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After 26 years in business, Michael Murphy, owner of Sunrise Landscape Design, Inc., in Vancouver, Washington, knows what fuels his success. "I work closely with customers, our company finds and retains good employees, and education has been huge for both me and my employees."

Murphy graduated from Washington State University in 1975 with a degree in landscape architecture. After working as a designer for a nursery and later a contractor, he started his own business in the Seattle/Belleville area in 1977. Three years later, frustration with the Seattle traffic and a fluttering economy encouraged a move to Vancouver, where Murphy collaborated with another contractor for a year until he got his "feet on the ground."

"I never shut down my business, but just kept it on hold until I felt comfortable with the area," he recalls, adding that once in the groove he was able to pick up where he left off. "I always enjoyed the construction part of the business. Back then, landscape architects were not builders, and landscape contractors were not doing the designs. Of course, this has changed now, but at the time, the combination of my design background and a desire to build things gave me a competitive advantage."

From the beginning Murphy says he catered to the high-end residential accounts, a market that afforded him more creativity and more face-to-face contact with customers than the commercial arena. He emphasizes how important personal contact still is with a business that generates 70 percent of its revenue from high-end residential customers.

"I have always worked closely with customers, and their repeat business has been the driving force of my operation for years," Murphy relates. "Some customers routinely ask our company to come back for enhancements. Others ask us to do a complete project in stages. In fact, it is not the least bit unusual for a customer to call and say, 'I have another $3,000 to spend on landscaping. Come over when you get an opportunity.'"

Having repeat customers is not as common in design/build as it is in maintenance, yet it is just as important to growth, Murphy emphasizes. "When you stay involved with customers, you have a better opportunity to get work from their family members and friends. Because of this trend, we have rarely done any marketing."

What this owner does not do in marketing, he makes up for in education. "Again, education has been huge for us," he emphasizes. "When I first started in business, I used to hold plant identification classes internally. Later, we took advantage of the new CLT program in Washington and continued on with ALCA's certification program.

He continues, "Certification and other education programs are so important to all companies. It adds to our overall professionalism and elevates the entire industry. We promote the fact that our employees are certified, yet we do not feel any remorse when we lose that advantage to competitors who also become certified. I get excited when the market becomes more competitive. I think that is good for everyone."

Murphy has twice been president of the Washington Association of Landscape Profes-sionals (WALP), and his company joined ALCA in 1994. "At my first ALCA conference, I was blown away by how big this industry was. I had no idea how many good, professional companies were involved." He says he immediately profited from attending meetings and networking with other ALCA members.

One challenge he has avoided and one with which the industry in general is still struggling is labor. "Several years ago, I asked an area high school to allow me to represent the green industry at Career Days. At the time, lawyers, firemen, policemen, and members of the armed services dominated the sessions." Murphy says his first career day spelled the beginning of the end to any labor shortage. Interested students worked for him in the summer, and many continued in his employ throughout college, some even coming back to stay in the industry.

Once on board, Murphy's employees tend to build a career with him. The Sunrise manager has been with Murphy 18 years and a couple of foremen have been with him for 10 years. The formula for their longevity is simple. All they have to do is mirror the owner; they have to have high expectations and enjoy what they do. The combination will keep both Murphy and his customers happy for a long time.

Not to say this owner is the picture of contentment. "If there is one thing I struggle with today, it is deciding whether or not to make the jump to the next level," says Murphy, who has worked for years in the business with his wife Julie, also a licensed landscape architect. "We have talked with landscape contractors who have stayed at our $1 million level and with those who have made the jump several times over. We just have to decide what is best for our company." In the meantime, Sunrise Landscape Design will continue design and build landscapes with the best of them.

5/03

By Rod Dickens, ALCA Contributing Writer