, a college aged man came up to me and asked the question, “How long before your manufacturing is moved to China?” It wasn’t even an “if ” question but the foregone conclusion that all manufacturing is leaving America. That’s the popular thinking today; in a few years all American product manufacturing will be done elsewhere. My reply to the young man: “If we have to go to China to compete, we just won’t continue in this business”.

Members of the private Garden of the Gods Club located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, experience one of the most beautiful natural settings in the country. The exclusive resort overlooks the Rocky Mountains, Pikes Peak and Garden of the Gods Park. When not taking in the view, they enjoy deluxe accommodations, a 27-hole championship golf course, a fullservice spa and fine dining, among other amenities.

Some individuals start mowing lawns with the intent of one day operating a huge, successful operation. Others are very content to hang a shingle as an owner/operator and stay that size forever. Others still search for a halfway point; not too big and not too small. In Twin Falls, Idaho, young T&M Mowing owners Tyler and Matthew Shropshire have another goal.

Carl Polite, owner of Polite Lawn Care in Aiken, South Carolina, started his business in a rather unusual way. One summer afternoon, two of his four sons approached him and asked if they could borrow the mower. They came back later that day and asked to be taken to the gas station to fill the gas can. Finally, his sons asked the key question: “Dad, could you give us a hand?”

“Last year, I got the bug,” says Rick Hooper, owner of Upstate Lawn Services in Greenville, South Carolina. “My wife works for an auto glass company that purchased an infolike commercial from our local cable company. After I saw the finished product, I called the cable company to inquire about it.”