Since 1976 Ever-Green has represented quality lawn and landscaping service that’s locally owned and personally managed. Now, some comments from Ever-Green president Joe Duncan on how the “future” of the company is a resounding “now” with the addition of more services and some very trusted and familiar names.
Q: Talk about the “state of the union” of Ever-Green presently and its relationship and service to the local market:
“The merger with Powell and Anderson Tree Tech provides additional service, additional experience, and positions Ever-Green to keep costs down and pass that benefit on to customers.”
JD: With the merger of Powell’s Lawn Care and Anderson Tree Tech it positions us for the future in three important respects. 1) Obviously, the addition of more services with Tim Anderson. We used to refer clients who had trees with insect and disease issues to an outside resource. Now that resource is in-house and more readily available, as is our new “irrigation” service. 2) It adds valuable experience and leadership to our Ever-Green family of technicians. When you combine the years experience of myself, Randy Harvey (turf and lawn care), Mark Eickhoff (landscaping), Jerry Powell (lawn care) and Tim Anderson (tree and ornamentals), it adds up to almost 200 years of combined service to the local market. And 3) it positions Ever-Green such that we can keep costs down and pass along that benefit to our customers.
Obviously, it gives us a better overall package to offer, something that many smaller businesses with three or four employees would struggle to provide in terms of “special” needs that many customers require. We’re now comprehensive enough that there isn’t anything out there in terms of lawn, turf, landscaping, trees, and irrigation, especially with the diagnostic aspect, that we can’t supply, and supply with expert experience.
“There isn’t a company across the country who has the trusted experience that we can now offer.”
Q: Your growth in the areas you outline appears to be unique with modern business because while you’ve expanded, you’ve done it with people already well-known and trusted within your community and market.
JD: And that’s important to me, and us, because I’ve been here so long and know so many of our customers personally. I know how important that is. I know it’s important to Jerry (Powell) and Tim (Anderson) and that’s a big reason for the merger of services and experience. There isn’t one problem with lawn and landscaping that Jerry, Tim, Randy (Harvey), Mark (Eickhoff) and I haven’t experienced.
But then you go to our lawn specialists and applicators. Matt Kingrey has been with us for 34 years. Gary Sleppy has been with us for 25 years. Bill Dickensheets has been in the field for a long time…these are people that people know and trust. They’re people who have the diagnostic experience to react to a problem instantly. There isn’t a company across the country who has the experience that we can offer. And more importantly, people have known them for years and trust them.
Q: The business model that you represent, and that consistency, is very important to the local market, is it not?
JD: Oh, it is. Of the 35 employees that now work at Ever-Green I’m estimating that 95% of them actually live here in Miami County. There are a couple from Shelby and Montgomery counties that drive in, but the great majority of our staff is local people. What that means is…we’re a “local” company, built with local people, servicing local people and usually on a first-name basis. And the combining of companies means that we’re going to be here. We’re not going anywhere. We’re staying right here, in Troy, in Miami County.
“What I’m proud of is the core of young people we have on hand to take over someday…with no gap in service and expectation. We’ll remain the strong, competitive, and trusted resource we’ve always been.”
What I’m proud of is that when Jerry and Randy and I and some of their other veterans ride off into the sunset some day we have a great core of younger people on hand to assume the leadership and responsibility. Those people are here now and know the same customers on a first-name basis. There’ll be no gap in service and expectation. The trust factor will be in place. Kirk Persinger has been here for 10 years and is now the general manager of the business. He’s learned the ropes of how the business operates. And we have others like Kirk who are growing in their individual knowledge and service, from the inside. That ensures that we’ll remain strong, competitive, and the trusted resource that we’ve always been.
We do a lot of different things now, including corporate property management. But there’s nothing too small for Ever-Green, either. The backbone of who we are is still the residential client and homeowner. What’s our logo say…Quality Since 1976?
That’s what people can always expect from Ever-Green going forward, and with confidence!
