December 2011

Five innovative lawn and garden industry suppliers took home honors during the recent Green Industry & Equipment Exposition at Louisville, Ky. through the Power Equipment Trade magazine GIE+EXPO Dealers Choice Awards. The awards honor exceptional products in five categories, as voted on by lawn and garden power equipment dealers.

In late October, all lawn and garden roads led to the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Ky. and GIE+EXPO, as 17,900 visitors made their way to industry’s biggest event, according to show officials. Those in attendance saw the latest products, technology and services for dealers and landscapers alike from 590 exhibitors covering more than a half-million square feet of floor space. Of those exhibiting, 113 companies had outdoor booths where visitors could hold and operate equipment in a 19 acre demonstration area.

Staying in business for decades—successfully riding economic and market roller coasters and providing an increasingly comprehensive level of service—requires the right moves at the right times. When Sid Trulen opened Power Pac, Inc. (PPI), in Marshfield, Wisconsin, in 1964, visions of what the future of his business would someday be likely did not include its current grandeur.

This article has nothing to do with the wave that is sweeping the country today: Selling a dealership to a competitor, merging with another group handling your same line or taking on a line of product identical to what you have been selling for years in the name of consolidation.

Echo Inc. recently named Pensacola, Fla.-based Jerry Pate Turf & Irrigation as its 2010 Distributor of the Year, and also presented Columbus, Ohio-based General Power Equipment Inc. with Echo’s 2010 Sales Excellence Award.

Ablade-equipped brushcutter is an incredibly potent land clearing machine, especially when the blade is matched to the task at hand. For general brush clearing it’s hard to beat the tri-lobe blade or “brush knife.” It cuts both small and large stems well, is reversible for double the life and is easy to maintain.

Five innovative lawn and garden industry suppliers took home honors during the recent Green Industry & Equipment Exposition at Louisville, Ky. through the Power Equipment Trade magazine GIE+EXPO Dealers Choice Awards. The awards honor exceptional products in five categories, as voted on by lawn and garden power equipment dealers.

Blount’s Oregon PowerNow 40V max cordless chainsaw is battery-powered with a lithium ion battery pack and offers instant starting without a pull cord, powerful cutting with no-fade power, and long runtime, enabling users to work free from the hassles of gasoline or cords. When not in use, the battery pack holds a charge for months at a time.

In conjunction with PLANET’s (Professional Landcare Network’s) Green Industry Conference auctions held in October, officials with Shindaiwa have announced the company will donate 100% of the proceeds from the auction of a T242 trimmer—Shindaiwa’s best-selling trimmer—to the PLANET Academic Excellence Foundation (AEF).

It is now time for the end of 2011, and quite frankly I’m ready.  This has been a year, for not only my area, but several others where Mother Nature has not been very kind.  According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a federal website that tracks drought across the country, more than 33% of the U.S. (excluding Alaska and Hawaii) is now in a drought.  What I thought was more interesting about this report is that even with all the weather catastrophes in 2011—blizzards, floods, tornadoes and hurricanes—the drought has been the costliest.