Eastern Landscape Management services commercial properties in the southern Connecticut and New York metropolitan area.Photo: ELM
Seeing jobs come to completion has always been what drives Bruce Moore Sr. and that is what he has been doing for 40 years now.
Based in Stamford, Connecticut, Moore’s commercial landscape management company, Eastern Land Management (ELM) is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.
ELM started out with just Moore in 1976, but by the end of the year he had gained a seasonal helper. College friends pitched in on weekends and ELM began to hire some part-time workers.
Moore started out in the residential market but quickly discovered he didn’t care for it.
“I was having to go out and meet people on the weekends and at night. Having my business degree, I started going out making cold calls during the winter months with suit and tie on,” Moore said. “I realized early on there wasn’t anyone else in our area doing the commercial work and I saw an unfulfilled need.”
As luck would have it, during the late 1970s and ’80s, a number of Fortune 500 companies were abandoning Manhattan for large tracts of land out in the suburbs.
“It was a bit of positive timing,” Moore said. “At that time, there was a big focus on the outdoor environment.”
ELM employs close to 100 workers now and offers landscape management, water management and snow removal.
ELM’s landscape management services include planting beds and ornamental maintenance,tree and shrub pruning
fertilization, and
integrated pest management.
Photo: ELM
Despite its successful growth and longevity, Moore hadn’t planned on the company’s getting so large in the beginning. It wasn’t until he got involved with the National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP) and began networking that he realized the full potential of ELM.
“Networking with some of those people and seeing how they were building their companies really opened my eyes and I learned there was potential for a lot more than a small local business,” he said.
Moore credits his success to building long-term relationships with customers. Two of ELM’s clients have been with the company for 35 of its 40 years in business.
“We haven’t had to go out and get a lot of new clients because our service has been good,” he said. “We have a very high renewal rate thanks to the level of service, and we aren’t nickel and diming clients.”
Currently, Moore is in the process of passing on the business to his son, Bruce Moore Jr. The younger Moore has helped the business grow and serves as vice president of operations for ELM.
“I was involved with business at an early age and spend most of my free time by my father’s side,” Moore Jr. said. “I began to develop a passion for landscaping and growing a business. I saw what my father had created and that inspired me to continue his vision and bring in my own entrepreneurial spirit to continue growing the business and our people.
“I knew this is what I wanted to do even before I entered college.”
Moore Sr. would like to see ELM continue for another 40 years and even into another generation of the family, but he knows that it is becoming harder and harder for companies to do so.
“One of the challenges of growing the business is finding the right people,” Moore Sr. said. “We’d love to have more.”
ELM used to participate in the H-2B program, using non-immigrant, seasonal foreign workers, but moved away from it after seeing the difficulties that other contractors were beginning to encounter. Instead, it has tried to recruit college students who have an interest in landscaping. The company also provides an endowed ambassador scholarship through the NALP Foundation.
ELM’s water maintenance branch help clients find ways to conserve water.Photo: ELM
This year the company has moved down to the high school level and worked with guidance counselors to show young people landscaping is a viable career.
While Moore Sr. admits he never thought he’d be doing anything for 40 years, the milestone is still rewarding to him.
“We’ve had failures along with success, but the most rewarding thing is seeing people grow in the organization and not only satisfying the customers’ needs but the team members’ needs as well,” he said. “The financial side is good, but the people are what matters.”
In celebration of ELM’s 40th anniversary, the business is giving back to the community that has supported it by donating its landscaping service to the development of the Fairfield County Hospice House (FCHH).
The FCHH is intended to serve as a place for those who are unable to remain in their own homes during their final stage of life.
“As an active community partner, ELM was prepared to commit to this project when approached by the project organizers,” Moore Sr. said. “This is synonymous with our legacy of giving back to our community – which has provided us the same opportunity to be successful.”
