As the walls of an enormous building have been going up at the corner of Taylor Wells and Mayfield roads, Jim McCaskey has fielded plenty of questions from curious passers-by.
As the walls of an enormous building have been going up at the corner of Taylor Wells and Mayfield roads, Jim McCaskey has fielded plenty of questions from curious passers-by.
No, it’s not another Dollar General, said the owner of McCaskey Landscape & Design in Claridon Township.
“It’s just a mechanic’s shop and storage space,” he said. “We’ve been here seven years. It was overdue. Now, everything can be inside in the winter.”
What may seem mundane to others is very exciting to McCaskey. His mechanics have been working out of the small garage of the house on 10 acres on Taylor Wells Road. The inside was converted into office space for McCaskey, his sales manager, Craig Barstow, and the sales and design staff.
“I can’t wait to hang my sign there,” McCaskey said, pointing to the side of the building facing the intersection.
Visibility and location are important — even to a landscaping company with no commercial outlet — and the staff has managed to make the most of it.
When an extra fiberglass swimming pool arrived, they parked it near the road with a sign saying, “This Could be in Your Backyard,” and the phone number in big letters to spark the imaginations of future customers.
Installing pools is a fairly new venture for the landscaper that gained momentum with the arrival of COVID-19, he said.
About four years ago, the company took on a backyard project that included a swimming pool. McCaskey’s crew tried to help the sub-contractor install the shell.
“It did not go very well,” he said. “The second time went even worse.”
Installing a pool requires excavation, grading and plumbing — all jobs he figured his people could do without hiring another contractor for the job.
When the pandemic made travel unpopular and public pools closed in 2020, his pool business took off and now McCaskey has a pool manager, Devon Dunning, who specializes in installation.
“We put in one this summer we had to crane over a house,” McCaskey said, adding spring is the worst time to install because the ground is so saturated.
“We planted two pools last week,” he said. “We just have to finish the patios.”
McCaskey hopes to be able to meet demand for the fiberglass shells produced by River Pools and Spas headquartered in Warsaw, Va.
“If I can get them, we’ll do 24 next year,” he said.
His staff also designs fire pits, outdoor kitchens and other features the customer wants.
“One guy told me, ‘I want Disney in my backyard,’” McCaskey said.
He is facing the same issues as many others — supply chain holdups and labor shortages, he said.
“The only thing holding us back is the supply chain,” he said, adding if more work visas were available, his business would increase tenfold.
He said he has been to Washington DC to lobby with the Ohio Landscapers Association on the visa shortage.
During the slower winter months, McCaskey has 29 employees plowing snow and working in the maintenance garage preparing for a busy spring, when he will hire another 15 seasonal employees to meet growing demand.
McCaskey credits his staff and employees, including his son, Tim, with the company’s success, which is 63% above last year’s financial goal, he said.
Keeping dependable, valued employees depends on flexing the work schedules as needed, McCaskey said.
“The only reason I can pay for the (new) building is because we’ve got great employees,” he said.
Meanwhile, McCaskey said he expects the 5,000-square-foot garage to be finished soon and he hopes to move equipment in by the end of the year.
Echoing many other landscapers, he added, “It all depends on the weather.”
