For much of the Northeast Ohio nursery industry, the colder weather means crews start buttoning up for the winter -- protecting plants, winterizing equipment and…
For much of the Northeast Ohio nursery industry, the colder weather means crews start buttoning up for the winter — protecting plants, winterizing equipment and generally preparing for the annual deep freeze.
Owners and managers of larger operations plan their southern vacations and workers prepare to plow snow.
But at The Pattie Group, LLC. in Russell Township, activity is heating up and the next few months aren’t likely to give anyone a chance to chill through the coming winter.
Founder Steve Pattie and his sons, Jonas Pattie, 38, and Brian Pattie, 33, have plenty to keep them warm this year.
Most years, the ever-growing landscape design, installation and maintenance business stays busy through the dormant months planning for the next spring and working with clients, designing new and enchanting landscapes to enhance their homes, lives and neighborhoods.
This year, with the approach of fall, The Pattie Group is relocating 7 acres of its nursery inventory from Munson Township to Newbury Township, Jonas, company president, said last week.
For 22 years, the Patties have planted, nurtured and harvested most of their plants on 7 acres of a farm in Munson Township. Recent events led them to purchase a farm on Bell Road in Newbury.
They will move the inventory over the next months, a huge endeavor, Jonas said.
“It’s a nice property. There was a home that burned down. The barn is left and there are wide open fields used for horses and baling hay. It’s exactly what we need,” he said. “It’ll take us until next spring to get everything moved.”
There are advantages to the new location besides owning it, Jonas said. It is located closer to the office at Music Street and Chillicothe Road and there is less traffic than on state Route 322, with quick access to the Hunting Valley and Cleveland east side where many of Pattie’s clients reside.
Demand for services has grown to a point where the company established a satellite office in West Lake to serve customers in the Rocky River area.
Providing high quality installation and standing behind their work are at the top of the company’s priorities, Jonas said.
Their ability to do that is directly related to having the nursery items available at optimal planting time, he said.
Growing and installing their own plants makes all that happen, and nurtures good client relations.
Steve and Linda Pattie chose well when they bought the flea-infested, dilapidated house on Chillicothe Road and renovated it into a thriving business, Jonas said. His mother, one of the top landscape designers in the country, built the company’s design arm that has numerous awards decorating the walls in both buildings.
Their attention to detail and focus on their customers’ desires rubbed off on Jonas, who has a degree in landscape design from Columbus State Community College, and on Brian, who has a business degree from Baldwin Wallace University.
Like their father, who started mowing neighborhood lawns in elementary school and was hiring his schoolmates to do that work in high school, they understand the business from the groud up.
So when Steve, now 61, suffered a stroke the day after Christmas 2012, his sons were already knee-deep in the operation.
At the time, The Pattie Group was still paddling madly to stay afloat following the shocking economic debacle of 2008.
Jonas thinks the strain of that year may have contributed to his father’s illness.
“Brian and I were already trending into running the company, but it was a violent shove,” he said.
Three years later, Jonas and Brian, company vice president, are in the process of purchasing the operation from their father. They were recently approved for a $250,000 loan from the Geauga County Department of Com-munity and Economic Development, providing them with the capital to buy the 7 acres and buildings on Chillicothe Road.
Steve still keeps his hand in the business, even in semi-retirement.
“He likes to come in and stir things up,” Jonas said with a smile. “He’s a great resource. It’s great to have that 40 or 50 years of experience to draw on.”
The Pattie Group has more than 85 employees working through the seasons to beautify homes, making it one of the largest landscaping companies focused on residential work in the state.
“We’ll see close to $9 million in total revenue this year. We are big for a landscaping company, but we have great systems and great people working for us. We have a tight-knit, close family atmosphere,” he said.
The high number of certified nursery personnel The Pattie Group has on the roster helps create a 10 to 15 percent growth for the business each year, but, other than the shift in ownership, Jonas said they don’t plan any large expansions.
“We are a company that prefers to grow naturally. I don’t want to force growth just for the sake of growth,” he said, adding a company that takes care of its customers and stands behind its work has a good chance at that kind of success.
The brothers are confident in shouldering the responsibility for the business, partly because Northeast Ohio is full of caring people providing an atmosphere that supports a high-quality landscaping business. Having been to visit similar businesses in Dalles-Fort Worth, Chicago, Boston and other large cities, Jonas said this region is the best.
While the harsh winters of the Cleveland area take their toll, the hardiest and best-nurtured perennials and trees will survive, blooming and growing brilliantly the following year.
So it is with a business that has been through rough times, Jonas said.
“2008 was absolutely brutal. We still have the scars,” he recalled, adding he has talked to his brother about it at length. “At the end of the day, I’m glad we went through it. It was an incredible learning experience. But it taught us a lot of great lessons.
“There’s nothing this company can’t get through. All the ups and downs of the economy, the challenges a business faces from mistakes — you just learn and grow from them.”
