Landscapers put rivalry aside to form partnership
By: Lindsey Kingston
9/18/2000
Sam LaGrasso, left, and John Wernis, put aside their landscaping rivalry in 1997 to form United Lawnscape Inc. in Shelby Township. The company this year is set to generate between $5 million and $6 million in projected sales.
Business has changed since Shelby Township residents Sam LaGrasso and John Wernis began cutting grass to earn spending money when they were 14 years old.
After combining their landscaping companies in 1997 to form Shelby Township's United Lawnscape Inc., the two 23-year-olds have experienced a business boom worth millions in annual gross sales.
According to LaGrasso, who manages the company's construction division, the two men began working together by accident.
Both 1995 Eisenhower High School graduates, they were childhood friends who once delivered newspapers together. Although they had each started lawn care companies when they were 14, they didn't work together until they started looking for property to expand their businesses.
"The only piece available was too big for both of us, so we worked out a deal and shared the rent," LaGrasso said.
After working as two separate companies from the same location, they finally combined forces and gave up a "fearsome, friendly competition."
United Lawnscape offers a variety of services, including grounds maintenance, fertilization, landscape design and construction, brick paving, landscape lighting, retaining wall construction, snow plowing and small pond building.
The company manages more than 700 maintenance accounts and more than 110 landscaping jobs. Seventy percent of work is commercial, and the rest is residential.
"Basically, we do all that anybody needs," Wernis said.
A quick look at the books shows that all of the work is paying off. Before merging the companies, LaGrasso and Wernis made about $400,000 annually, combined. By 1998, United's gross sales reached $1 million. In 1999, sales were up to $2.5 million, and projected sales for 2000 are between $5 and $6 million.
"It's been about a 100 percent expansion every year," Wernis said. "We had a total of maybe 15 employees when we first got together." Now, they have 70 full-time and 75 part-time employees in the summer, with winter needs still requiring 15 full-timers and 90 part-timers. Wernis, who manages United's maintenance division, contributes the company's success to a strong partnership. "Our personalities work really well together," he explained. LaGrasso agreed, saying, "We feel like we owe each other something. That loyalty is what keeps this going, I think."
United Lawnscape is located at 47091 Ryan Road in Shelby Township. The phone number is (810) 739-5296.
©The Macomb Daily 2004
