Close-Up Profiles Frankie Valli, Bruce Springsteen, Derek Jeter, and kids’ writer Judy Blume are all people born in New Jersey who’ve made it big. Those in the landscape business know to add to that list Mark Borst, who founded and owns Borst Landscaping and Design in Allendale, New Jersey.   More

Close-Up Profiles There's an old adage, “Keep your shoulder to the wheel and your nose to the grindstone,” and you’ll get someplace. That, in a nutshell, is Rick Olson. A tireless worker, he has developed some core values that won’t be compromised.    More

Close-Up Profiles You can blame it on a windy, frigid day in southern New England...
Steve Gold, 55, along with his son Bryan, co-owners of landscape lighting firm Brilliance LED, based in Carefree, Arizona, wasn't always in the outdoor business. And he certainly wasn't always a resident of sunny Arizona.   More

Close-Up Profiles Rick Henninger is a turnaround specialist. A business veteran at 63, he loves to find companies that are on the decline but still full of potential. He’s worked his magic with companies in the arenas of telecommunications, defense support, and hazardous waste disposal.   More

Close-Up Profiles Noecker grew up in the Northeast. Born in New York City, she was a year old when her family moved to Weston, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. After completing high school...   More

Close-Up Profiles Burton S. Sperber learned the landscape business at an early age, working at a nursery in North Hollywood, California, after school. When the owner of the nursery passed away, Burt and his father bought the business for $700, and called it Valley- Crest Landscape.   More

Close-Up Profiles Horton grew up in the San Fernando Valley, a suburb of Los Angeles, California, where he attended Cal State University, Northridge. His major was accounting. Once in school, he realized that he needed to get a job to help pay for his tuition, and he found one with a landscape contractor.   More

Close-Up Profiles When Janet Reilly was a very young girl, if you asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up, her answer would probably have been either a doctor or a teacher. However, neither of those were the career path she would eventually take.   More

Close-Up Profiles ROBERT VON BERNUTH IS no stranger to the Irrigation Association (IA) or the irrigation industry; he’s been around the industry in some way or another for many years.   More

Close-Up Profiles At the age of 51 Jody Shilan feels like he’s been in the landscape business all his life, certainly for the majority of it: 38 years. “I had a paper route up to the age of 13,” Shilan recalls, “and one of my friends was making money cutting lawns for his neighbors.   More