Venerable landscaping business changes hands

The business was named Montana’s “Small Business of the Year” in 2000, but the founders were a product of the 60’s, beneficiaries of a spirit that said, “we can do our own thing.”
That’s according to Gus Johnson, who is now a former co-owner of the venerable Earth & Wood, a Bitterroot Valley landmark since 1978. The business changed hands on Wednesday, May 13, and Johnson is thinking he’ll now “take the summer off and hit the road.”
The new owners are Stephanie and Brad Taylor.
It was very much that “take the summer off and hit the road” spirit that led to the founding of Earth & Wood in the first place.
“It was just bar talk,” Johnson said, of the initial idea of a landscaping business, after a stint working at a garden center in 1977. Four college roommates from the University of Nebraska found themselves confronted by overwhelming opportunity, though, and after a feint in 1978, they stepped it up the following season.
Of course, “stepping it up” amounted to grossing just $27,000 for the year, he recalled, but you have to start some place.
Johnson was the last of the foursome to sign on, bringing with him a degree in marketing and business. The other partners added their own expertise: Randy Hodgson’s carpentry skills initially proved invaluable, and Harold McGaughey’s horticulture background even more so. The fourth partner, Dennis Chritten, had experience as a draftsman, ideal for helping to lay out landscaping plans. He was also a musician, an attribute that also united the group.
Chritten left the business a few years later, and his share of the business was eventually taken by Marla Hennequin, who had been keeping the firm’s books.
It’s unusual to see a four-way business partnership that works so well so long, but Johnson said that the complementary skill sets that each brought to the organization was key. The partners recognized each other’s areas of expertise, and knew when to stand aside and let another assume the lead.
Having four forceful personalities also ensured that different opinions would force the group to examine multiple options before reaching a decision.
“Our greatest successes as a business were directly related to strong problem solving, and a willingness to carry out a decision completely after it was agreed upon,” Johnson asserted.
He credited the solid values and strong work ethic that each had learned in their youth.
They hope to see the nursery and landscaping business continue to flourish, Johnson said.
The business is now focused on complete landscape design and installation, underground sprinkler systems, and landscape maintenance. They operate two facilities, one north of Victor, and the other serving Missoula. Opening the Missoula facility was key to their survival, Johnson said, but the Bitterroot property provides more space to serve their landscaping inventory. Both are full-service nursery facilities, and welcome walk-in customers.
The partners started preparing the business for sale three years ago, and conducted a nationwide search for qualified buyers, preferably individuals, not a corporate buyer. Stephanie and Brad Taylor, the new owners, are from Wisconsin, originally, but come here from Vero Beach, Florida, where they ran a landscape maintenance business.
They were looking for a small town experience, in an area that experienced four seasons, and settled on Earth & Wood after looking at another business in Montana, according to Johnson.
For his part, Johnson still believes that the entrepreneurial spirit that drove four friends to build a successful business and run it for decades, lives on, but it’s a new environment.
“You can still do it, but you can’t be living in tipis,” he said.
Brad and Stephanie Taylor, the new owners, have a lot of experience in the field. They owned and operated a larger landscaping business in Florida for the past nine years, employing 55 people.
Taylor said that he and his wife and three children are very happy about moving to the Bitterroot Valley. “We are originally from Wisconsin and we are really happy about returning to a place with a change in seasons,” he said. “We saw this business for sale and it seemed like a nice fit.”
A few things will change around the place, however. He has plans to update a lot of the equipment and “bump the software technology up by about twenty years.”
He has no plans to change the personnel. Taylor said that he is pleased with the current employees at Earth and Wood, calling them “incredibly knowledgeable and professional.” He said he was looking forward to working with them.
He also plans on working with all four previous owners of the business.
“They built a tremendous business here,” he said, “and they will be helping us ease the transition.”