The New Dimensions Landscape market gives meaning to the word seasonal. Located in Upstate New York 60 miles north of Albany and just a few miles from the Adirondack Park, this landscape contractor works in an environment where snow and cold weather come early and stay late. The area is also home to nearby Saratoga Race Track. Open only six weeks out of the year, the venue attracts high-end visitors who “summer over” to see the horses run and enjoy the resort-like atmosphere of Saratoga Springs.      

This seasonal demographic and the commercial clients who do business in the Capitol District area of New York help define president and CEO Randy Countermine’s business. When not installing walks and irrigation systems, providing hydroseeding services, or performing bid/build work for commercial clients in and around the community of Gansevoort, New Dimensions crews can be found maintaining nearby estates or dropping off roll-off containers for building contractor customers. 

As Countermine emphasizes, to be a viable landscape contractor in an extremely seasonal market, owners have to be creative and take advantage of every opportunity. His landscape maintenance operation is an example of this creativity. One crew, consisting of only two crew members, maintains five estates weekly. Having only five accounts keeps direct costs, including wasted time, to a minimum. Customers like the attention they receive, and Countermine likes the cash flow.

“I was never truly interested in maintenance in part because of the cost associated with it and subsequent low margins,” Countermine explains. “Then, I gleaned an idea from our computer service provider. The company gave us the option to either sign a contract for a certain number of hours of service for the year or to take our chances and call if and when we needed service. I chose the contract route. We applied the concept to our high-end maintenance accounts, essentially giving them the opportunity to sign up for eight hours of service a week. Crews stay on their property for the day, and if customers want service beyond the contracted amount of time, they pay for the additional hours.” The pricing strategy has helped prequalify customers, too. Not every property owner will want that level of service, but for those who do, New Dimensions has the program in place.  

Then there is the company’s container business. “When we started hydroseeding, we looked for a truck with multiple uses,” Countermine relates. “We settled on a vehicle that gave us the flexibility to replace the hydroseeder unit with a large container, one that we could load with plant material and drop off at the work site. One day a builder customer of ours asked if we could leave the container behind for his cleanup crew. That was the beginning of our roll-off container business. Now we have thirty 16-yard containers in service. Our company can go in early on a new construction with container service for removing debris and stay on the project installing the landscape.

The New Dimensions’ owner was introduced to the industry at age 14 when he found a job working for a nursery after school. In fact, before graduating from high school, the young Countermine had procured two part-time nursery jobs. After receiving a landscaping degree from SUNY-Cobleskill, he worked four years for a landscape design/build contractor and then moved to Florida to start his own business. “I lasted only six months down there,” he recalls. “The plant material was different, the climate was different, and I felt I would be more successful back on my home turf where I had established relationships.”

A year later, in 1987, New Dimensions Landscape opened a retail garden center in Gansevoort and, along with selling plant material, offered landscape-contracting services. Favoring the latter over the retail business, Countermine eventually closed the garden center. A couple of years later, he purchased a Christmas tree farm and started to grow his own plant material. His company recently purchased another 25-acre plot to enhance its growing operation.

Although being creative has been a big part of the company’s growth strategy, the owner credits people and relationships for his long-term success. “Many of our employees have been with us 10 years,” he emphasizes. “They understand our approach, and being able to retain them gives us a natural competitive advantage.” He goes on to explain that the company has been involved with H-2B for four years and that many of his Hispanic workers are just as dedicated, returning back to the job every year.” The company recently purchased a four-bedroom home to house H-2B workers. The nice thing is that the property is close by, allowing workers the luxury of being able to walk to work.

Company growth has also been equally dependent on building and maintaining client relationships. Through its relationships with builders, for example, New Dimensions has become involved in installing landscapes for Parade of Homes’ events. Since 1995, the company has won several awards through these projects and, yes, made its share of sales. “Approximately 10,000 people go through the homes in October,” says Countermine, “and our presence has generated some tremendous sales leads.” 

He continues, “Becoming a member of ALCA was a milestone in our company’s development, too. I joined five years ago, and since then, my business has tripled in size. Understanding systems and having templates for putting them in place is critical to being able to grow a company. Talking with other ALCA members from around the country, visiting their facilities, and finding out how they do business have been instrumental to our recent growth.”

Landscape installation, maintenance, the container business, and the nursery operation keep 17 employees busy in season, and New Dimensions looks to continue to expand in every service offering, with an emphasis on its new nursery ground for larger plant material, more maintenance work, and, yes, more containers. If he could do it over again, what would Countermine do differently?

“First of all, I would sign on with a larger landscape contractor to learn more about systems that can help you grow. Then, I would join ALCA earlier in my career.” Other things, too, come to mind such as avoiding the move to Florida and forgoing the garden center. Yes, hindsight is 20/20, but when you start learning an industry when you are only 14 years old, experience can be an especially effective teacher.

4/04

By Rod Dickens, ALCA Contributing Writer