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When asked what made his company a success, Pat Nibler, vice president of operations and co-owner of Prograss Inc., says, “It’s the people. We value our employees and support them in as many ways as we can. In fact, some of our employees have been with us for more than 20 years.”

That is an incredible record given how competitive the job market is today, but for Nibler and partner Paul Bizon, retaining employees is just as important, if not more important, than landing that next account.

Headquartered in the Portland, Oregon, suburb of Wilsonville, Prograss was founded by Nibler and Bizon in 1978. At the time, there were few, if any, lawn care companies in the area, and the duo filled the void by providing quality lawn care services to residential customers. During the next decade, the company added tree care and pruning to its service repertoire, followed by residential mowing in 1992. By 2000, it was offering mowing and maintenance to commercial customers, providing erosion control services, and doing construction and installation projects.

Today, Prograss has four locations in the Pacific Northwest and employs 300 people. Lawn care represents 35 percent of the company’s annual revenue. Construction and mowing/maintenance bring in 30 percent each, with the remainder supplied by erosion control and irrigation services.

“When you look at our history, diversification has played a big role in our growth,” explains Nibler. “Lawns in the Northwest are not as big as they are in other parts of the country. Thanks to ideal growing conditions, they share space with lots of flowers, shrubs, and trees, all of which need to be maintained. Our new service offerings are in direct response to growing conditions and customer requests to install and maintain high-intensity landscapes.”

As Nibler points out, diversification can do wonders for a company’s growth strategy. It opens up cross-selling opportunities, flattens out peaks and valleys, and gives employees new avenues in which to grow. But it does not come without its challenges. One of the biggest ones, he adds, is finding experienced individuals to champion new services and then charging them with that responsibility full time. “Some companies, ours included, have made the mistake of having an individual devote part of his or her time to a new service until it was up and running. In reality, you truly cannot have one without the other — a new service without a dedicated staff to provide that service.”

He continues, “Every time you diversify, you make mistakes, and you have to constantly manage the new service, add a new level of training, and learn how to improve your service as you go. We also have gained incredible knowledge from owners who have gone through the process.”

The human factor

Nibler emphasizes that people make all the difference, whether a company offers one service or many different services. Employee retention is all-important from several different perspectives. Good retention reduces training time and costs, and it helps to guarantee a high level of consistency at the job site. “Smiling employees also make for happy customers,” he adds.

How does a company put a smile on employees’ faces? This owner says it is a matter of having a company culture that places a high value on the people who perform the work and then conveying that message to employees. “It is not one thing you do, but everything you do in the course of the year that tells employees that you appreciate them,” says Nibler. “Training, company picnics, sponsoring a softball or soccer team, and helping someone in need all play a part in making work a positive experience. In our case, diversification has given our employees the opportunity to advance their careers.”

Dedicated employees and a broad array of services have helped the marketing team expand the company’s reach from the Portland area to branch locations in Eugene, Oregon; Seattle; and Concord, California. “We have a very talented marketing group,” Nibler adds. “They are knowledgeable about the market and especially deft at cross-selling to our residential customers.

“Our marketing team also takes advantage of the latest technologies and different media. Our Web site, for example, is not only an important marketing tool, but a resource for customers. We also have a presence on the radio, and one of our salespeople, Steve Varga, has become a radio personality offering timely tips to homeowners and answering questions from our Web site.”

Despite the company’s success, Nibler says management is not actively looking to expand into other markets, at least not yet. “Oh, sure, we have looked at other growth areas in the state and in the Northwest, but right now we want to continue to develop our current markets and to continually improve our service offerings.” As he emphasizes, success is defined less by how fast a company grows but more by how it manages its growth and its people.

12/05
Rod Dickens, PLANET Contributing Writer