Green Landscaping Group AB (publ) has acquired Hermansen Maskin AS with a turnover of approximately NOK 75 million. The acquisition further strengthens our market position in Norway as we add another quality company to the group.
The acquisition of Hermansen Maskin AS is Green Landscaping Group’s 9th acquisition in Norway. The company is well known in its market for high quality as well as recurring and satisfied customers.
Hermansen Maskin is an entrepreneurial company founded in 2006 by Arild Hermansen. The company currently has sales of approximately NOK 75 million, good profitability and provides services within landscaping and maintenance. The company is established in Sande, southwest of Oslo. Customers are found mainly in the categories of construction companies, land developers and private individuals.
– We are convinced that Hermansen Maskin will complement and strengthen the group of companies that are already part of the group in Norway. The founder of the company, Arild Hermansen, symbolizes the entrepreneurial spirit that we seek, that is with a mind to run professional and successful companies in the outdoor environment industry, says Atle Roll-Matthiesen, Regional Manager Norway, Green Landscaping Group.
– I have for some time followed Green Landscaping Group and the quality Norwegian companies that have joined the group since 2020. The decentralized strategy will enable me and my employees to continue to run and develop our business as independent entrepreneurs. At the same time, we must be part of a larger context with the common goal of offering sustainable solutions in the outdoor environment, says Arild Hermansen, CEO, Hermansen Maskin.
– We are pleased that Hermansen Maskin is now joining the group and wish Arild and his staff a warm welcome to Green Landscaping Group, concludes Atle Roll-Matthiesen.
Green Landscaping Group acquires 100 percent of the shares in Hermansen Maskin AS with immediate access. The acquisition is financed within existing credit facilities and through a non-cash issue of own shares. The Board has therefore, within the scope of the authorization from the Annual General Meeting on 14 May 2021, decided on the issue of 105,923 shares in Green Landscaping Group, aimed at the sellers of Hermansen Maskin AS. This corresponds to a dilution of 0.2{6d6906d986cb38e604952ede6d65f3d49470e23f1a526661621333fa74363c48} of the share capital and votes in the Green Landscaping Group. The total number of shares in Green Landscaping Group after the issue has been 52,583,119 shares. The acquisition is not expected to have a significant effect on the result for 2021.
The previous owner of Hermansen Maskin is now shareholder in Green Landscaping Group (publ).
The information was, through the contact person below, submitted for publication on 2 December 2021 at 08:00 CET.
For more information:
Atle Roll-Matthiesen, Regionchef Norge, Green Landscaping Group AB +47 909 00 112, atle.roll@glgroup.no
Carl-Fredrik Meijer, CFO & IR, Green Landscaping Group AB +46 (0)70-108 70 19, carl-redrik.meijer@glgroup.se
Green Landscaping Group AB (publ) is the Nordic leading player in ground maintenance and landscaping of outdoor environments in Sweden. Our business concept is to enhance the customer’s outdoor environment by offering services focused on high customer value, long-term sustainability, and quality. The Company has approximately 1,350 employees and sales amount to approximately SEK 2 billion. The Company’s shares are listed on Nasdaq Stockholm with the ticker GREEN. For more information visit www.glgroup.se.
Hermansen Maskin AS was founded in 2006 and has sales of approximately NOK 75 million and 20 employees. The company provides assignments in land development such as digging, excavation, water and sewerage work, landscaping and winter maintenance. The company is based in Sande in Vestfold and carries out projects in the Sande and Oslo area. For more information www.hermansenmaskin.no
Though Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill banning the sale of most new gas powered tools by 2024, gardeners and landscapers say a $30 million state subsidy isn’t nearly enough to help small operators make the switch to electric.
The state agency responsible for administering the subsidy estimates it has only enough to give each self-employed gardener a 50{6d6906d986cb38e604952ede6d65f3d49470e23f1a526661621333fa74363c48} coupon for one tool, far from the truckload of leaf blowers, lawn mowers, small chainsaws, brushcutters and trimmers most haul around.
In fact, local governments have learned they need to offer more. In Southern California, a regional air quality district that has been running a similar incentive program since 2017 saw few takers until it increased rebates to 75{6d6906d986cb38e604952ede6d65f3d49470e23f1a526661621333fa74363c48} per tool. The district paired that with an outreach program and encouraged landscapers to test electric equipment.
The California Air Resources Board is still figuring out who will qualify for the rebate but Assemblymember Marc Berman, one of the authors of the bill, said he’s open to adding more funding if needed.
“Let’s not make the perfect be the enemy of the good,” said the Menlo Park Democrat.
Aric Crabb
A chainsaw and gas on the ground during fire mitigation work at a property along Via Floreado road in Orinda on Nov. 16, 2021. Ken’s Rototilling and Landscaping company owns around 50 gas powered tools that could be impacted by a state ban on new small gas motors.
Environmentalists hailed the first-in-the-nation law for advancing California’s clean energy goals, noting the state estimates that smog-forming pollution from small gas-powered engines will surpass emissions from passenger cars this year. But electrifying the landscaping industry creates financial and physical burdens for the estimated 60,000 one-person and often unlicensed landscaping operations, an industry with an average income under $40,000 a year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
There’s an argument for subsidizing the transition. An electric leaf blower and batteries cost nearly twice as much as a comparable gas version. California estimates that a full transition of nearly 3 million tools used by landscaping professionals will cost $1.29 billion.
Bryan, a landscaper who asked to be identified by his first name only because he fears losing business, uses a mix of electric and gas equipment. The electric ones fall short.
“I have 10 to 15 houses a day, right now, but with electric (tools), I may do seven or five houses a day,” he said. That’s a loss of $1,000 a week.
Already, Bryan has told his kid he can’t afford books or a new laptop. The cost of a full conversion by purchasing all electric tools, he said, would require him to raise prices 30{6d6906d986cb38e604952ede6d65f3d49470e23f1a526661621333fa74363c48}. He fears his residential clients will purchase their own tools and do it themselves, pushing him out of a job.
When the bill was signed, Berman and Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez of San Diego called it a win for both the environment and human health. Electric tools have already been widely adopted by California homeowners, but only a fraction of commercial landscaping companies have made the switch, according to a 2018 survey by the air resources board.
Aric Crabb
Jorge Mijango of Ken’s Rototilling and Landscaping uses a chainsaw to cut trees for fire mitigation at a property along Via Floreado road in Orinda on Nov. 16, 2021. The landscaping company owns around 50 gas powered tools that could be impacted by a state ban on new small gas motors.
At that time, 8 in 10 landscapers said they planned on buying gas-powered equipment with many prioritizing performance, run-time and cost. But operating a gas-powered leaf blower for one hour, for example, emits the same amount of pollution as driving a Toyota Camry from Los Angeles to Denver, according to the air board.
The lawn equipment conversion will bring the rest of the state in line with cities such as Palo Alto, Los Altos and Menlo Park, which have already banned noisy leaf blowers. The law also directs the air resources board to come up with statewide regulations for other small motor equipment, such as golf carts, small generators and power washers.
But the landscaping industry, the main target of the ban, says the transition has already been costly.
Steven Wood purchased four batteries for his electric leaf blower after a number of communities in the Bay Area banned gas-powered leaf blowers. Woods, who owns a small landscaping business, immediately noticed the batteries don’t go far enough.
“I never spent $200 on something that lasted 45 minutes,” Wood said, “and it doesn’t last for six to eight houses a day.”
Once the batteries drain, Wood’s two employees resort to raking, which takes three times as long to complete a job.
Tests back him up.
Consumer Reports rated gas and electric tools, such as lawn mowers, leaf blowers and string trimmers, side by side. The nonprofit consumer organization found that battery-powered tools, with low maintenance and ease of use, were strong candidates for homeowners with less than an acre of land who could wait to recharge their batteries. But when it came to larger plots, more robust weeds to whack, or long hours of use, gas tools excelled.
“As an industry, we want this (battery-powered) equipment to be able to handle what we throw at it,” said Sandra Giarde, executive director of the California Landscape Contractors Association. “But it’s not there yet.”
Aric Crabb
Ken Tamplen, owner of Ken’s Rototilling and Landscaping holds a chainsaw at a property along Via Floreado road in Orinda on Nov. 16, 2021, in Orinda.
The air resources board said the technology is close enough. While electric tools may not have the same power, they offer other benefits, such as longer lifespan, better torque for some tools and savings on gas and maintenance, said air pollution specialist Christopher Dilbeck.
“We recognize that, yes, there will be substantial costs associated with what we are proposing,” said Dilbeck. “That is part of why this funding is available.”
The board, which will allocate the state’s $30 million subsidy, has yet to release how it will hand out incentives other than saying it will target small operators, including those without a business license. In one scenario, California could offer 12,000 small landscapers a 50{6d6906d986cb38e604952ede6d65f3d49470e23f1a526661621333fa74363c48} discount on all their new tools, or every sole-proprietor could receive a 50{6d6906d986cb38e604952ede6d65f3d49470e23f1a526661621333fa74363c48} discount on one tool.
“You are not going to be able to get the jobs done as fast,” said Ken Tamplen, owner of Ken’s Rototilling, a landscaping company in Contra Costa County. “You’re not going to be able to make as much money.”
This article is part of the California Divide, a collaboration among newsrooms examining income inequality and economic survival in California.
CalMatters is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.
The City Council recently voted to sign off on awarding a trio of three-year public grounds maintenance contracts totaling $731,226 to a local landscaping and lawn care business.
Precision Cut is now authorized to maintain the grounds of 11 facilities or locations for $496,785, the Battleboro and Northeastern cemeteries for $131,589 and four low-lying areas or areas with boat ramps or water for $102,852.
The vote occurred during the Oct. 25 City Council regular meeting.
The action also came in the context of extensive discussion having occurred during the Oct. 11 council work session about wanting the Parks and Recreation Department to be able to do more in terms of maintaining the public grounds in the future.
City Manager Small-Toney during the Oct. 11 council work session made clear that, as far as increasing the skillset of Parks and Recreation employees, she believed the first step would be to come back to the council in January with what a higher level of service, managed internally, is going to cost.
Still, Small-Toney made clear her plan in the meantime was going to be to ask the council to approve the three-year contracts with Precision Cut to continue to help with maintaining the public grounds.
And Small-Toney made clear the contracts would include wording giving the ability to the municipal government to make changes, including to reduce Precision Cut’s service level.
Precision Cut had been continuing to work amid a month-to-month contract extension based on a previous contract.
During the Oct. 25 City Council regular meeting, Councilman Andre Knight was quick to note the discussion of Oct. 11 having been intense and there being a lot of concerns about the contracts and the Parks and Recreation employees and to note the municipal management saying they are going to bring back a plan in January.
Knight wanted to know whether, as the council waits for what is going to come from the municipal management, it would be wise to instead set the lengths of the contracts at one or two years.
Mayor Sandy Roberson, who chairs council regular meetings, said he would let Small-Toney answer that question, but Roberson said his recollection was that, regardless of the terms, the contracts could be broken within a 30-day notice.
Small-Toney said that would be correct because the requests for bids were issued with specific requirements and expectations.
“And so as I said, we could amend the contract once it’s awarded,” Small-Toney said. “But I think to go back now and change the requirements for the contract would negate it, in essence.”
“That answered my question, thank you,” Knight said, adding he has no problem.
Councilman Lige Daughtridge made the motion, seconded by Councilman Richard Joyner, for awarding the contracts to Precision Cut.
In a roll call vote, Knight and Councilmen Reuben Blackwell, W.B. Bullock and T.J. Walker voted yes.
Councilwoman Chris Miller was participating in the Oct. 25 council regular meeting via teleconferencing.
City Clerk Pamela Casey twice called Miller’s name, but an immediate response from Miller could not be heard.
After Roberson said the motion carried, Miller said, “I abstain.”
“Well, that’s a yes vote,” Roberson said.
“I made the point I think,” Miller said.
“Yes, you did,” Roberson said.
City Attorney Jep Rose said abstaining is an affirmative vote unless Miller had a recognized reason for declining to vote yes or no.
“Philosophical differences,” Miller said in response.
“OK, very well,” Roberson said. “The vote is in the affirmative. The motion carries.”
Precision Cut is a woman-owned business and the City of Rocky Mount strives to involve minority- and women-owned businesses in seeking contracts.
The contract with Precision Cut calls for maintaining the grounds at the following facilities or locations:
The Douglas Block.
City Hall.
The Rocky Mount Senior Center.
The Imperial Centre for the Arts & Sciences.
The Rocky Mount Business Services Center.
The Rocky Mount Event Center.
The two Main Streets alongside the rail line.
The Rocky Mount Judicial Center.
The Helen P. Gay Rocky Mount Historic Train Station.
The bus station.
Station Square.
The contract with Precision Cut for maintaining low-lying areas or areas with boat ramps or water specifically lists the following locations:
Holly Street Park.
City Lake Park.
The Tar River Reservoir boat ramp.
The Sapony Creek boat ramp.
During the Oct. 11 council work session, Parks and Recreation Director Joel Dunn said his department did not have the people power to tend all of the municipal grounds in a timely manner and started looking at contracting out some of the work.
During the Oct. 11 council work session, Blackwell said he was not questioning either the intention or the work being done by Precision Cut.
Blackwell said, however, he was concerned the skill level of the contractor seemed to exceed, at least in Dunn’s confidence, the Parks and Recreation staff concerning key properties being contracted out.
During the Oct. 11 council work session, Knight said he believed it to be really sad when the municipality has to hire somebody from the outside to come in and beautify Rocky Mount.
Since 2014, the landscaping scene has grown a minimum of five percent each year. It is a growing industry that doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. Business is business, and without the proper strategies in place, you cannot effectively target your audience.
Growing a landscaping business takes tons of physical labor and mental work. When it comes to offering your tree business to new customers, here are some important aspects that you need to keep in mind.
Get Listed on the Proper Platforms
In the technological era of the 21st century, online marketing platforms are the foundation on which any business can succeed. Digital and social media are vitally important if you want any business to survive. The first step is listing the business on Google. It allows prospective customers to find your tree services easily.
If you can afford to include search engine optimization, then your business will be one of the names listed at the top. It means that people won’t have to scroll multiple Google pages to find you, and you are likely to get business from someone that has never even heard of your services. Ensure that you use the correct phone number and physical address and that your business information includes all the pertinent services that you offer.
Purchase the Right Insurance
All businesses need a variety of insurance policies, and for tree services, there is specific insurance that you need to invest in. Trees can cause damage to cars and other buildings if there is falling debris. Some trees may even need to be cut down if they pose a major risk to a customer’s property. Tree insurance covers your business in the event that there is an accident involving your client, employees, or your business premises.
Before you offer your tree services to new customers, consider a tailored tree service insurance plan for your business. This type of insurance will cover you for any property damage or medical bills resulting from accidents related to your tree cutting services. In addition, these plans cover a variety of legal bills which is necessary if any accidents do occur on a customer’s property.
Referrals Are Your Most Important Asset
For many businesses, word of mouth is incredibly important. People want to see results, and when you produce good work, they will refer your business. Equally important to know is that any bad word of mouth will also have a major impact. In saying so, your customer services skills need to be impeccable, as well as the quality of services that you can offer.
Let your work speak for itself. Each time a customer gives you a good review, post it as a testimonial to your website or social media pages. Offer clients a discount on the 10th session if they successfully refer you to a friend or other business. Referrals are the most cost-effective way to get the right kind of attention for your business. It costs next to nothing and is the best marketing approach to take for a landscaping business.
Take the Jobs Nobody Wants
A great way to advertise your tree services is to take on the tough tasks that no one else wants. Perhaps there is a particularly large tree in amongst other buildings, which could cause major damage if the tree isn’t cut right. There are plenty of opportunities to take on big landscaping jobs that other tree services don’t have the right tools for. Places that won’t take these kinds of jobs are usually concerned about health and safety, but with the right business policies and rules in place, you can minimize any risk to your customers and staff.
It will take a small initial investment to get the tools and staff that can perform the job. Once you have everything in place, it opens up doorways to other private customers that may have more than a few trees that need to be cut down. This is a recurring business that will be yours for the taking.
There are countless more ways that you can market your landscaping business for new customers, and these few tips are just to get you started. Remember, landscaping is big business, and with the right approach, tools, and employees, you can make a lasting impression on customers that will bring in more business.
The idea to expand Shiloh Place came almost suddenly to Cyndi Whitten.
“We only had 16 beds in this, and I thought, ‘You know, we have all of this land, and I could put beds there,’” she said. “So one day just on a whim, we just called a contractor and voila, we doubled our size.”
With the addition to the assisted living center at 915 N. H St. now completed, Shiloh Place has received recognition from Keep Fremont Beautiful with its Clean Sweep Award.
“We are honored to have gotten it, and we really receive it with humility and gratitude from the community and on behalf of the whole neighborhood,” Whitten said. “We’re grateful to our neighbors and grateful to the chamber for acknowledging us and whoever nominated us.”
The award was given Nov. 12 during KFB’s annual Fremont Area Chamber of Commerce coffee event, in which KFB Board Director Al Sawtelle handed out various awards.
KFB Executive Director Casey Vaughan said the award is part of the organization’s recognition program.
“Part of our mission is to engage community members in taking a greater responsibility for our local environment, and the recognition program does that by recognizing those that are doing their part to keep the community clean, green and beautiful,” she said.
People are also reading…
The program also includes handing out certificates of appreciation to individuals on a monthly basis from April to September.
“Those are to local residences that are taking special steps to reduce litter, improve recycling or enhance the appearance of their property,” Vaughan said.
The Clean Sweep Award, given annually in November, goes to a local business or organization that has enhanced the appearance of its property through structural renovations or landscaping.
Vaughan said the Clean Sweep Award has nominations come in through community members and board members, and like the certificates, is voted on by the KFB Board.
“They just felt that Shiloh Place had done a beautiful job enhancing the exterior of their facility,” she said.
Whitten opened Shiloh Place with her husband, Eden, in 2014, in a Victorian mansion built in 1880. As well as assisted living, the center also provides medication management and meals.
“We also have our adult day program on Military, which offers activities and socialization during the day for adults who don’t have a lot to do during the day,” Whitten said. “And we provide transportation to and from that and to and from doctor’s appointments.”
As the building had a huge chunk of land next to it with no use, Whitten knew she wanted to expand Shiloh Place.
“My group here doesn’t really use the yard very much. It’s just a lot of older people, and it’s not just something we use,” she said. “We have to take care of it, but didn’t use it.”
Whitten brought the idea to her husband and First State Bank and Trust, which works with the center on its adult day program.
“I never saw myself building or adding on like this, but I’m really pleased that we chose to do this,” she said.
With a loan from First State Bank and everyone on board, the Whittens got to work on the project, which also included renovations to the existing building.
As well as repairing the building, Whitten said Fauss Construction also made the roof consistent with the addition.
“It was just time to do that. When they were tearing that old roof off, I think there were 10 layers on it,” she said. “It was bad.”
Additionally, Whitten said Siffring Landscaping and Garden Center provided landscaping, which included plants alongside a new sidewalk compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“They just did a fantastic job, and it’s all the way around,” she said. “And so we’re really super pleased with the job.”
Whitten said she was happy to receive so much help on the project, which was completed last summer.
“Thank God it started pre-COVID, because I got it built right before the price of lumber doubled and tripled, and I’m so grateful for that,” she said. “And we filled those beds almost immediately.”
The addition has been “seamless” for Shiloh Place’s existing residents, Whitten said.
“All of our residents are loving it,” she said. “We’ve also had people stop by, walking by and driving by, and just say how pretty it is. So we’re really enjoying it.”
Whitten said she was pleased that Shiloh Place received the Clean Sweep Award, as she said the area looked rough before the project was completed.
“We wanted it to look really nice for our neighbors, but it didn’t for a long time,” she said. “And so it’s very nice for everybody, for the whole community.”
Subscribe to The Fremont Tribune and get unlimited access to local news
Valley Lakes Assisted Living Executive Director Kris Pryor talks about the facility’s recent remodel.
COLLIN SPILINEK, Fremont Tribune
Alyce Wilke, right, a resident in the assisted living community at The Heritage at Shalimar Gardens, talks with Chuck Davis, maintenance director. Wilke played an April Fools’ joke on Davis that went viral on social media. Now, the two are talking about a future joke they might play on another staff member.
Residents of The Villages say they are fed up and that Florida-Friendly Landscaping has turned their neighborhood into a jungle.
A home at 2167 Darwin Terrace in the Village of Amelia has been a sore point for years. It has been nicknamed the “Haunted House.”
Neighbors say they have called in complaints to Community Standards, however nothing has been done because the homeowner has adopted “Florida-Friendly Landscaping.”
Florida-Friendly Landscaping means using low-maintenance plants and environmentally sustainable practices, according to the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Florida-Friendly Landscaping is allowed in The Villages. The water-saving practices associated with Florida-Friendly Landscaping are even encouraged.
The University of Florida Extension Service describes Florida-Friendly Landscaping as a “beautiful landscape that could save you time, energy and money while protecting our future.”
The complaints about the home on Darwin Terrace have been going on for several years. But it’s not the only Florida-Friendly Landscaping headache in Florida’s Friendliest Hometown.
A home at 2167 Darwin Terrace in The Villages has Florida-Friendly Landscaping.
Earlier this year, 81-year-old Myers Hand was called before the Community Development District 10 Board of Supervisors on a deed compliance case due to complaints about his Florida-Friendly Landscaping. Hand admitted that the Florida-Friendly Landscaping had become more than he could handle in the Florida heat. He also testified in a public hearing before the supervisors that he cannot hire and maintain landscapers who can groom the landscaping to his satisfaction. He vowed to move out of The Villages and sell the Premier home at 3610 Enterprise Drive he bought in 2015 for $671,900. He has yet to make good on that threat.
In 2019, a defiant homeowner in the Village of Piedmont fought to keep her Florida-Friendly Landscaping despite the difficulties she was having with it. Kathleen Stringer appeared before the Community Development District 4 Board of Supervisors in a public hearing where photographs presented as evidence showed a wild entanglement of plants, shrubs and bamboo at her home. Stringer testified that she “married into this situation” and she “didn’t even know about deeds and covenants.” She said her late husband may have signed off on some documents, but she had not been aware of it. Stringer eventually brought the property into compliance and her fines were forgiven.
