WELCOME NEW MEMBERS

UPCOMING OLA MEETINGS, EDUCATION SEMINARS, AND OTHER GREEN INDUSTRY EVENTS

SEPTEMBER

SEPTEMBER 17 NE OHIO FACILITY TOUR (Yard Smart Landscaping, Inc.) Yard Smart is a complete landscape maintenance, design, and build firm committed to providing their clients with services that meet and exceed their expectations. Join us as we tour Yard Smart’s facility, located in Grafton, Ohio, to find out what has made Bruce Stone and his staff so successful for over 30 years. Note: Due to state social

distancing guideline, this event is limited to (60) attendees. Registration for this event is now full, but you may request to be added to our wait list by calling 440.717.0002.

NOVEMBER

NOVEMBER 19 OLA ANNUAL MEETING (WEBINAR) Mike Rorie, CEO of GIS Dynamics, will discuss the process of defining how your organization creates, delivers and maximizes value for its customers, employees and stakeholders. See page 7.

Note: Due to state social distancing guideline, this event will be held via webinar, in order to accommodate all of our members. Visit www.OhioLandscapers.org/meetings/november to register.

JANUARY

JANUARY 21 OLA MEETING (WEBINAR) Kevin Kehoe, Founder of The Aspire Software Company and President of Kehoe Co. will discuss Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and what both business owners and their managers should be looking for – outside of standard financials.

Note: Due to state social distancing guideline, this event will be held via webinar, in order to accommodate all of our members. Registration for this event will open in the Fall/Winter of 2020.

Your success brightens our day... and night.

At Cascade Lighting, your success is our top priority and it’s been that way since we set up shop over 20 years ago. We’ll partner with you to provide expert advice on the best lighting solution to fit your project and budget. Our team also offers design and technical support at no additional cost. And to ensure the job gets done on time, our warehouse stocks a huge inventory of products ready for same day shipment.

Call us today at 800.758.6359 or visit cascadelighting.com

OLA’s NEW MEMBER The OLA is delighted to welcome the following member:

REGULAR MEMBER

Barone Landscaping, Inc.

PO Box 38232 Olmsted Falls, OH 44138 (440) 427-2266 Mike Barone

Providing over 40 lines of outdoor and landscape lighting products including:

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Most of what I believe it comes down to is mental toughness. These individuals are so mentally strong, and so laser-focused, that they are able to reach another level and do what – to us, as spectators – seems impossible. These guys are legends, and most of us can only imagine the amount of time and energy that go into the training necessary to get to this level.

This year, I’m taking this approach with our business, as I try to find anything left in my tank to finish out the year. I’m looking at these next four months as our playoffs. It’s going to get a lot harder before it gets any easier, and it will require more time, energy, and mental strength than any ‘normal’ season ever has. But, at the end of the year when I look back at all we were able to accomplish, it will be well worth it. Much like a champion athlete can look back on the hard work, effort, and challenges they faced to reach their pinnacle, we will be able to do the same.

All this being said, at year’s end when we come out victorious, I know there will be no confetti falling from the rafters, no parade through the city streets, no victory tours across the national media outlets, and probably relatively few people acknowledging our achievements. For us, we will just gear up for winter and start preparing for next year. We’ll never have a hard time falling asleep at night though, because we put in an honest day’s work. There is something special about being blue-collar and humble, and it is one of the many things that make this industry so incredibly special.

Daymond John, one of the investors on Shark Tank, has a book out called Rise and Grind. I haven’t had the opportunity to read it yet, but I will, solely based on its title. To me, it is the perfect embodiment of how most of us live our lives. We get up, we grind, we come home to spend time with our families... just to do it all over again the next day. For some reason, I absolutely love that, as I believe many people in this industry do.

Finishing this season strong will be nothing short of a grind but we will finish it. We will rise every morning, grind through the challenges that day presents, and at the end, we will come out victorious as we always do.

EVENT INFORMATION

DATE & LOCATION NOVEMBER 19, 2020

OLA WEBINAR/VIRTUAL MEETING

AGENDA OLA ANNUAL MEETING

3:00 PM TO 3:30 PM

PROGRAM

3:30 PM TO 5:00 PM

COST TO ATTEND

MEMBERS: NO CHARGE NON MEMBERS: $30

REGISTER TO ATTEND BY

NOVEMBER 12, 2020

SPONSORED BY EMERALD SPONSORS

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES FOR THIS YEAR’S MEETING SCHEDULE ARE NOW AVAILABLE. CALL 440.717.0002 FOR INFO. OLA ANNUAL MEETING Developing Your Strategic Business Model: A Roadmap For Success

Due to current Covid-19 Social Distancing Guidlines, the OLA will be holding this year’s Annual Meeting live, via webinar, on November 19, 2020. Our special guest presenter for this meeting will be Mike Rorie, CEO of GIS Dynamics, who will discuss the process of defining how your organization creates, delivers and maximizes value for its customers, employees and stakeholders.

It goes without saying that having a well-defined business model is essential in taking your company to the next level of growth. Mike will cover the three key decisions that form the foundation for developing an effective business model, how to implement systems that drive this business model towards helping you gain a competitive advantage, as well as how to innovate and evolve your business model to help it become “future proof.”

NOTE: The start time for this event will be 3pm, instead of the normal 6pm start time.

GUEST SPEAKER

MIKE RORIE / CEO GIS DYNAMICS (PROPERTY MEASUREMENT SOLUTIONS)

As CEO of GIS Dynamics and current Board Member of Ground Systems of Cincinnatii, Mike specialtizes in industry consulting for strategic growth and organizational development. He has worked in the commercial grounds industry for over three decades, growing his first company, GroundMasters, into a five-city, regional platform that served over 1,200 customers, before selling it to a national provider in 2006. Since June 2010, Mike has been involved in the information and technology services industry with GIS Dynamics, providing business solutions for contractors across the country.

ABOUT GIS DYNAMICS

GIS Dynamics was founded in 2005 as a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) company providing custom solutions to a variety of clients. In 2009, a GIS project for a New Jersey landscaper was the catalyst for what GIS now focuses on, Software as a Service applications Go iLawn (www.GoiLawn.com) and GoiPave (www.GoiPave.com). These web based applications are designed to help lawn and landscape, snow removal and pavement maintenance contractors measure properties online to expedite the estimating and proposal process. The sites combine high resolution aerial photography, property measuring tools and property information in one easy-to-use format, allowing contractors to view and measure properties and generate proposals.